1999 Sonic 42SS
Sonic's 42-footer offers serious headroom! Space, and plenty of it, is but one of the many things people like on the 42SS, which is 41’6? long, 8’6? wide and has 6’2? of headroom in its cabin. The well-constructed, conventional V-bottom boat also demonstrates that a stepped-bottom isn’t a prerequisite for strong performance.
The straightforward 25-degree bottom of the 42SS has flat chines roughly 5-inches wide and four strakes. The inner strakes are about 18 inches from the keel and stopped 10 feet from the transom. The outer strakes are one foot from the chines and run full length.
Bravo One drives are dialed into the 500-hp EFI motors. Each drive spins a Bravo One 14 1/4? x 28? four-blade stainless-steel propeller, which rotates inward.
With this low-key propulsion package, the 42SS runs 72 mph at 5,200 rpm—plenty strong for a five-ton offshore boat on a conventional deep-V bottom running on smooth water. Stronger still is the boat’s time to plane.
The 42SS sits tall in the water, but carves turns like a low-profile river hot rod. It leans significantly into turns, but levels off on exit without rolling hard to the outside. The boat doesn’t slip or catch when whipped into a hard 180-degree turns at speed. In full-circle turns at cruising and full speeds, it tracks perfectly.
Running offshore, the 42SS crushes the 3-to-4 footers it comes across. Sea direction doesn’t matter. The soft, smooth ride never leaves you wondering how your back will feel the next morning.
Company principal Jay Ross and his crew at the Hollywood, Fla., company did a fine job executing the boat’s paint-applied, computer-generated graphics. The exterior earns strong overall grades from inspectors and is protected by a sturdy plastic rubrail with a rubber insert.
Sonic joins its hull/cockpit liner, deck and cabin in the molds. The “fused” three pieces are then popped from the molds as a brawny single unit. Materials used in the hand laid construction process include vinyl-ester resin, biaxial fiberglass and Divinycell coring.
Amply endowed with hardware, the 42SS has a nav light and two cleats on the nose. For access to the nose, there is a flat nonskid walkway around the perimeter of the deck.
