A friend of mine has a
Privilege 45 of that vintage (very similar hulls to the 42) and for a few years we both used to take part in a light-hearted 'rally' from Virgin Gorda up to
Anegada in the
BVI. We were both given the same handicap (my
boat was a Priv 435) and some years he'd beat me and some years I'd beat him. Neither of us were racers and this was the only event we did all year so we were probably as incompetent as each other at sail trim etc.
Basically they are good solid boats that will take you anywhere and are built for comfort more than speed. Only weaknesses are things that are easily visible such as
water damage to the
interior woodwork which was a fairly regular occurrence.