The design was built by Albin Marine in Sweden. It was produced from 1981 to 1985, but it is now out of production.
Design
The Nimbus 42 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with an Airex-cored deck and wood trim, including teak decks. It has a cutter rig, with aluminum spars and a keel-stepped mast. It features a raked stem, a raised counter reverse transom, a skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a wheel and a fixed fin keel, deep keel or optional stub keel and centerboard. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat is fitted with a Pathfinderdiesel engine of for docking and maneuvering. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of. The design has sleeping accommodation for eight people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin, an "U"-shaped settee and drop-down dinette table that forms a double berth, plus a straight settee in the main cabin. There is an aft stateroom with a double berth on the port side and a single berth on the starboard side. The galley is located on the port side just forward of the companionway steps. The galley is "U"-shaped and is equipped with a three-burner propane-fired stove and oven, plus a double sink and an icebox. A navigation station is opposite the galley, on the starboard side. There are two heads, one just aft of the bow cabin on the port side and one on the starboard side in the aft cabin. The below deck headroom is and the cabin trim and sole are made from teak and holly. Ventilation is provided by six translucent opening hatches, two dorade vents and four deck cowl intakes. Additional light is provided by four deck-mounted prisms. For sailing the design is equipped with four halyard winches and two jib winches. The halyards are all internally-mounted. There are topping lifts for the boom and spinnaker. Both the genoa and spinnaker pole are mounted on tracks with cars. There is a bow-mounted anchor locker. The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 90-99 and a hull speed of.
Variants
;Nimbus 42 Standard ;Nimbus 42 Race ;Nimbus 42 Keel & Centerboard
Operational history
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "Nimbus is a big auxiliary with three cabins, but with a tall, high-aspect rig for racing, Shrouds are inboard for good wind ward sheeting angles. The keel is relatively short and the rudder is well aft."
