You don't say how many crew you intend to sail with or how often and how many visitors you plan to entertain. If you intend to sail two up most of the time - you and the First Mate - 42ft is on the large size. Many harbours in the Med are small and shallow and manoevering stern-to in a cross wind can be a touch tricky. If you don't need the extra size for a specific reason, bear in mind the fact that most Marina fees in the Med are banded, one of the bands very often being 10 to 12 metres and the next being 12-14. Stepping over the 12 metre mark will cost you a lot, lot more not to mention all that extra scraping and painting at antifouling time.

Good luck

David