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Old 16-02-2012, 23:14   #1
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Which Power Catamaran ?

Hi all I am new here and please dont laugh at my ignorance

Anyway I am not a boat person at all but have spent time on friends boats which are mainly catamarans with sails but I not a sailor but have decided I want to take the plunge and buy a boat on which I can live and spend around 6 mons of the year in the Med or in Asia.

I have been looking for a power catamaran or trawler as theyseem to be called to buy in the $400 to $500k bracket and altough there few available my preferred choice would be a Lagoon Power Cat 44 as friends tell me they are well made and represent great value for money. (apparently the lagoon power 43 is significantly infrior as a boat)

I was wondering what everyone would consider to be an equivalent to this boat for me to purchase or what others consider to be the best in this class.

I have scoured these forums and seen that age seems to be less important than condition and a well maintained well fitted boat is what I should seek regardless of its age and as such I would appreciate any advice others could five on what I should look out for. Any views on extras I will require would also be appreciated but prellminary enquiries suggest that as I will be in hot climates an ice maker and air condition throughout along with desalination units/watermaker would be handy not to mention upgraded generators to handle the electrical power loads/demands of same.

I have never driven a boat before so ease of use/operationwould also need to be a consideration but fortunately I do have friends who can teach me how to use any boat I purchase as obviously I fully intend to take any courses necesary to become proficient and safe.

On a final point I juts wondered how vig a consideration or worry piracy should be if I were to consider going between the Med and Asia once a year so at I can alternate my time on the boat from year to year etwen the two locations.

Any assitance or advice would be much appreciated.
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Old 17-02-2012, 02:58   #2
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Have a look at the perry power cats built in australia they have a 44 ft cat.
Also Leopard make powercats but the range is not great.
I have. Lagoon 440 sailing cat and they are great boat quality wise.
Fountaine pajot also make a range of powercats worth looking at.
Cats are really good to drive and very much the best way to go,quite easy compared to other boats.
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Old 17-02-2012, 03:01   #3
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Re: Which Power Catamaran?

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Koum.
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Old 17-02-2012, 04:00   #4
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Re: Which Power Catamaran?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dirkdig View Post
Have a look at the perry power cats built in australia they have a 44 ft cat.
Far to expensive for what it is IMHO
Used Perry 44.5 Power Catamaran for Sale $625,000

Quote:
Also Leopard make powercats but the range is not great.
Its not bad

Quote:
New Leopard 37 Powercat completes crossing South Africa to Tortola
Tuesday, 03 March 2009


Delivery captain, Piet Schepers and two crewmates have been putting the new Leopard 37s to the test delivering the Morrelli & Melvin-designed recreational power catamarans from Robertson & Caine’s Capetown, South Africa production facility to the Moorings Village in Tortola, BVI, on their own bottoms.
Loaded with 633 gallons of fuel, 32 gallons of water and additional gear, the crew left Cape Town in early in December. On its maiden transatlantic crossing, the Leopard 37 traveled 1,740 nautical miles (2002 miles), before stopping to refuel at the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. The Leopard 37 sprinted another 2,559 miles to make landfall in Fortaleza, Brazil. Rested and reprovisioned, Schepers and the Leopard 37 crew headed 2,335 miles north and to celebrated the New Year in Tortola, BVI.

BYM Product and Industry News
Heres my pick from the Oz market

40 ft Stanyon was $525 now $450…………. -15%
I have looked at this several times, nice boat if only she had a bit more WLL (new version does)


Boats for Sale Australia | Boat Ads & Boat Buying – Boats Online


47.7 ft of alloy, much more boat than the Perry
Was $895 now $695 ………………. -22%

Boats for Sale Australia | Boat Ads & Boat Buying – Boats Online


One of my favorites and if you click on the links you can see she has just had a tart up
was $750 now $540 ………………-28%

Boats for Sale Australia | Boat Ads & Boat Buying – Boats Online


Nice concept
COLIN AYRES IMP 55 POWER CAT 90hp perkins x 2
Was $725 now $590,000 ………………. -18.5%

Boats for Sale Australia | Boat Ads & Boat Buying – Boats Online

Plenty of other powercats around, but none have any sort of efficiency or range
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Old 17-02-2012, 05:02   #5
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Re: Which Power Catamaran?

Perry seems overpriced and didnt like the Manta 44 and will research the others

Thanks for the advice so far but have to say I really like the Lagoon Power 44 of all those I have researched to date. I particularly like the layout with the big owners cabin at the back too which seems a lot better than having a cabin in either one of the hulls resembling a tube and there is less movement at the back too.

There also seems to be reasonable headroom in them too.

I would consider a power 43 but they seem so badly laid out compared to the newer 44 and cannot imagine why they stopped making them.

Doesnt really seem to be that many power cats around

Does anyone know of any other power cats where they have the main cabin at the back and that is of similar size at 42' to 44' long ?
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Old 17-02-2012, 05:48   #6
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Re: Which Power Catamaran?

Koum,

You may want to look at the Moorings 474 PC.
I have seen these in the $350,000 us price range.
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Old 17-02-2012, 05:53   #7
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Re: Which Power Catamaran?

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Originally Posted by Koum View Post

Thanks for the advice so far but have to say I really like the Lagoon Power 44 of all those I have researched to date.
Fairly inefficient hull shape, poor range and that aft cabin has no headroom and is lacking in ventilation.
They also have not addressed the issue of where to store a decent hard dinghy.

All my opinion of course
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Old 17-02-2012, 05:54   #8
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Re: Which Power Catamaran?

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Originally Posted by Cotemar View Post
Koum,

You may want to look at the Moorings 474 PC.
I have seen these in the $350,000 us price range.
Thats the Leopard 47
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Old 17-02-2012, 06:31   #9
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

Yes the Leopard-47PC = Moorings 474 PC

2007 Robertson and Caine Leopard 47PC Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com
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Old 17-02-2012, 10:20   #10
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

Have you checked out the Euphorie 44 built by Jeantot Marine? Here is a link for one for sale:

CATAMARAN A MOTEUR RAPIDE de 1999 avec Place Nautisme Hιrault - leboncoin.fr

That would be my choice, I just like the lines. Yes, second-hand but if it is in a good state I have no problems with saving money!
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Old 17-02-2012, 12:46   #11
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

I am so glad to have stumbled cross this orum as it is proving to be an excellent source of advice and information - many thanks to all of you who are taking the time to reply.

So it would seem that I am now most likely looking for one of the following 3 boats with each having various advantages and disadvantages

TBH all this fascination started around a year ago when I went and saw a Lagoon500 with a friend which I instantly fell in love with but that type of sail boat is not for me as I do not sail and also over my budget. However there seem to be few power cats out there but at least I am fortunate in having friends who can guide and advise me indicating the kind of practical considerations that I must consider regarding equipment etc etc so that a boat can meet my needs.

Lagoon 44
Leopard 47
Fontaine Pajot Cumberland 46

All 3 offer a high level of comfort but other important considerations aside from safety and excellent all around visibility are probably more to do with the extras that come with individual boats.

Can anyone think of specific problems with each of these or express why thy would choose one over the other?

Assuming I can locate view and survey/assess various examples I am then going to have to negotiate my way past a boat broker/salesman whom according to friends can often be classed in the same league as third hand car salesman�� It seems strange to me that of the few boats I have viewed to date many have not been as described by the agent eg they say never been chartered and yet I see the same boat advertised as being available for charter on the internet. Is it common for there to be o much deceit in this field or is it like elsewhere in life a few bad apples and rogues given the majority a bad name?
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Old 17-02-2012, 14:00   #12
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

Quote:
Can anyone think of specific problems with each of these or express why thy would choose one over the other?

Lagoon 44
Pretty average fat hull shape
Absolutely pitiful fuel economy/range (45+lph and 450nm range)
No where to store a dinghy
Aft cabin = poor ventilation and hot
Quite unattractive in my eyes

Quote:
Leopard 47
More efficient hull shape
Better fuel economy and greater range especially with some of the smaller engined models
It has addressed the dinghy storage
Better living areas
Better looking

Quote:
Fontaine Pajot Cumberland 46
Once again, big engined, inefficient, thirsty and low range

My pick would be a smaller (150hp x 2) leopard if I was forced to choose, but I have no idea how you intend to address the range issue of being in the med and then Asia.
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Old 17-02-2012, 14:40   #13
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

Koum
I will be able to tell you more about the Leopard 47 in a few weeks.
We have one charted for 10 days, so that should give me some first hand experience with one. Everyone says the 150hp engines are pretty efficient.
The one we will have has four state rooms, but they do make an owners version that has three
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Old 17-02-2012, 15:38   #14
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

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Originally Posted by cat man do View Post
Pretty average fat hull shape
Absolutely pitiful fuel economy/range (45+lph and 450nm range)
No where to store a dinghy
Aft cabin = poor ventilation and hot
Quite unattractive in my eyes


More efficient hull shape
Better fuel economy and greater range especially with some of the smaller engined models
It has addressed the dinghy storage
Better living areas
Better looking


Once again, big engined, inefficient, thirsty and low range

My pick would be a smaller (150hp x 2) leopard if I was forced to choose, but I have no idea how you intend to address the range issue of being in the med and then Asia.
Thanks for the comments and obviously I understand there is a lot of personal opinion to all of this.

One friend of mine who has been a boat person all his life is adamant he wouldnt be seen dead in a Leopard and he specifically hates its restrictive views from the helm which makes him state categorically that he would NEVER take it out into the open seas as he is insistant that I must have as much visibility as possible becasue if (for example) I come aross a flet of fishing trawlers they are going to ignore me and continue on their way regardless so as not to snag their nets or whatever. He says that it is extremely important to be able to have as much visibility and no blind spots as possible because bigger vessels will rarely give way to smaller craft and he says the standard of seamanship shown by these commercial sorts is not what it should be.

I like th leopard straight through design but love that big owners cabin on the owners version of the Lagoon 44 and as previously indcated and biased due to friends buying Lagoon 500's which look and handle beautifully but then they have sails which is too much for meto cope with at my age (I am 53).

The Cumberland 46 Ihave never seen in real life but will go and find one but Ido like the fact that the maker has sold more power cats than anyone else.

I am going to go out of my way to find a boat of each type and charter each for a week with a crew over the next 6-9 months and then see for myself what the pros and cons of each will be. Spending up to $500k is a lot of money and I am not going to rush into it and I have noticed that a load of boats I saw for sale a year ago are still up for sale today which indicates to me that a cash buyer like myself is in the driving seat and can be really choosy when it comes to buying a boat.

The issue of going between the Med and Asia probably shows my naivity. I was thinking of doing that trip evry 18 months or so and imagine i would juts skip along hgging various coastlines over a preiod of say 2-3 months until I got from one place to the other. Then spending 6-9 months in Asia and 6-9 months at a time in the Med
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Old 17-02-2012, 15:42   #15
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Re: Which Power Catamaran ?

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Originally Posted by Cotemar View Post
Koum
I will be able to tell you more about the Leopard 47 in a few weeks.
We have one charted for 10 days, so that should give me some first hand experience with one. Everyone says the 150hp engines are pretty efficient.
The one we will have has four state rooms, but they do make an owners version that has three
That wuld be fantastic and you cant beat a first hand report of someones actual experiences ona chartered boat.

Makes me wonder whether there is a forum here or elsewhere where real people who have owned or charted power cats can give their reviews of the pros and cons of each type of boat.

I am off to research this now as hopefully that will give me a better idea of which to go for but I fully intend to charter a vessel of the type I am likely to buy prior to buying one as its a small price to pay prior to making such a large finncial investment
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