560: Anyone Want to Share Their Experiences With Lagoon's High Booms?

[MehmetCan]

Hello Everyone;

Although every Y chromosome in my body screams Gunboat or Outremer, my brain dictates for a Lagoon for it's price and more importantly interior spaces. I'm well aware of the posted problems of Lagoons, however, my biggest concern is the boom height (I'm planning forthe bigger models). Can you share your experiences on these booms, especially for reefing during heavy weather? Thank you very much in advance for your answers.


Best Regards;
Mehmet

[sy_gilana]

Hi Mehmet, I don't have any info, but the boom height freaks me out. Surely it would have been simpler to hang the main upside down?
On a serious note though the COE is very high and would be a concern to me. I also think that to handle the boat in foul weather in an anchorage or during evolutions near a dock would not be funny up there on the roof, but what do I know?

[MehmetCan]

I agree with you completely. Even the thought of climbing up there during a storm just to set loose a stuck line gives me the creeps!

[MehmetCan]

... on the other hand, hanging a hammock under it would be nice at the anchorage...

[jmpilot]

I shared the concern before buying, but before selling our mono (Moody46) I talked with owners, five different owners and their boats, while in the Med and the Caribbean. When we crossed the Atlantic on 2010 we met two 440's both from UK and both having sailed in force 8-9 with 6-8m seas. ALL the owners I talked with love their fly bridges.

Myself, now owning a 440 (hull 233) I also can say i love sailing from that position. On long passage if the weather is crappy I stay in the saloon as there is a steering station there and second plotter with radar and AIS, plus the visibility on the Lagoon is amazing, better then most power boat pilot houses.

People that post about the boom being too high from the waterline forget this is a cat, there is no increase heel, and the rig is over 70' with plenty of power.
Only headache is climbing up to zip the stack pack but if you want you can always lower the bimini and bring the boom right down on the upper deck.

People always worry about the "what ifs", but truth is by doing so you end up with a boat that is better suited for the "what if" but sucks the 99.9% of the rest of your time. Sure a line could get fouled and it might be harder to address but for those rare "maybe's" I say get the boat you are most comfortable with for the 99% and deal with the "what if" if you have to. Good seamanship such as early reefing, close gear inspection, wave management, etc will deal with almost all the what ifs'.

I mean really, "what if" you get car jacked at a red light an you had the chance to have had bullet proof glass installed and you didn't.

Bottom line, listen to those who actually sail the boat you are looking for, and those with REAL time at sea

[sy_gilana]

We did get car jacked, and that's why were cruising.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by jmpilot

I shared the concern before buying, but before selling our mono (Moody46) I talked with owners, five different owners and their boats, while in the Med and the Caribbean. When we crossed the Atlantic on 2010 we met two 440's both from UK and both having sailed in force 8-9 with 6-8m seas. ALL the owners I talked with love their fly bridges.

Myself, now owning a 440 (hull 233) I also can say i love sailing from that position. On long passage if the weather is crappy I stay in the saloon as there is a steering station there and second plotter with radar and AIS, plus the visibility on the Lagoon is amazing, better then most power boat pilot houses.

People that post about the boom being too high from the waterline forget this is a cat, there is no increase heel, and the rig is over 70' with plenty of power.
Only headache is climbing up to zip the stack pack but if you want you can always lower the bimini and bring the boom right down on the upper deck.

People always worry about the "what ifs", but truth is by doing so you end up with a boat that is better suited for the "what if" but sucks the 99.9% of the rest of your time. Sure a line could get fouled and it might be harder to address but for those rare "maybe's" I say get the boat you are most comfortable with for the 99% and deal with the "what if" if you have to. Good seamanship such as early reefing, close gear inspection, wave management, etc will deal with almost all the what ifs'.

I mean really, "what if" you get car jacked at a red light an you had the chance to have had bullet proof glass installed and you didn't.

Bottom line, listen to those who actually sail the boat you are looking for, and those with REAL time at sea

Thanks for that "on site" info.

sy_gilana
We did get car jacked, and that's why were cruising.

[MehmetCan]

Dear jmpilot, thanks for the info. Yes, I agree with you, sacrificing all the rest for 1% is not sensible (therefore, I don't understand to buy an AMG Merc just to accelerate to 62 for 1 sec less yet pay for triple fuel bills and triple the price). However, since I'll be the only proper sailor on board until my family gets experience, dealing with such high boom alone still spooks me.

As for the car jacking example, sorry for your incident sy_gilana.

[dirkdig]

You soon work out a system to deal with it.
The 560 has a very wide boom so dropping the sail will be quite easy.
If its like the 440 reefing lines go back to the steering station which work quite well.
The sail being higher has no negative impact,remember there is more wind up high.
The size of the boat offers a stable platform to deal with the boom issues andvstck lines etc.

[jmpilot]

Remember, you can drop the bimini (easy) and bring the boom all the way down on the upper deck. The deck is large and easy to move about. The boom would then be at your feet!

[smj]

If your steering from the salon in bad weather and get a strong gust is there any way to release the main or jib sheet without running up to the upper helm station?

[MehmetCan]

Originally Posted by smj

If your steering from the salon in bad weather and get a strong gust is there any way to release the main or jib sheet without running up to the upper helm station?

Small shaped charges with remote controls on every line comes up to mind, but then again, this would be a Jason Bourne kinda solution. Not to mention the necessity to clean up explosive debris after each usage...

[dirkdig]

There is a realease for the main in the rear cockpit so no need to go up top.

[MehmetCan]

Originally Posted by dirkdig

There is a realease for the main in the rear cockpit so no need to go up top.

What will they think of next... (Tounge in cheek!!!)

[Lagoon4us]

Is it the boom height or the bridge height that bothers you?

Profurl roller reefing of our main along with the normal headsail reefing effectively negates the need for us to go to the mast other than to secure the halyard when the main is totally furled. This is nice and very much appreciated as we can reef from 1-100% easily.

A great point not often noted is from this helm position you have great vision of squalls approaching. We saw a 45knot blow coming on us allowing reefing with time to spare, from a lower vantage point the timing would have been much shorter.

Windage in a Marina whilst docking? Having a 70 foot stick on any boat is windage enough however having 2 engines 20 foot odd apart with the steering wheel locked allows fantastic control, prudence dictates on any boat if it's seriously too dangerous to dock then DON'T .

Mono's will never have a bridge position like this because quite simply they would fall off!

The centre of effort has been taken into account in the design otherwise there would be arse-up Lagoons everywhere, and all the related lawsuits, more picture that the foot of the sail has been cutaway, a cat of this size carries a 70 foot mast without a problem.

Finally a Lagoon is by no means a racing boat it leans more to being a motorsailer in the multihull world, no different in that way to many other large cats that are built for comfortable family cruising.

True cruising boats will always differ from their racing cousins it matters not whether that family is multi or mono, speed dictates light weights, low profiles and wetsuits.

The higher helm position is 630mm above the side decks ie 3 steps up, to date i've been only in 40 plus in this boat and was so comfortable. My 35foot mono sloop (Adams35 in round bilge steel) would have heeled and shipped enough spray to necessitate some wet weather gear. I sat up top trimmed the sails and drank my coffe, the wife was below making some sangers.....

High boom? I can live with the foot of the sail effectively missing to accomodate it as really we like off wind sailing anyway.
High helm? The view is fantastic making navigation much safer, i'm 60 years old this october, fit and find the climb not an issue at all.

Cheers i hope i've contributed to your thoughts. Frank