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Old 09-04-2013, 12:58   #16
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

We own a Salina. She has higher bridgedeck clearance, but more importantly, FP's and Lagoons have a V shape in center of deck underside to break up standing waves. We chartered a Leopard, and deck slap was unbelievable. All cats will deck slap under severe conditions, but some slap even in mild conditions. Our boat (www.yachtsweetestthing) has weathered 30' seas and 60 knot winds in freezing weather. She scared the heck out of us, but she held together and handled the conditions like a champ. Such conditions should be avoided, but when they happen, its nice to know you will fare better on a large cat than a monohull. That said, if I were going to live aboard, I would buy a large Lagoon - ugly, heavy and slow, but they are stronger and practical. The faster the boat, the lighter she will be. Like another on this blog, we can do 10 knots in 25 knot winds, even weighted down as we are with lots of options and toys. Empty (as in a bareboat empty), she will do 14, and 13+ aver a few hours average. We did this in an FP 46 in St Martin. Better sailing, better looking, better chartering, more fun than Lagoon. The Leopard is just too much of a compromise for me - poor sailing, deck-slap and lightweight. You get the performance of a Lagoon, and less structure than a FP - but they are cheap to buy.
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Old 12-04-2013, 06:35   #17
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

i would go for the leopard, with no hesitation. I looked at these 2 brands 2 years ago, visited both of them...Salina for me is not boat designed for blue water cruising but, to be chartered in calm weather of tropical islands. More, finish was very bad, doors did'nt close anymore (new boat), the full pack of service batteries was put in just above right engine...i end here, once again boat choice depend on what are you going to do with your boat.

good luck, enjoy this good time !
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Old 12-04-2013, 08:43   #18
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

I want to thank you all for your help, there is a lot to think about. I have four daughters who will be living on board with me at least three months out of the year, and true to form they have ideas of style and how it should look. They are leaning on dear old dad to go for the Salina, (they like the looks). They really like the Sanya, and so do I but the price is just a bit to high. My oldest did throw Me a curve ball, and mentioned going smaller, she saw the new Aeroyacht Alpha 42, She likes the looks, and the fact it is built here in the USA. ( also gives her an excuse to go with dad to NYC haha) still deciding but having a good time, it is amazing how a decision like this can help bring a family together. I can not wait to choose but want to make the best decision possible, and then get to sailing with my Girls. Is it possible to crew a boat with one captain and 4 admirals????
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Old 12-04-2013, 08:55   #19
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

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Is it possible to crew a boat with one captain and 4 admirals????
I do it all the time with 1 captain and 3 admirals. Its really like single handing with 3 girls tanning on the trampoline. You will just have 4 girls tanning on the trampoline.
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Old 12-04-2013, 16:10   #20
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

They are ages 16, 8, and the twins are 6, so one tanning, two asking where we can find Ariel from the little mermaid, and one trying to figure out why the cat does not want to go swimming. I do not know which has been more fun researching the different boats, or listening to the girls discuss names for her. It is all good though, we are going to charter a boat this summer and spend time cruising.
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Old 04-05-2014, 04:00   #21
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

Reviving this thread.

Anyone know why the Multihull Dynamics Leopard 48 SA/D number has fallen in past year. It was over 26 according to a post here last year. Now it is down to 24.7. The FP Salina has remained at 20.77. The same for a Leopard 46 is 30.47. Is the L46 number correct? That seems like a very sporty number for a mass production cruising cat. The Leopard 46 was advertised to have a displacement of 10,980 kg vs 17,000 for the Leopard 48. Thats a lot of weight gain for 2 feet of length and 1 foot of extra beam. Does anyone have a good view on the validity of the manufacturers data from Leopard? Something seems off here.

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Old 17-11-2014, 04:42   #22
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

it probably was the old leopard 48 and now it s the new one with the forward cockpit..btw the first alphayacht did not end well so i m a bit cautious about them , too bad because it looked good and affordable
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Old 17-11-2014, 05:24   #23
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

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btw the first alphayacht did not end well so i m a bit cautious about them , too bad because it looked good and affordable
The 2nd one is now chartering in the Carib. The delivery captain said she did well despite some adverse conditions from New York south.
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Old 17-11-2014, 11:53   #24
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

good to hear
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Old 01-01-2015, 19:58   #25
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

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Bridge deck clearance Leopard 48

Light ship: 3'5 / 1.04m
Half load : 3'1 / 0.95 m
Full load: 2'10 / 0.87m

The last Leopard 48 that was delivered from South Africa to Ft Lauderdale did the trip in 35 days, the fastest Leopard delivery on record. They averaged 8.1 knots over the almost 8000M trip.

You don't perchance have the figures for a 2002 Leopard 42?

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Old 02-01-2015, 07:52   #26
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

We own a Salina - there is good news and bad. The good news is the basic structure and hull design is excellent. We sailed her at 13-14 knots steady in 25 knot winds when she was empty. Now that she is loaded down, her top speed is 9 steady. All good. High bridge deck is critical - the Leopard is designed for calm waters common in the BVI - not set up to be loaded down and sailed open ocean. The bad news about Salina is a number of bad engineering decisions that will have to be re-engineered, which we have done. Blocks in mast are composite (plastic) and fail after 2 years. Stantions are not properly anchored. Sliding door is supported by wheels that fail. After replacing them twice, we re-engineered the door to be supported from above like a barn door -works great now, but this required some careful engineering and custom fabrication. The list of upgrades we did is mind boggling - what I heat from folks who own the Leopard is that she is better engineered, with fewer failures, but she is a limited design created by Moorings for the BVI charter business. Leopard is a great choice for the BVI - especially if she is sailing light - not so good as a live aboard. When the hull slaps, the boat shudders - big noise, big shake - not pleasant. All cats will do this, but the Leopard does this in modest seas. If you want details on what we did with the Salina, I am happy to respond - or come visit her in St Thomas anytime.
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Old 02-01-2015, 08:55   #27
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Re: FP Salina or Leopard 48

The issues of wave slap and wave slamming for the Leopards has been a topic of great interest to me as I've evaluated catamarans. I have come to the conclusion that it is much more of an issue for the earlier, Simonis designed Leopards, than the post-2005 Leopards. I think the new Simonis designs have significantly more bridgedeck clearance than the early models. The M&M designs were the first Leopards to have significantly more bridgedeck clearance.

I have regular correspondence with a long-time L40 owner who has over 30K nautical miles on his boat and he has had virtually no issues with slapping or slamming. Another aquaintance living on a 2012 L44 with roughly 18K nautical miles on his boat claims he (and his wife) have had only one occassion with slamming and a slight change in course eliminated the problem. (The owners say they have experienced wave slap from time to time, but it is rare and quite minor and they don't consider it an issue.)

I don't know anyone who owns an L48, but it's bridgedeck height looks sufficient to me. I have heard from the same two owners mentioned above that the load carrying capabilities of their boats have been a bit better than advertised by Leopard's published specs.

I recently chartered an L44 in Grenada and the overall performance was pretty good. She had 8 people onboard and would probably be considered at half load. We achieved speeds of 9-10 knots in slightly less than 21 knots of wind and easily sailed at 6.5 - 8.5 knots with winds between 15-20 knots. We followed the reefing schedule as mounted on the saloon bulkhead throughout the charter. The L48 seems to be a larger L44, I would think its performance would be at least as good as the L44.
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