I am officially smitten by the New Leopard 45!

[robertk445]

Originally Posted by Four Coconuts

I was at the Miami show, too, having flown down from NH to look for our next cat which we will hopefully purchase in two years. We sold our 2000 Leopard 45 7 months ago. I was not nearly as impressed with the new 45 as you were. First, the boat is too heavy and doesn't have sufficient buoyancy in the bows to handle the weight without serious pounding if you're going offshore. Evidence? It weighs 8,000 lbs more than my old Leopard 45 and has narrower hulls. Look at the video of the new boat at minute 1:30, they are sailing in relatively benign waters and yet the bows are burying 18" above waterline, requiring almost all the good bridgedeck clearance they built in. I've also got to say it's underpowered compared to the old boat (sorry to keep comparing, but by experience it's the best comparison I have). Again, we were 8,000 lbs lighter (lightship), yet our mast was 71'. How's a 62' mast going to power a 32,000 lb boat which which will be 36,000 once you load it up? And, what will the bows look like then going through the waves?

Not so fast! Watching SV "Happy Together" on youtube 2014 Leopard 48 moves exceptionally well and very smooth in a range of winds. This boat is roughly same draft and 7,000 lbs heavier. If that is rough sailing, count me in! Watching these video will just get you pumped up over the new 45! I was really surprised to see the 48 moving 10knots in various winds. I would expect similar performance from the 45.

[robertk445]

Originally Posted by sheldon957

I will say that the draft was an issue for me, and I was surprised at the huge 11" increase in stated draft from a 2012 Leopard 44 of 4'2".

As we all know, every boat has compromises. What I do like about the forward area most is the DOOR which no one has mentioned in this thread. If I had to access the forward bow area quickly in bad weather, going through the door would be a whole lot less risk for a man overboard scenario. Of course if green water was constant, you would have to go outside.

Additionally, you could make a cover for the area that may help shed the majority of the water.

I was thinking the same thing about the cover! Don't think I would open forward door in bad weather. Life rings are out the back.

[Four Coconuts]

Robert,

Don't think me harsh- I'm just trying to bring you back to reality. I think you're suffering from what psychologists refer to as reaffirmation. I know your a brilliant fellow so I need not elaborate. I've just watched 4 hours of Lennie on the L48. They did about 1/2 hour of sailing in a 4 hour video. Quote: "what a novelty, we are actually sailing". They were doing 8 kts at the time. They have some wonderful cinematography, and are clearly having a good time. That's what they're selling. They reached 8 kts and were very excited about it- good for them. If that's you're looking for then the new L45 will match your expectations. It will be very nice cruising the BVI's.

David
100 ton Master

[SV Bacchus]

Hey David, AKA Four Coconuts,

We are negotiating on a 1997 L45 and happy to hear they are "tough as nails". There is comfort knowing that! She began life as a charter so 4 cabins/4 heads, which I am not so fond of but everything else is lining up fine (so far). The Admiral is completely in love with the cockpit and I have to admit it appears hard to beat!

[Imprezza72]

Originally Posted by Four Coconuts

Robert,

Don't think me harsh- I'm just trying to bring you back to reality. I think you're suffering from what psychologists refer to as reaffirmation. I know your a brilliant fellow so I need not elaborate. I've just watched 4 hours of Lennie on the L48. They did about 1/2 hour of sailing in a 4 hour video. Quote: "what a novelty, we are actually sailing". They were doing 8 kts at the time. They have some wonderful cinematography, and are clearly having a good time. That's what they're selling. They reached 8 kts and were very excited about it- good for them. If that's you're looking for then the new L45 will match your expectations. It will be very nice cruising the BVI's.

David
100 ton Master

No offense but watch the last 4 videos. The first videos were sailing upwind from Florida to the Caribbean.

[Four Coconuts]

I will watch those. I'm sure the boats will handle everything the owners throw at them. I'm just trying to say that given weight, windage and sail area it will be at moderate speeds.

[Imprezza72]

Originally Posted by Four Coconuts

I will watch those. I'm sure the boats will handle everything the owners throw at them. I'm just trying to say that given weight, windage and sail area it will be at moderate speeds.

I agree, BTW enjoyed your boat tour videos.

[Imprezza72]

Of course Leopard was monitoring this thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML-z...em-uploademail

[Barra]

Originally Posted by Imprezza72

Of course Leopard was monitoring this thread

Lol im all pumped up now after that music. need to get some speed from somewhere

Really its just rubbish that frankly disrespects their potential buying public (but then again maybe not)

[Hearts Content]

It better come with some Grey Poupon!

Sweet ride.

[yeloya]

I had sailed the Helia #1 in almost under similar conditions (maybe with a little bit of less wind) with a spinneaker but w/out the main and averaged 12-13 kts. If 17,5 kts seen on video is achieved, it is some performance.
Nevertheless, this kind of sailing is not something that an average cruiser would ever try, hence it doesn't tell me much about the overall performance of the boat.


Cheers


Yeloya

[bensolomon]

Bacchus,

How are you finding the condition of the leopard 45 after picking her up from Charter use? The Admiral and I were thinking about purchasing a new l45 and putting her in the charter Fleet to assist with the payments but I was concerned that the boat would be too abused during the five-year Charter period. Did you use a brokerage, or is this a Moorings / sun sail type boat?

Ben
S/V Dawn
37.5 Hunter Legend

[WRoss]

I have chartered Leopards quite often, most recently the new 40 for a month. Although I love the live-ability and creature comfort of these boats in sheltered waters I'd be reluctant to own one because, for me, the build quality is problematic.

During my month long charter of the under one year old Leopard we experienced an undue number of problems and watching the repair process was quite informative. For example, one week into the charter a significant cabin top leak developed above the aft starboard berth (see photo). I watched as the mechanics attempted to locate the leak and was somewhat shocked at what I saw. The water turned out to be coming in from the cockpit steering station located immediately above this cabin. They tried to remove the instrument panel but found this to be virtually impossible due to the manner in which the panel had been assembled at the factory so that the only way to actually free the panel would have been to cut fiberglass! Even to go as far as they did required cutting some adhesive sealant. In the end, this 'repair' was accomplished by squirting an abundance of 5200 all around the perimeter of the panel. I pity the next guy who needs to access the back of this instrument panel.

Later one of the hatches snapped in two when one of my crew was opening it from the inside in the usual manner. They were not applying an undue amount to pressure, just the normal amount of force that one needs to push open a hatch. (photo) Maybe this was just a fluke or manufacturing defect of the hatch. However it left me feeling like the hardware was of a lower quality than one would want in an ocean going boat.

A few days later the refrigerator unit quit working (photo). I'm very familiar with this particular type of refrigerator unit because it is the one currently provided on all the Leopard cats. I've found that it has what I consider to be a design flaw - again, just my opinion so please don't bash me too hard on this. I've found that the compressor on these units is located inside a sealed cabinet space. The problem with this is that in order to cool a refrigerator/freezer you must remove heat and this 'heat' is released in the air by the fins on the compressor. Therefore when you place a compressor into a poorly ventilated space the heat will not be removed in an efficient manner causing the unit to have to run more than is necessary - using valuable electricity.

We also had a couple of pieces of cabinet joinery give way and upon examination it was easy to see why. It looked like in both instances the joint was being held together by some form of glue, but because the 'wood' being held had a synthetic plastic surface the glue didn't hold. In both of these cases I believe that the joint should have been secured with fasteners in addition to the glue but they apparently took a shortcut and went with the glue alone.

I could go on with a number of other 'issues' I have with the construction/design but I think you get the idea. I think these boats are perfectly built for charter purposes, near coastal cruising and/or going from marina to marina but could prove unduly troublesome in the long run for liveaboard cruisers who are in remote locations where mechanical support is hard to find and costly.

[peterp]

That action video is great, must be a dead set copy of the Lagoon 42S promotional video indicating 16 knots, well done Leopard over 18 knots!!
eat your heart out Lagoon.....LOL

[CbroTheDude]

Originally Posted by peterp

That action video is great, must be a dead set copy of the Lagoon 42S promotional video indicating 16 knots, well done Leopard over 18 knots!!

eat your heart out Lagoon.....LOL

Would be fair if leopard did that with a 42ft cat in flat sea, with hulls capable of hosting walk-around beds. Anyway I don't think this vid will reach the heart of Lagoon with the 42 being the fastest selling cruising cat ever lol