Here's my 2C for what its worth. We owned a
Leopard 38 prior, but had inspected a Tpi prior to
purchasing the leopard. I chose the leopard for the following reasons.
Front windows suck on the tpi,
leaks hard to stay on top of, lots of damage if left un fixed.
Front windows need covers or it has severe greenhouse effect on
boat. Leopard you dont need covers and can enjoy the scenery.
Tpi had installations for
deck hardware drilled right thru balsa
core that was not properly sealed or filled w
epoxy then re drilled(I forget the name of the process) leading to lots of
rot around
deck hard ware and lots of crunching noises when walking around.
Leopard uses coring but most deck and all
hull penetrations are thru solid glass, except the
hull portlights, and
genoa tracks.
Ive seen 2 other Tpi's that had split or cracked open hulls at the top edges probably from
rot in the
core and a minor hull impact opened it up.
If you find one in great shape they are nice and fast. I feel the leopard is a better build quality.
Also the leopards walk thru in the
cockpit is nice and we liked the
galley up.
We scaled down to an Athena 38 so we could
cruise sooner. Really love the motion and speed of the Athena, miss the huge
shower on the leopard, preferred straight shafts but the sd 20s are pretty bullet proof
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