Does Anyone Own or Have Thoughts on a 2006 FP 43 Belize

[rougewave]

Doing some homework on this boat and the 2006 Lagoon 44, any thoughts or input on the FP would be much appreciated. This would be a BVI and points further south Cat for cruising.

Thanks

[bstreep]

I'm probably the WRONG person to ask about this boat. We chartered one in Belize. Frankly, we ALL hated the boat. But, I'm a monohull guy. Here are my thoughts on THIS boat - and they are not just mono vs. multi:

The cockpit is not at all comfortable. It's huge, you can have a small dance in it, but there are no comfortable seats. On top of that, the huge salon blocks all of the wind (ventilation), and all of the view while traveling.

The salon table was poorly built. The seating covers storage, and we were all the time "falling in" to the storage areas.

The fridge/freezer are rather small for this size boat.

If you are "big", you'll struggle with the head seating. I'm not, but my buddy is.

The moron who designed the windlass/chain locker should be shot. Seriously. The windlass dumps into a pile in the giant chain locker, and you have to stop the windlass periodically and kick the pile over. Otherwise the chain builds up and locks up the windlass. Stupid.

Loaded up, it's slow. Kind of typical of many cats, but if you are going to take a lot with you, it will definately impact the sailing.

The thru hulls are many, and were installed shotgun style. I told the charter company they needed a map. They also clogged with weed ALL THE TIME. Again, I don't know if this is normal for cats. Unclogging strainers was a daily chore.

For this size boat, the bunks aren't great. OK, but not great. The charter version has quarters for 10. For a couple, this is kind of wasted...

Engine access is poor. You end up pretty much in a ball on top of the engines. This may also be a mono/cat thing.

Seating outside of the cockpit, is pretty much non-existant. The tramps look great in the photos. In real life, not so good. Sorry, I think that was a cat/mono thing. My mistake.

Sail handling was great. Easy to work, etc. Boat was reasonably quick under power and sail, as long as we weren't going to weather.

We weren't in much wave action, so I can't comment on the bridge deck.

Handling under power was just plain great. But, that's a cat/mono thing too!

These folks have one, and have it in charter in Belize. Contact them, and I'm sure they will clue you in to what they like/don't like. They've sailed it a lot. I'd also recommend a charter - and you can charter from them directly, and save vs TMM, who is their charter company. He's a great guy.

Caribbean Sea Adventures: Sailing Charter in Belize, Ambergris Caye Belize, Belize Yacht Charters, Yacht Charters Belize

P.S. Come see us and we can talk further. Also get the Admiral's opinion.

[rougewave]

Thanks Bill for taking the time to post, next time I'm down your way (Port A) lunch is on me. Better yet, next time your up in the Marble Falls area, let me know, I'll take care of ya

[yeloya]

I've chartered twice Belize and I am really surprised on bstreep's views..
Belize is not "exceptionally well" but a "well" buit cat, one of the fastest in FP range, easy to tack and sails perfect, including close reach. I was with one of my biased mono guys and he couldn't believe it.
Negatives ? It gaves me the impression of being very light. It was kind of scary in choppy seas, heavy wind (+ 25-28 knts) as opposed to my current Orana which is 2 tons heavier for the same size and sits perfectly on the sea. (she's though slower than Belize..)
In short, for coastal cruising Belize is perfect choice. If you consider long passages, take another look.. You may want to consider a bit heavier, more forgiving cat..

Cheers

yeloya

[vveerrgg]

I have the biggest crush on the Orana righ now. My $$$ are telling me I can only afford a Lavezzi,.... but I've been smitten. Think it would be fairly easy to lighten an Orana up to something little more snippy?

[Nordic cat]

Originally Posted by vveerrgg

I have the biggest crush on the Orana righ now. My $$$ are telling me I can only afford a Lavezzi,.... but I've been smitten. Think it would be fairly easy to lighten an Orana up to something little more snippy?

I can't imagine how you can lighten one by some tons. Any boat we choose is going to be a compromise unless we have unlimited funds, and even then, you can't always have it all.

I don't know what your experience with cats is, but if you want a snippy boat, then look at some of the threads here, there is alot of good advice around regarding different formulas and ratios to give an idea of how a boat will perform.

I use the Multihull Dynamics data, it's cheap and saves alot of time when you start weeding out the slugs....

Look at the Performance Index figure. You can do the work yourself, Terhohalme posted a really nice calculator here a few months ago. Use the search function and search for posts by him. There is a Texel rating calculator from him as well, or else you can find one on-line.

For me, light wind performance is very important, when it's blowing 20 knots, then nearly every cat can get to around 10 knots.

In 10 knots TWS, there aren't many that will do more than 60% TWS many only around 50% or less if loaded with a bit of the normal cruising gear.

I hope this helps you narrow down boats worth looking at seriously.

regards

Alan

[bstreep]

Well, opinions are like......

After chartering the Belize 43, I've thought about writing an article entitled: "In defense of the monohull charter". We hated it that much.