I will be going to the
Annapolis show to see the new 420,(we have
hull #11) and would indeed like to meet with other potential owners. Because we have a demo sail on the 420 set for 1:00 P.M. on Tues. the 10th, I will not be arriving at the show until Sunday afternoon. If any of you will still be around at this time let me know, as I think that a 420 owners group would be a very positive thing when dealing with Lagoon over warranty issues and other problems with the
boat. I also think that starting a
parts co-op in the Virgins might be a possible way to stock some of the
electrical components that are only found on the 420. In the charrter business, down time is
lost money and spoiled vacations. This is the first post I have made to this forum, but I have been following the post for several months now, and it seem like you are all looking forward to the hybrid
concept that this boat promises. You have covered most of the bases with your comments on how to make this a better boat. One aspect of this boat that has not be addressed very much in detail is what effect a large
current draw has on
batteries. The higher the amperage draw, the less efficient the
batteries become, and with
electric engines the amperage draw will be large indeed! When you consider which batteries to buy for this boat you must first look at it amper/hour rating, and then another rating such as reserve capacity at a 25 amp draw. With these two figures you can then calculate "Peukert's Exponent" or number. You should all
google "Peukert's Exponent" to see its significance of this number! For example, if you take 2 different 140 amp-hour batteries, one with a Peukert exponent of 1.3 and the other with a Peukert exponent of say 1.1, then do the calulations at various amp draws you will see what I mean. At a constant draw of 14 amps the
battery with the 1.3 exponent will last 8.12 hours, the the
battery with the lower 1.1 exponent will last 9.33 hours. As the amp usage go up the gap widens exponentially. At a 28 amp draw the 1.3 battery will only last 3.3 hours whereas the 1.1 battery will last 4.35 hours, almost 25% longer from the same 140 Ah rated battery. I am very curious to see what kind of European batteries come as standard, to see if I need to replace them right away with a quality battery with a low Peukert number (the closer to 1 the better). I found a 72V to 12V battery
charger and asked Lagoon if they thought it would be alright for me to add to my boat, as their standard boat only came with a 110V battery
charger to charge the house batteries. With their design you would have to run the genset to charge the house batteries! They stole my idea and now the standard boat will be equipped with a 50amp 72V to 12V battery charger and they have dropped the 110V to 12V charger altogether. This is a much better system as it will keep your house batteries topped off as you sail. At present I am working on a 9000 BTU air conditioner that draws only 6 amps AC and would run all night on a 2000 watt pure sine wave
inverter without the need of the genset running at all if you have topped of the batteries with few hours sailing. This would not only help cool down the boat but also help with dehumidification. I passed on Lagoons $28,000 AC system because of not only the exorbinate
price, but also on the fact that all
air conditioning systems in todays cats require the genset to run at full output all the time. I can see some charters that would run the system 24/7, and burn out your genset in a very short time. This system would definetly need batteries with a low Peukert Number. Did any of you future owners see the letter from Dieter Gust (CEO CNB/Lagoon) to the various U.S. dealers apoligizing for yet another delay in the production schedule dated Sept 29th? My
delivery date (ex-factory) has been moved back again by about 6 weeks until Jan. 25th, 2007. In the letter it says, and I quote, "Please be assured that the sole reason for these delays is to ensure the quality of our product: the
Lagoon 420 is a new and innovative
catamaran that requires all our attention to make sure that we deliver the boats in perfect condition to customers who will be fully satisfied with their new boat" (I think this may be corporate talk for we have a glitch). Fair Winds, Douglas in Michigan