Lagoon 380 or Leopard 404 ?

[Escapee]

Hi all,

We have two boys aged 9 and 5 and are moving to Malaysia this summer and have been looking at purchasing a 40’ cat, we have looked at a few, however we are now drawn to yacht ownership through sunsail. They offer a 5 year program where you pay 63% of the price of a new sunsail specification yacht, you can use your yacht or a yacht of similar specification for up to 10 weeks a year. We will be staying in Penang which is a short ferry trip (3 hours) away from Langkawi so we could in theory use the yacht for the full 10 weeks. They are offering either a Leopard 404 or a Lagoon 380, the lagoon is US$ 80'000 cheaper…. Any comments good or bad about this program and what your opinion is of the best yacht would be highly appreciated?

Thanks,

Escapee

[Therapy]

63% is better than anything I was told about last year.
Is the 80k part of the full price or the 63%?
I like (from research - I have only sailed a Leopard 45-they said it was) the leopard even though it has less bridge deck clearance. I saw both at the Miami show in Feb.

But I think it is a lot like buying a new car after driving yours for 15 years.

They are all wonderful and new and work so well and, and, and.

The quirks that you don't notice that bother you later will not show at first, but the other one will have had some also. It is just that you don't have that one.

Best of luck.

[jzk]

What is 63% of new for a Leopard 40?

[Escapee]

Hi,

The 80K is after the discount of 38%, it does seem to make the Lagoon so much more appealing, I have only seen the Lagoon 44 close up at the Dubai boat show a couple of months ago, it looked great.

The new Leopard is Euro 175’770 after the 37% discount.

[David M]

The Leopard is going to sail better. If getting there quickly does not matter then get the Lagoon.

[muskoka]

Sail them both before you make a decision. Either way you're talking about a lot of money and saving $80K but ending up with a boat you don't particularly like sailing would be unfortunate.

It's a beautiful area to sail - we're setting off for those parts in November (weather permitting).

[Escapee]

Hi muskoka,


We intend to charter in the summer and will probably take 1 week in the Lagoon and 1 week in a Leopard.
Sunsail has bases in
Malaysia: Langkawi.
Vietnam: Nha Trang.
Thaialand: Phuket, Koh Samui, and Koh Chang.

Have you sailed in any of these destinations before and if so, which do you prefer as we have never sailed in that part of the world?

[Onedaysoon]

I found the first (and second) hand information in this link informative with regards to the pros (few) and cons (many) of ownership/charter programmes:
Chartering Out A Boat You Own

[jzk]

You are better off just buying a boat coming out of charter. Get a "Crewed" version of the Leopard, which supposedly has always had a captain.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by jzk

You are better off just buying a boat coming out of charter. Get a "Crewed" version of the Leopard, which supposedly has always had a captain.

If you are told that, how do you believe them?
As in, "trust but verify".
How?

[muskoka]

Originally Posted by Escapee

Hi muskoka,


We intend to charter in the summer and will probably take 1 week in the Lagoon and 1 week in a Leopard.
Sunsail has bases in
Malaysia: Langkawi.
Vietnam: Nha Trang.
Thaialand: Phuket, Koh Samui, and Koh Chang.

Have you sailed in any of these destinations before and if so, which do you prefer as we have never sailed in that part of the world?

Thailand and Langkawi are fantastic and both have good services & restaurants etc. readily available. Vietnam would, I expect, be a more rustic experience but probably more fun for that reason.

[Ex-Calif]

I have looked at these programs with a bit of curiosity. I think it might be a good deal but at the end of 5 years you have a 175,000 Euro boat that has 5 years of hard slogging on it and you've had 50 weeks max.

I'd spend 175 on a used something now that I could use full time. Especially if you are going to be based in Penang.

But that's just me...