Lagoon 450 s or FP Helia 44?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by iliohale

Draw a triangle with three equal sides. Label the corners as follows "Economy", "Comfort", "Performance". Those are the three key trade offs you have to weigh when you shop for a catamaran. To me the Bavaria Nautitiech Open 46 strikes the right balance between these three factors. Check out my video on the Open 46 here:

You work for Nautitech?

[iliohale]

Originally Posted by DotDun

You work for Nautitech?

LOL - no, just a potential buyer. Been sailing for 40+ years all on mono hulls. I have owned 5 boats over that time. It has only been in the last 3 years that I got interested in multihulls. We are looking for our "last boat" to do some ocean crossings and spend time cruising. I have a friend who purchased a Leopard 39 three years ago and is now cruising. We really liked the platform and features of a multihull. So it has been a crash course in multihulls which I find extremely fascinating compared to monohulls. Completely different trade offs and evaluation criteria.

Gary

[tribusue]

Andrew, both are fantastic boats for cruising around the world. DOn't expect high speeds, but a lot of comfort. I have sailed both. I recently did a demo sail on the 450S, and I can tell that "IS" the boat.

[805gregg]

Look at Impi catamaran, they have sailed most of the globe in their Lagoon 44, I sailed on a Helia 44, I didn't like the modern square look of everything. If I had that kind of money I would be looking at Catana, Outreamer or ST, Francis

[Steve_C]

I agree with your two choices and I found the following to very worthwhile.

Lagoon 450S Catamaran Review: Exterior, Design, Construction, Sailing Ability

Although there are many great choices out there, for the money and budget you are considering these two are also my favorites. Neither are perfect by any means and I really wish I had double the budget, but I am very happy and fortunate to be able to be looking at a boat in this range. The 450S is currently my preference and I will be in Annapolis in October to see it in person for the first time alongside the Helia.

[CalmSeasQuest]

I'm also looking forward to Annapolis. I had the short list down to the Helia and 450S until info (albeit limited) on the FP New 47 came along.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by iliohale

LOL - no, just a potential buyer. Been sailing for 40+ years all on mono hulls. I have owned 5 boats over that time. It has only been in the last 3 years that I got interested in multihulls. We are looking for our "last boat" to do some ocean crossings and spend time cruising. I have a friend who purchased a Leopard 39 three years ago and is now cruising. We really liked the platform and features of a multihull. So it has been a crash course in multihulls which I find extremely fascinating compared to monohulls. Completely different trade offs and evaluation criteria.

Gary

Great video Gary. Well done and it looks like a good cat. The biggest problem for me is the lack of forward visibility from the stern wheels. If you are on say the port of the boat you do not have a clear view over the starboard side. Because a cat has the big box saloon in the middle using a wheel positioning like you would on a monohull makes no sense. Lake of visibility when navigating is just plain dangerous.

Apart from the windage issues i like the flybridge helms on the Lagoon, FP etc. But even the sport tops have better, safer which means clear lines of site than the mono hull like helm positions of Nautich. It just is not good on a cat.

The other issue of the helm position that I have, and it is the same for back stern positions of helm on monohulls as well as cats, is the proximity to the big following waves in high seas. For me I would like to have hight and distance from large seas if I was looking for an around the world cruiser. But what do I know.

[Steve_C]

Originally Posted by CalmSeasQuest

I'm also looking forward to Annapolis. I had the short list down to the Helia and 450S until info (albeit limited) on the FP New 47 came along.

I am intrigued by the new 47, I will very likely wait to see it also. I am afraid the price may be up there higher than I want it to be. Of course they are ALL higher than I want them to be

I am torn between the desire to go now with a smaller vessel and a smaller budget, or spending more time to increase my budget.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Steve_C

I am intrigued by the new 47, I will very likely wait to see it also. I am afraid the price may be up there higher than I want it to be. Of course they are ALL higher than I want them to be

I am torn between the desire to go now with a smaller vessel and a smaller budget, or spending more time to increase my budget.

Go smaller - go NOW

[Pascals Wager]

My partner and I faced the same decision a year ago between the 450 and the Helia 44. We went the the Multi Hull Boat show in France and could compare both side by side. We chose the 450S as it is so much more boat than the 44 for similar money and we liked the solid construction compared to the lighter Helia. We had sailed both and found performance to be similar with the 44 having the edge in lighter conditions. (At least with the sails we had) We have had our 450S now since Feb and love it.

Sent from my SM-T719 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Zuri]

Check report on L450S - CatamaranGuru.com


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[aclmck]

Originally Posted by Zuri

Check report on L450S - CatamaranGuru.com


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Just be carful using sites with the basis of selling you a boat, i've read nearly all of the reviews they have made on cats mostly they talk up the boat brand they sell and rubbish the ones they don't, well that's my opinion anyway.

[aclmck]

Originally Posted by andrew520675

Hello,
My wife and I are going to buy our first boat for blue water cruising boat. We are keen on a Cat and the Lagoon450 s and FP Helia 44, tick a lot of boxes.
However, I am worried the sailing performance maybe quite poor. The Sales people tell him it will be fine, but I was hoping someone with real experience on these Cats would share their thoughts and advice.


Many Thanks

Andrew

Hi Andrew, these boats are both great but are different in size the helia is a smaller boat than the lagoon, the lagoon 42 is probably a little smaller than the helia but nowhere near as good IMO, Leopard have a couple of models that i think compare closer the leopard 48 vs the lagoon 45s and the new leopard 45 vs the helia, but that's is my observation, there are obviously many boats you can compare to some that are really fast some the reverse but the ones you picked are great boats for cruising. my list is similar to yours but i have included the actual cost of the loaded boats(loaded being all options that i need on each boat) as well and that is where you will find great advantages over different models and brands

[Steve_C]

Originally Posted by aclmck

my list is similar to yours but i have included the actual cost of the loaded boats(loaded being all options that i need on each boat) as well and that is where you will find great advantages over different models and brands

Would you mind sharing your compared costs? That would be nice to see.

[aclmck]

Originally Posted by Steve_C

Would you mind sharing your compared costs? That would be nice to see.

I will when figure out how to get them out of numbers into CF (not very computer literate)

But it is a bit of a shock when you realise that only 20 -30000 euros separates most of the boats because of the cost of some of the options i wanted with particular boats with varying the list to suit that boat. boats compared were in the end lagoon 42,lagoon 400s2, lucia 40 and the leopard 44 now the 45. items i left off were dinghy and motor,washing machine,water maker,generator,solar because i would fit these myself although dinghy size will depend on the boat i choose and therefore price .