400: Lagoon 400

[Factor]

Originally Posted by D&D

There is also a special type of boat hook that includes an ingeneous system at the outboard end which permits quite precise placing of berthing lines from a distance. We saw it demonstrated at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show but I can't now remember the maker's name. I did, however, find a link that describes what appears to be the exact same function performed by an attachment to a standard boat hook...and I'll (try to!) provide the link here...

WRINO Boat hook - I have one and its very good.

Wrino Boat Hook

[D&D]

Originally Posted by peterp

there was very little difference in speed between the cruising cats on my short list, in reality they all seem to do around the 7 to 10kts with winds of 10 to 18knts, in my view assuming your cat of choice has a speed capability that meets the norm, a cruising cat speed is arguably the most irrelevant.

Hello Peter! Yes, we're from Sydney, at the moment anyway, but soon to move up the coast to Yamba where both we and our vessel will live, hopefully as our base for extended coastal cruising, including Tassie and perhaps some Pacific island-hopping as well...and no, we are not yet confirmed buyers of the L400. Our search kicked off almost exactly 3 years ago now with a view to be on the water around now or fairly soon now anyway. We're glad we alloted so much time as we certainly learned a lot -- I'm a long-term monohull sailor, now converted to the 'dark side' for some creature comforts on the water! -- but our decision time is now quite immediate.

At the risk of straining our nascent friendship, we might suggest a small exception to your remarks above. Whilst what you say is exactly correct as far as it goes, there may be one (in our view important) qualification to the "speed is irrelevant" position, viz. in light airs. In our experience there can be marked differences in light air performance. All cruising cats (and really all sailing vessels, to a point) perform OK when there's plenty of breeze. When it's below 10kn wind, however, some cats keep moving along nicely...and others do not. We experience regular spells of light air along the Aussie east coast and we do not want to spend all this loot to end up listening to diesels on long passages...so we are very focussed on light air performance. We are yet to sail the L400 though, so we can't extend any further observations relevant to this thread...but you and Garold could of course!

You're right too about the absent step up to the saloon roof on the L400...a factory oversight indeed. We'd be very interested to hear (or, better still, see) how you (or Garold?) address this issue on your vessel(s).

Does your vessel have a name yet?

[peterp]

Hello d&d again, not enough experience on the 400 yet so cannot report with any honesty how it performs in marginal conditions, Garold over to you to answer that one if you have done enough sailing in those conditions to form a opinion. I suggest you talk to Brendon in Sydney at VicSail they are the dealers I purchased mine through, they may have a 400 at the forthcoming Sydney boat show I am sure they would take you out for a test sail that may answer all your questions.
Regarding the name, non as yet.
Re your possible purchase of a new cat be it a 400 or another euro based craft the current exchange rate is very favourable for us here in Australia at the moment.
Kind regards Peter.

[Garold]

Well guys, I clearly need to get out more and get sailing so I can feed more info back. So.........

We do not have a cruising chute on this boat yet, and whatsmore, since we are impatient sailors we often use the engines if the wind is less than 10 knots.

However, we did a test sail on an early L400 demo boat, and it had a cruising chute which we used in wind of about 8 to 10 knots. And the boat was surprisingly sprightly. We sailed on a beam reach and the boat accelerated well in winds that the normal sails were not powerful enough. I would say that the performance was marginally better than our L380 with the cruising chute. Probably sailed at about 4 to 6 knots, enough to keep up with the other yachts that were out that day.

Since the L400 is a slab sided, non-aerodynamic shape above the water, I think that we all assume that it will be the same shape below, but those designers at Lagoon have worked hard to keep a flighty underwater profile that can give a surprisingly perky sail.

Notwithstanding this, I would definitely put the L400 in the 'cruising' category. We test sailed a Fontaine Pajot Mahe 36 before our purchase of the L380 and this brand is clearly lighter and more performance oriented, and so I feel confident that other brands will probably do the 'racy multihull' product much better than Lagoon.

And finally, the missing step... maybe it was a really big bloke who designed that bit of the boat and he didn't notice the need. Yes, I agree, it needs some after-market steps to assist access to the roof. It needs a small step next to the windlass near the mast just to aid stepping up there whilst grabbing the stays attached to the mast, and also, some kind of ladder from the helm position. However, at the helm, when you do climb up, which I have several times, one needs to be careful because there isn't much 'roof' to stand on at the port side of the boom. One could easily fall back down towards the helm position and take a nasty injury.

Cheers guys.

Garold

[robdyson]

1000 miles in 2 years....................... can i buy your boat when youve finished with it?

[Garold]

Well robdyson, we have already sold the L380. But I may have underestimated the distances. It may have been somewhere between 1000 and 2000.

And the current L400 has taken every bit of money and energy that I have, so I hope that we stick with it.

We just don't seem to rack up the miles. I think that we spend too much time at the weekends going very short distances, and then just relaxing at anchor overnight.

Typing this, I feel a bit embarrassed that we have not been more adventurous but we only really make any distance in the summer months.

Cheers

Garold

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Garold

We just don't seem to rack up the miles. I think that we spend too much time at the weekends going very short distances, and then just relaxing at anchor overnight.

Typing this, I feel a bit embarrassed that we have not been more adventurous but we only really make any distance in the summer months.

Ah Garold, embarrassed?!? Surely not! It's dif'rent strokes for dif'rent folks mate...and especially so on the water. Your lovely "early morning thread drift" last month and your account of your weekend on the water earlier this month brought big smiles here, along with plenty of (what we hope is healthy!) envy. You have nothing whatsoever to be embarrassed about...and PLENTY that many, many others would love to enjoy in your place! You just keep doing what you enjoy brother...and if the spirit moves you to log big miles, we're sure you'll go there when you're ready.

[peterp]

Hello, Garold, I'm very pleased, just got this email confirming my L400 hull is number 93 and.................
I have been advised that your boat is the first to see the 2010/2011 model year updates which are;

• Addition of leather bulkhead organiser in all cabins
• Dark grey leather for steering wheel
• E series chart plotters
• Wood is Alpi blond oak – only slight change from current
• LED spot lights inside and out
• Saloon settee redesigned in order to correspond to sofa trap doors
• Addition of polyester cover below mainsail track bolts
• helm seat backrest foam denser and seat raised 80mm
• Footrest at helmstation
• S/S companionway handrails covered with leather
• Davits same as rest of range

Only minor updates, but good that your boat is a new model year version.
A really significant upgrade is the E series wide touch screen particularly as I have two, one at the steering station and one in the saloon, interesting that they have raised the seat 80mm ‘Hanafe’ a L400 owner in Hong Kong made this mod himself, or they must have taken notice of your comments, and I like the foot rest idea, not sure what a leather bulkhead organizer in all cabins does, but it sure sounds cool. Garold I do hope all your installations are going well. Regards Peter

[D&D]

Originally Posted by peterp

the 2010/2011 model year updates

Sounds good Peter, thanks for posting that information.

Do either of you (or any other L400 owners out there) have any photos or drawings of the upper galley cupboards/cabinets? We understood (from Vicsail at the Sanctuary Cove Show) they were already introduced, but we're not sure where they fit in the model update processes...

[Garold]

Well guys, I've had the boat to sail for only a few weeks and already feel like I have the old model!

Yes, we have the upper galley cupboards but all of those other 2010/2011 additions seem really sensible and maybe show that Lagoon are listening to their customers and dealers.

The footrest, the raised helm seat, and changing the davits are all things that we would like to have. Some of the other bits are cosmetic but nevertheless still desireable. As for the current saloon cushions being cut so that they do not line up with the locker lids below, you just have to wonder why they didn't notice earlier.

We are very happy with our boat though we have hit a busy work/family period and so hardly visited over the last couple of weeks.

We have anchored overnight though and managed to drag. Poor seamanship was the cause with not enough chain out, but a larger anchor is under consideration too.

Our snagging list is getting attention from Ancasta, the UK dealer, and I am sure that it will all be sorted over the next few weeks.

I will try to remember to take pics of the galley and send/post next week. Please feel free to prompt me.

We hope to spend the weekend on board and the forecast is pretty good so I am looking forward to the treat.

Cheers guys, and congratulations Peter.

Garold

[peterp]

Hello D&D attached a photo of overhead cupboards as sent to me from the London boat show, (I hope haven’t tried attaching before) you will also see the draws replacing the fridge. Garard be interesting to see if your cupboard is the same, I imagine it would be, I chose to go without the draws as we thought the overall cupboard space will be ok, instead we ordered two fridges they have freezers in the top, whilst small, two combined do make a fair amount of freezer space, if we need more freezer space I’ll have one fitted to the outside locker under the steering seat, how did you configure your fridge freezer set up?
Regards Peter

[Garold]

Peter

The photo is from the Paris Boat Show. I recognise the background.

This was the first showing of the new galley top cupboards, and the ones installed on our boat are exactly the same.

We only went for one fridge and kept the drawers, but this is entirely personal preference. I understand that others may make more use of fridge and freezer than us so more refridgeration may be an individual choice.

Cheers guys

Garold

[peterp]

Garard, I stand corrected. What do you think of the upgrade cupboard.
Regards Peter

[Garold]

Originally Posted by peterp

Garard, I stand corrected. What do you think of the upgrade cupboard.
Regards Peter

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a smart alec, but I spent hours on that stand in December 2009 and we actually did the deal sat beneath the boat at the show so it's imprinted on my mind!

As for the cupboard........useful. Well located because it does not block your eye line into, out of, or through the saloon. And it occupies a space that you don't miss.

I think that since ours, they have improved the edge trim a little bit also.

Cheers

Garold

[Garold]

If this works, these are photographs from the same show of the cupboard.

Cheers

Garold