420: Lagoon 420 Advice for Buying

[Erik C]

Congratulations, you are where I want to be tomorrow, signing a purchase contract. You must have thought about it but why don't you pick up the boat at the factory? That way you can make sure everything is in order. Join the ARC and enjoy a great sail home.

[Randall]

Am i understanding this correctly. lagoon wants you to give them the money first than later they may give you a boat at a some undetermined time with no declaration of money from them. Why would you not put down a down payment and the rest at delivery? IE the day you get the boat?

[GordMay]

Before any purchase agreement is signed, check out the reputation of both manufacturer and dealer, and perhaps get an Attorney to review the specific contract or purchase agreement.

In any case, read the contract very carefully, ensuring that you understand the implications of each and every provision.

A new boat purchase contract should obviously include a provision setting out the price, the value of any trade-in, and the deposit. The terms dealing with the deposit should specify whether the deposit is forfeit in the event the purchaser defaults, and whether (or not) the deposit is held in escrow.

The contract should also specify the completion date, and should specify what will happen in the event either party does not complete.

If the buyer does not complete, the contract should specify whether the deposit is forfeit as liquidated damages, or whether the vendor can sue for damages in addition to the deposit. What the contract provides is a matter of choice.

Typical forms provide for the deposit to be forfeit as liquidated damages. This provides certainty in that, regardless of the vendors real damages, the remedy is limited to retaining the deposit. If the contract did not provide for the deposit to be forfeit as liquidated damages the vendor would have to prove the actual amount of damages suffered, which may or may not be more than the deposit.

If the seller does not complete, the contract should specify whether the purchaser's rights are limited to the return of the deposit. This is the usual provision, although the contract could equally allow the purchaser to sue for damages. If the contract does not provide for what will happen in the event of a breach by the vendor, the common law provides the purchaser with a right to either sue for damages or, if the vessel is unique, the purchaser could sue for specific performance of the contract.

Here’s an example of a
“SAMPLE BOAT PURCHASE AND CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT” from the Law Office of Charles M. Davis
Goto: Articles: Sample Purchase

[Alaskagator]

Erik,
We thought about doing that, but in order to pull it off we would have to order most of the factory nav and communication equipment. We found out from Raymarine that the listed factory options would be outdated by the time the boat is built as they are either already in stock from a previous order or will be ordered so far in advance that the latest equipment will come out before the boat is completed. Also we found out that most of the factory options are overpriced and if installed would jack up the import duty to get the boat back into the US. And finally the options are not what we want as we have chosen the Furuno 3D radar and chartplotter for the heat of our nav equipment. But perhaps the most important reason that we won't do the ARC right off the git go is that we really want to sail in Alaska and taking delivery on the West Coast will allow us to do that starting in the Spring of 09 in lieu of 10. The option of sailing the Med at a later date is always open.

[Grey Perna]

Hello All,

There is a Lagoon 420Hybrid available for charter found at cruiseabaco.com if anyone has interest to sail one and see for themselves how she handles. She is available as a bareboat or captained, may be a good way to get some tangible experience of her system and sail handling.

[rob831]

hmm...last post on the 420 was 2 yrs ago...so...is the hybrid up yo par yet or not?

[ess105]

There are other topics a little more active. We've been on ours for nearly 18 months now and are within 2-3 days of setting off into the Pacific. System is working very well for us. We love it.

[Grey Perna]

Yes the L420 in Abaco is running great, systems are good and she's still available to chater, look her over at www.cruiseabaco.com, she is called Tesoro.

[Jan B]

We have been living aboard our Lagoon 420 for 1 1/2 years and are very happy with our decision to get a hybrid. A lot depends on how you use it. During the time we've owned her, we've sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to Corpus Christi, back to Ft. Lauderdale, north to Charleston, back south to Miami, and across to the Bahamas where we are now. I should mention that we were not sailors when we purchased Seas the Day, and this is our first sailboat. We find it an easy boat to sail, and even easier to live on. We've encountered some extremely bad weather while sailing and she has always performed well under all conditions.

A few words about Lagoon. First, we purchased Seas the Day, Hull 71, through CatCo. As with all Lagoons, she came across from France to Ft. Lauderdale on her own hull with a delivery crew. When we took delivery in August, 2008, we moved aboard with a long "fix list" after we inspected her. Almost all of our requests for repairs were made, including a new genoa, as it had a small tear in it. Most of the fixes were minor, but we were generally pleased with how CatCo and Lagoon responded. CatCo employs a hybrid guru who was always on call if we had a question.

Since then, we have been very impressed with the way Lagoon has stood behind the hybrid components and continues to develop new technology. Yes, some people who purchased the hybrid version did switch to the twin diesels, but these were mostly from the early hulls. Lagoon seems to be willing to support the hybrid concept even beyond logical warranty periods.

Is it heavy? Yes it is. Is it slower than some sailors might want? Again, yes. For us, we've discovered that we spend much more time at anchor than we do traveling from place to place. In the States, we almost always had to sail offshore from Florida up the East Coast as our mast is a bit too tall to get under many of the ICW bridges. (We are planning to get it cut down when we return to the States). We easily made 50-60 mile runs on the ocean each day from inlet to inlet.

We are full time liveaboards and are completely satisfied with the comfort of our "home." We've always wondered what it is about the 420 that some people (who aren't owners) seem to love to bash. It is disconcerting to read about issues with the 420 from people who don't own it. I wouldn't presume to criticize another boat without having first hand knowledge of problems. We communicate with many other owners through our 420 Forum, and find that there are few complaints. In addition, we have a community of owners who always have advice when we have a small (or large) problem.

Incidentally, if we do decide that the hybrid system does not work for us any longer, we have the option to converting it to twin diesels at any time at a very reasonable cost.

Jan and Mark

[Tabigaras]

I would be very careful about any business dealings with Rod Gibbons , after being misled by him myself and the end result was I lost a great deal of money rather than going any further with this idividual and losing more money ..