420: Lagoon 420 Owners & Fans

[Rolf]

Hi everybody,

got my new 420 in April, picked her up in Les Sables and have covered 3500 nm so far.

Lots of creaking noises from the interior in the hulls while sailing, when the sea is not dead calm.

Has anybody encountered the same problem and was or is there a solution?

Happy sailing,

Rolf

[Octopus]

Originally Posted by Rolf

Hi everybody,

got my new 420 in April, picked her up in Les Sables and have covered 3500 nm so far.

Lots of creaking noises from the interior in the hulls while sailing, when the sea is not dead calm.

Has anybody encountered the same problem and was or is there a solution?

Happy sailing,

Rolf

Hi Rolfe

Welcome to the club!

We have had one or two creaks where internal panelling is butt jointed with adjacent panels. The worst creak was in the starboard passageway, just aft of the 'electrics cupboard' where the panel meets the bulkhead. We carefully located the source of the creak and then sprayed plenty of WD40 into the join, wiping away the excess. After a few hours or a few minutes the creaking vanished. We had to spray it again about eight months later when it reoccurred.

You might like to join the Yahoo forums
L420_OwnersGroup : L420_OwnersGroup
and
lagooncatowners : Lagoon Catamaran Owners Group

Chris
Octopus, L420 Hybrid, Hull 52
Isle of Arran, Scotland

[Mitch0402]

My name is Mitch and I am new to this forum and am in the process of doing my research on cruising cats and i have a couple of questions...
I was over at the Lagoon 420 website
catamarans LAGOON : construction, vente et location de catamarans de croisière
and it talks about...
"The Lagoon design office has now accumulated knowledge sufficient to launch Hybrid 2 and bring to the Lagoon 420 even more autonomy and ease of use."

#1 does anyone know if this an upgrade to the original hybrid system?

#2 Does anyone have any info on the sailing performance of the L420 vs the L380? diesel versions

#3 Does the L420 nacelle cause more slapping/pounding in rough seas vs the L380?

thanks in advance for any info
-Mitch

[Octopus]

Originally Posted by Mitch0402

My name is Mitch ...
"The Lagoon design office has now accumulated knowledge sufficient to launch Hybrid 2 and bring to the Lagoon 420 even more autonomy and ease of use."

#1 does anyone know if this an upgrade to the original hybrid system?

Hi Mitch

No one else has responded, so I'll try.

I'm afraid I do not know whether Hybrid 2 is a new model or just a relaunch of the Hybrid with the G2 Upgrade. I suspect that it is just a relaunch. Lagoon made a pigs-ear of the launch of the hybrid, because they experienced severe delays in the development of the hybrid control systems. The G2 upgrade delivers the performance that was promised when the Hybrid was launched plus some improvements in the controls

Originally Posted by Mitch0402

#2 Does anyone have any info on the sailing performance of the L420 vs the L380? diesel versions

No idea, but I'd guess the L380 is a bit faster, but I would much rather be in a L420, particularly in heavy weather.

Originally Posted by Mitch0402

#3 Does the L420 nacelle cause more slapping/pounding in rough seas vs the L380?

We never had any problem with pounding or slamming during our 12,000 mile Atlantic Circuit in our 420, although slapping can disturb light sleepers in the forward cabins in certain seas (down-wind is no problem). I cannot comment on the 380, but I haven't heard of there being a problem.

Chris
Octopus, L420 Hybrid
Ardrossan Harbour, Scotland

[Mitch0402]

Thank you for replying Chris - I really like the L420 hybrid concept and i have read up on the pros and cons of the system. I guess what it really boils down to is the battery technology. I am sure as this technology improves (more capacity, less weight, faster recharge times) we will get closer to lessening our dependence on diesel.
P.S. I currently have a Lexus RX400h which uses Nickel Metal Hydride batteries.

[James Joll]

Hello.
I am looking to order a new L420 and interested to hear of peoples experience with A/C. I expect to live aboard for 5 yrs and cruise all the usual spots. By in large does A/C meet performance expectations ? Was it worth the expense ?
Electrical toilets yes or no ? Still undecided Hybrid or Diesel but leaning back to Hybrid.
This Site and thread has been invaluable. Thanks to everyone.

[Octopus]

Originally Posted by James Joll

Hello.
I am looking to order a new L420 and interested to hear of peoples experience with A/C. I expect to live aboard for 5 yrs and cruise all the usual spots. By in large does A/C meet performance expectations ? Was it worth the expense ?
Electrical toilets yes or no ? Still undecided Hybrid or Diesel but leaning back to Hybrid.
This Site and thread has been invaluable. Thanks to everyone.

Hi James

Welcome to the club.

All I can say is we didn't fit a/c and have never regretted it. We do have fans aboard, but scarcely used them during our Atlantic circuit. We spent most of our time on the hook and there was generally sufficient breeze and the boat is well ventilated. We decided against A/C because it added expense, weight and complexity.

I have heard the electric toilets are a good decision, but we've managed OK with the manual ones.

Hybrid or diesel? We would choose hybrid again.

Chris and Beth
Octopus, Lagoon 420 Hybrid
Ardrossan Harbour, Scotland

[ess105]

We only fitted the A/C because of our intentions to have our boat in charter for a while and this is expected by many guests. We've never used A/Cs when we've sailed so they are likely to be superfluous to our personal needs. We opted for manual heads as there is one less thing to fix in the place where I want to spend as little time as possible fixing things. Soon I'll be able to give our experienced thoughts on the hybrid system as we're finally moving aboard our boat this coming Thursday.

[bob.hunt@pgadc.]

We chose to ACX our new boat to be delivered in Feb on the basis that we would spend too much time in the Med but are now wondering whether this was the right decision - needs generator in marinas at night if you are to stay comfortable and then do you need an inverter?
Bob

[ess105]

The A/Cs run of the 110/220V system so if you're hooked up in a marina you won't need to run the generator. Running the A/C off an inverter would deplete the house batteries in no time so it's not a viable option. The cross charging from the drive banks can't provide enough amps to cover the drain.

Martha R, one of the early 420s, has a custom A/C setup that works off of the drive banks I understand. I don't believe you can get a setup like this from Lagoon.

[bob.hunt@pgadc.]

Hi All - Bob and Jane Hunt signed for a Lagoon 420 for delivery in February 2009. Interesting to see that Ancasta in the UK have been excellent re prices despite me adding and subtracting all the time. The only issue for me has been trying to establish an exact specification - its surprising what comes out when you start to write the detail but again they have been very tolerant and have tried to help wherever they could - OK so the boat has not been delivered yet but so far cant speak highly enough - no pressure and everything out in the open!
Good luck with all the negotiations!

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by ess105

The A/Cs run of the 110/220V system so if you're hooked up in a marina you won't need to run the generator. Running the A/C off an inverter would deplete the house batteries in no time so it's not a viable option. The cross charging from the drive banks can't provide enough amps to cover the drain.

Martha R, one of the early 420s, has a custom A/C setup that works off of the drive banks I understand. I don't believe you can get a setup like this from Lagoon.

Chartering Martha R comes with a disclaimer that if the A/C doesn't work you'll get no refund.

I think that probably says all that's needed about the success of that attempt at running off an inverter.

[Spellbinder II]

Originally Posted by James Joll

Hello.
I am looking to order a new L420 and interested to hear of peoples experience with A/C.

I'm just back from the BVI's and can confirm that the AC works very well.

Indeed so much so that someone (not me) was chilling a bottle of champagne on the saloon table of Dignity for the arrival of ess105 on Thursday night! Sorry we missed you - I hope you enjoyed it!

On Shrek we used the AC for two hours morning and night, when we ran the generator to recharge the domestic batteries.

It didn't seem to use much fuel - our total diesel consumption was 50 US gal for 14 days and that included all our motoring and domestic use. That being said we were also regenerating 10 amps (5 amps per motor) in 17 kn winds.

Our youngest can also confirm that the heat mode is also very efficient. She inadvertently hit the heat setting in error and turned her cabin into a oven. Ten minites later it was back to sub-arctic.

Having gone out thinking we wouldn't use the AC, we all agreed by the end of two weeks we wouldn't want to be in the tropics without it.

[sarge]

Hi Everyone,

Have just received our new 420 Hybride in Hong Kong and enjoy reading the past post's in the forum. We are in the process of getting "Kata Tonic" a coat of antifoul and we will step the mast later this week at the RHKYC.

Have a couple of questions :

We didn't buy the geneker option but are thinking this would be a good idea. At the bow currently we just have a plate for the small geneker pole. I thought this pole came with the base boat but ours is missing. (See picture) Can anyone confirm if they received the pole as standard or did you have to buy that option from Laggon?

Also can anyone recommend the best place to mount Solar panels on a 420? I was going to use the Bimini roof but the wife wants that space for lying out. Any recommendations on brands or alternatives to solar ie wind vanes etc?

Looking forward to getting through sea trials around Christmas and then cruising the South China sea around Hong Kong for new year. Will let you know how we go.

Muzza

[Octopus]

Originally Posted by sarge

Have just received our new 420 Hybrid in Hong Kong .....

We didn't buy the geneker option but are thinking this would be a good idea. At the bow currently we just have a plate for the small geneker pole. I thought this pole came with the base boat but ours is missing. (See picture) Can anyone confirm if they received the pole as standard or did you have to buy that option from Lagoon?

Hi Muzza

Congratulations on your new boat. We have been very happy with ours.

I always thought the pole was standard, but looking at our invoice the Gennaker option does state 'gennaker rig and pole', so I guess that is your answer. It looks a bit funny without the pole. We bought the gennaker option and have been very pleased with it. Some owners have felt that the gennaker is too small, but we feel it is small enough to be manageable, but big enough to improve speeds in light winds. We tend to leave ours up until the wind gets to about 16 knots true. It adds about one knot of boat speed. Perhaps it is too small for really light winds. We can get sailing at about 5 knots windspeed and stay sailing until it drops to 3knots.

You might want to join the owner's forum at
L420_OwnersGroup : L420_OwnersGroup
and the Lagoon Owner's forum at
lagooncatowners : Lagoon Catamaran Owners Group

Keep us informed of how you are getting on.

Best wishes for the festive season

Chris
Octopus, Lagoon 420 Hybrid, Hull 52
Isle of Arran, Scotland