Lagoon Comparison

[Lagoon4us]

Agree, I've always set up my boat's with 100% redundancy. We will likely go for Icom or similar the Sat-phone is a grab bag contender as well.

Icoms come in at $4,500 inc antennae tuner and suit all Lagoons (no drift here!!!!)

Cheers Frank

[D&D]

Originally Posted by peterp

Just to add my 2 cents worth on the sat phone thing and not wanting to change the thread, I have been thinking about adding to the communications lately on my L400, whilst the sat phone has it’s dial a specific number feature much like a mobile phone, don’t lose sight of the fact that a HF effects a general broadcast which will be heard by many stations, and would be a must have for any serious offshore trip I did. I must say that I have no experience on ocean sailing, my comments are based on 35 years as a pilot, and as such I have had a lot of HF experience. After some initial investigation it seems to me that both is the best way to go funding permitting, sat phones have come down in price in recent times one can buy a sat phone for around a A$1000, and a plan that is quite economical, at the moment HF fitted around A6K that’s the sort of indicative quotes I have received recently, I note D&D has a excellent web site with some communication gear. Regards Peter

Thanks for the plug Peter. Here's a few more thoughts on that discussion...

Some sat phones (not all, but certainly what we use on CatNirvana) now offer 505 emergency calling. You simply dial 505 (chosen by Inmarsat because it looks like 'SOS') and you are immediately conneted to a Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre. It is also a free service, provided it is used only in emergencies.

For those like us with relatively little HF experience, operating the HF can be intimidating...and even more so in a genuine emergency.

So with the 505 'feature' plus our other backup emergency comms (DSC on the VHF and the EPIRB of course) we decided there was no material safety gain with the HF.

Then adding in the data capabilities on (again some, but not all) sat comms made the choice even easier...and these we used A LOT when at sea, between weather and emails.

HF has the advantage of being free air time, of course, but the sat comm cost is heavily (or entirely, depending on your plan) dependent on usage. We decided to wear the cost for the quality of contact available, but we only pay when we are actually using it, i.e. Nil monthly minimums etc.

That was our choice, of course, and it's very much an each-to-his-own area.

[D&D]

PS Note that we did NOT comment on sat phone pricing as we don't want to offend the Forum Rules. As always there are good deals and not-so-good deals out there. PM us if you want more information.

[Lagoon4us]

Sounds very good will contact you next month, off to buy a Lagoon sooooonNN!!!

[careka]

Boat speed. here is a list from big races so you can see what there numbers are, when it comes to speed.
L380 is the ref- point.

Cat-races-2011-12.xls


Ref:
CMID.DK has put this in system.

The higer number the more speed. (to say it in a easy way)

When it comes to bad weather, it is the sailor that chikkens out not the boat.
And you dont sail the cat like you sail the mono.

Have a nice summer.

[pathlesschosen]

This is the OP. Thanks everybody for the good advise! Helps to narrow the search and the list of boats to charter before purchase. The current budget is around $250k for the boat, plus my sailing funds. Should be adequate for a nice 380 or 410. When it comes time to purchase perhaps the 400 will be closer to my price range. Maybe when retiring I will purchase a nicer boat like the 440. For now I prefer to go small and go now. 38 years old and looking to leave in 2 to 4 years.

Liked the Sat Phone discussion as well. Have a few more questions to post.

[dirkdig]

Great to get out there and enjoy it.
Live now!

[Garold]

We had a Lagoon 380 for a couple of years and then switched to a Lagoon 400 nearly 2 years ago now.

My wife made the switching decision based on the greater space inside the 400. And now I'm over the shock of spending the extra money, I quite like it too.

The build quality issues on Lagoons are well known to all Lagoon owners. And we all just go about our business fixing and upgrading the bits that bug us, whilst accepting that if Lagoon hadn't worked hard to deliver a big boat for a small boat budget, most of us couldn't have afforded a cat in the first place.

Do they fall apart? No.

Do they need a bit of owner attention to make them perfect. Yes.

The woodwork on our L400 hasn't fallen apart yet and we use it more than 50% of weekends and for several weeks per year.

If you want boat that you will spend a lot of time racing then there may be better and more exciting choices than a Lagoon 400, but if you want a vessel to live aboard, and adapt to your own needs with some mods and different equipment then it really does a great job.

And whatsmore, if it doesn't work, you can sell a Lagoon, especially the smaller ones.

For anyone who doubts the durability of Lagoons, just take a look at the ex charter boats. They seem pretty indestructible to me.

Cheers

Garold

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by pathlesschosen

If someone would chime in regarding the Lagoon 410 galley I would greatly appreciate it. The galley seems narrow but has plenty of storage. How is the overall galley use during extended cruising? In addition, please comment on the overall stability of the 410 and the seating at the nav station.

For us (for the lady of course as I only do fried eggs!) the galley of the L410 (not the S2 with the aft facing stove but the older one with the stove beside the sinks) is just the right size. When bounced around in a seaway you could still find something to hold onto. Fridge & freezer space is generous, counter space just enough. Could be more but it's OK.
Lots of well though storage, the forward facing bench was our main area for long term food storage. Daily things can easily be stored more accessible.

What I don't like: The wooden "handrail" around the counter top. Gets some wear very fast, and fades to light gray at the sink (water) and dark brown at the hobs (fat from the pan).


The helm seating: I can get up and down directly from the cockpit without walking aorund. Maybe they changed this with the S2 model?

Nav-station seating: Not comfortable for long term seating as there is no backrest. OK for navigating, watching the radar and stuff. Separate ceiling light just for the nav area.


Overall stability? We are still here and have not yet turned turtle but we never had anything really serious. Never felt endangered. Lots of water washing over the bows when leaving Canouan with 35+ kn and short waves on the nose was not scary at all (yet I had to turn around as our kids were turning green within minutes).

The bridgedeck clearance itself is OK, we very very rarely experience slams of solid blue water right under the bridgedeck. Mostly when running dead downwind and confused seas from two directions happen to match right under the bridgedeck. In the worst conditions of our crossings this happened every hour or so but in normal conditions never. For some reasons this completely disappears if you manage to keep speeds over 7kn. Maybe some dynamic lift? No clue.
But the steps at the hull sides do lots of minor slamming in confused seas. Not dangerous at all but annoying when sleeping in the aft cabins. For the kids this was fun, looking through the escape hatches fully immersed so you could see the other hull, rudder, saildrive, etc.

If I look at the speed figures of the L400 mentioned above, we can do a little better. Not much but considering we are in heavily overloaded cruising trim this is OK.

Our last passage from Guadelopue to Antigua was in around 22-25kn on the beam with an average SOG of 8.9kn for about three hours, top speed just above 10kn for a few minutes when no wave impact slowed us down. No surfing, no current, open water, first reef in the main. We had even faster experiences in more sheltered water.

I you have questions, drop me a line

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by Garold

And whatsmore, if it doesn't work, you can sell a Lagoon, especially the smaller ones.

That was our main reason to get into Lagoons as we knew we would sell after our trip.
Sold within a week after placing the ad.

[white rabbitt]

Do you have links for the four Privilege 37s that you mentioned are still for sale ? Thanks

[pathlesschosen]

OP here. The wife and I just returned from sailing two boats, one a L380. Decided to start with the smallest Lagoon first to see if the boat checked all the boxes. We really enjoyed many of the features of the L380. A great boat for many, but not for us. The other boat we sailed was a slightly larger Leopard with significantly better light wind sailing performance. I am interested to hear from this forum how the other Lagoons sail in light winds. Not my intention to talk bad about any particular boat. The L380 was awesome, just not for us.

On a side note and for those considering catamarans. My wife is very prone to sea sickness as she even gets motion sickness on a swing set. Previous trips on monos she lasted about five mintues. Needless to say she was very nervous agreeing to two weeks on a boat. Well she only got queasy once. Since returning she is actively planning our next adventure.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by pathlesschosen

I am interested to hear from this forum how the other Lagoons sail in light winds.

We feel our L440 sails well in light air. On flat seas we will maintain 4kn SOG in 6-7kn of wind (at anything down to ~45 degrees apparent) with the white sails only, or 5kn if we can set (wind 60-120 degrees apparent) the gennaker.

Speed falls off quickly, however, if we are fighting against the waves...and that applies in better breeze as well. We find the sea state is the most critical determinant of our 'performance'. By the same token, our speed improves with following seas...and sometimes dramatically so if the seas build up. Our top speeds (three times >21kn...not recommended though!) were all heavily reefed and more surfing than sailing.

We should also wholeheartedly embrace your "side note"! The Admiral here tolerates and survives outings on monohulls, but she absolutley loves the cat, relaxing more there than really anywhere else. We now both happily plan, look forward to and then thoroughly enjoy our extended cruising times. Life on a cruising cat is definitely all good!

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by Otia

Hey, I did not want to upset you, nor anyone else. I did put a disclaimer, I admit I am biased in favor of monohulls:
- For the same money, let say as a L380, you can get a serious monohull with similar comfort.
- I did sail cats a few times, not just once. It's nice, lots of space, but I lack this feeling of sailing -- again, I'm biased. Not everyone feels the same, and it's ok! I have friends who bought cats, we still are friends...
- High seas seaworthiness of cats is disputed. Whoever is considering getting a cat to cross the Pacific should be aware of this and make an informed decision.

- cheers.

With due respect to the respondent, there is no monohull in existence that meets the overall characteristics of the Lagoon series. They are utterly incomparable.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Garold

We had a Lagoon 380 for a couple of years and then switched to a Lagoon 400 nearly 2 years ago now.

My wife made the switching decision based on the greater space inside the 400. And now I'm over the shock of spending the extra money, I quite like it too.

The build quality issues on Lagoons are well known to all Lagoon owners. And we all just go about our business fixing and upgrading the bits that bug us, whilst accepting that if Lagoon hadn't worked hard to deliver a big boat for a small boat budget, most of us couldn't have afforded a cat in the first place.

Do they fall apart? No.

Do they need a bit of owner attention to make them perfect. Yes.

The woodwork on our L400 hasn't fallen apart yet and we use it more than 50% of weekends and for several weeks per year.

If you want boat that you will spend a lot of time racing then there may be better and more exciting choices than a Lagoon 400, but if you want a vessel to live aboard, and adapt to your own needs with some mods and different equipment then it really does a great job.

And whatsmore, if it doesn't work, you can sell a Lagoon, especially the smaller ones.

For anyone who doubts the durability of Lagoons, just take a look at the ex charter boats. They seem pretty indestructible to me.

Cheers

Garold

Well and sensibly said, The build quality issues on Lagoons are well known to all Lagoon owners. And we all just go about our business fixing and upgrading the bits that bug us, whilst accepting that if Lagoon hadn't worked hard to deliver a big boat for a small boat budget, most of us couldn't have afforded a cat in the first place.

Cheers