46: Whats the issue and status regarding Lagoon 46 masts?

[wdemonye]

Have not seen her yet with the new mast; did see another L46 with the new mast on and it looks really sturdy! They also improved the electric waste tanks (they did not completely empty), stiffened the sliding door/window and improved the rails of the self tacking jib.
I will start sailing again in May.
P.s. I think I might have seen your hull on the hard in Les Sables last summer...
Where is your boat now?

[Zaf]

Originally Posted by wdemonye

Have not seen her yet with the new mast; did see another L46 with the new mast on and it looks really sturdy! They also improved the electric waste tanks (they did not completely empty), stiffened the sliding door/window and improved the rails of the self tacking jib.
I will start sailing again in May.
P.s. I think I might have seen your hull on the hard in Les Sables last summer...
Where is your boat now?

Nice meeting you��
My boat is still at the same spot in LeSables��i was supposed to take the boat on july 19 so i got my tickets ready etc,instead they sent me a letter with the good news�� and ,yes I left it there,so hopefully will be ready on march 12,so got my tickets again�� and be there to meet the captains,see the boat first time and stay there few days,but I will not join the captains as they sail to Bodrum in Turkey.I live in vancouver BC. But spend quite a long time at aegean and med. and will leave the boat there as canadian flagged.
Where do you keep yours,have you had catamaran before?this is my first time after sailing monohull for 45 yrs in vancouver and aegean area.
Cheers
Zaf

[wdemonye]

Hi Zaf, nice meeting you too! What a disappointment last july! I’m dutch but my boat is registered under French flag. She is in Saint Raphael under care of Seaways. Seaways is a smaller charter company with catamarans in Saint Raphael and monohulls in Golf Juan. Seaways is also a Lagoon dealer. They take excellent care of the boat and I get some charter revenu which helps with the extreme prices in south of France... Before L46 I had an L39, also in charter in Saint Raphael. Me and my family had tons of fun with her but decided to upgrade with more space and more revenu in mind... P.s. never going back to a monohull! The space and comfort is unbelievable!

[Zaf]

Well,all the best to you and if you are around Kos island area Greece or Turkey just give me a ring,I know little too far but you never know��
Enjoy your boat.

[Nkosi]

Originally Posted by wdemonye

I own Lagoon 46, hull 15. The dismasted L46, Karioca 2, left just a few days before us from Les Sables. We had sailed our boat to the Med with no problems in moderate winds (BF5-6 max, one reef in) and were near Ibiza when we received an email from Lagoon through our dealer not to use our sails due to mast issues. They referred to the accident with Karioca 2.
Our mast has been replaced in November by Lagoon for a shorter one with two spreaders; same mast (and length) as on 450. All sails have replaced. According to the new polar diagrams from VPLP this costs me 0.2 - 0.5 knots of speed. Haven’t sailed her yet with the new mast.
A compensation package has been offered to me by Lagoon to which I agreed.
Lagoon has been open about the issues and have taken the proper steps to correct the issue. I personally think they might have been too aggressive in trying to best their proven 450. Looking forward to the 2020 season in the Med!

the official response in August 2019 following the demasting in the North Sea at the end of July. I have also attached the performance information from the naval architects VPLP highlighting the differences between the two rigs.

Dear Partners,
We wish to inform you of a technical problem that occurred on the rigging of one of our Lagoon 46 yachts, and the resulting decisions taken to resolve this issue.
Last month on July 30, a Lagoon 46 dismasted in the North Sea. Nobody on board was injured, and the boat was able to reach the coast without further damage.
Subsequently, we organised the retrieval of the mast at sea, in order to understand the reason for this dismasting. However, the technical survey undertaken by our teams and our mast supplier's did not enable the direct cause of this dismasting to be identified (no defective parts or particular exterior event).
In case of doubt, so as to ensure our customers' safety, we decided to restrain navigation of the yachts already delivered, by asking owners not to use the sails, and to navigate only under engine, in order to avoid any further incidents. The concerned retailers, in charge of passing on this message to their customers, were informed of the matter on August 9th.
The follow-up of our technical surveys, undergone since the beginning of August with our mast supplier, has led to the conclusion that the masts, fitted on board the Lagoon 46 series, required settings that were too complex and subject to potential loosening of tension in the rigging.
Therefore, the decision has been made to replace these masts by new, more reliable and safer rigging. Notably, with new shorter profiles, on which our design office has worked with the supplier.
You will find below the details of such modification :
1. A new rig :
The new mast we will provide, will be of 20 meters in length and fitted with 2 sets of spreaders. This rigging is a similar design as the one fitted on our Lagoon 450, of which we have built over 1,000 units. The 2 spreader bars rigging has the advantage of being easier to tune, in comparison with a 1 spreader rig.
Additionally the new mast will be of a larger section (i.e. diameter) than the previous one fitted on the first LAGOON 46s. This will increase the stiffness of the mast, which, combined with the reduction in length result in a more rigid mast.
Finally, we have redesigned the position of the genoa sheet in order to relieve the tension it could potentially generate in the rigging.
All these actions are implemented in accordance with our request to our mast manufacturer which is to provide our clients with a simple, safe and extremely reliable rigging on their boat.
Please find enclosed the characteristics of this new rig
2. Sail performances
This new mast design results in a reduction of the global sail area (see enclosed drawing). According to our calculation, the loss of sail performance in between the 20 meters mast and the 21,85 meters mast will be low. In order to help you understanding it, you will find enclosed to this letter a report from our naval architects VPLP design (who design all Lagoon models, and whose performances in competition make them the most successful title holders in the world), showing the speed difference.
Such modifications have consequences on our planning of deliveries (supply of the new masts, rig, sails), and we work hard with our suppliers on limiting the delays. But there will be for sure delays on boats scheduled until january. We will of course let you know how the situation evolves.
Last but not least, we know that rumors are running around this rigging issue, with no other goal than hurting Lagoon. We count on your help and collaboration to help us supporting the message and giving confidence to our clients.

[Zaf]

At least lagoon takes responsibility for the error and do their best to assure the owners.My dealer Tez Marine in Turkey is very accommodating and did everything that I asked for.So I'm happy with my Hull #16����

[Barra]

The brochure for the 46 was going on about extra sail area up high and how much it improved performance, stability etc.

Now removing it apparently makes very little difference to performance according to the architect.

If anyone is ever tempted to actually believe all that glossy marketing hype then think again!

Too funny.

[CartMan]

Im seriously considering purchasing a new L46 and wonder if any of the owners who have posted here would be prepared to share their experience of owning it. I'm aware of the mast issue which sounds like it has now been resolved but if anyone has any advice about what to ask the dealer, or common issues with the boat, I would be very interested to know more.

It's a fairly new boat and so there's limited chat about these on these forums as far as I can see.

Many thanks

[Tracyandkimo]

Cartman. I have hull #6. Took delivery in January. I'm very pleased with the boat for the most part. There's been the usual new boat bugs but nothing major as of yet. No one buys a Lagoon expecting it to perform w/other lighter, less comfortable cats, but I've not been disappointed in the performance. While I intend to live aboard 6 months per year, I will say that the boat seems to have been tailored for week long cruises rather than live aboard or long term cruising. I say this mainly due to the lack of features such as locker for extra propane, storage lockers outside the salon/interior (only one beneath bench in cockpit), etc. Also, the boom is extremely high with it's aft end well past the cockpit roof making it difficult to access when it comes to covering or untangling the reefing lines etc, not to mention being a bit of a dangerous place to have to be in anything but dead calm conditions. Of course this also raised the COE of the rig. As far as the mast/rig problems, my mast was changed out prior to delivery so I have no comparison as far as performance between the original and new. Hope this helps.

[Zenit12]

It is strange , the boat bigger than L450 , but have less space inside and outside

[Tin Tin]

Originally Posted by Zenit12

It is strange , the boat bigger than L450 , but have less space inside and outside

The 46 is 1" longer and 1" wider than the 450. How do you figure it has less space?

[Zenit12]

Please see post #24 , L 450 has bigger lockers for propane gas balloons for example and more useful space in the cabins for the stuff storage . L 46 bigger of corse in general

[cabrisson]

Originally Posted by wdemonye

Have not seen her yet with the new mast; did see another L46 with the new mast on and it looks really sturdy! They also improved the electric waste tanks (they did not completely empty), stiffened the sliding door/window and improved the rails of the self tacking jib.
I will start sailing again in May.
P.s. I think I might have seen your hull on the hard in Les Sables last summer...
Where is your boat now?

wdemonye: Had only heard of the mast issue (and also found about a recall on Goiot hatches), and now you mention electric waste tanks, sliding doors, and self tacking tracks... Were those changes/repairs done by Lagoon as part of recalls? Looking at putting an offer on a one year old L46, so want to make sure all the work has been done before I dip my toe in the water and send off money! I've been told about the mast from the agent, and told it was changed already...

[Zaf]

I did not have any of those problems as mentioned.I love the boat.After 50 years of sailing monohulls,this boat makes you feel safe and extremely comfortable.

[cabrisson]

Originally Posted by Zaf

I did not have any of those problems as mentioned.I love the boat.After 50 years of sailing monohulls,this boat makes you feel safe and extremely comfortable.

Zaf: thanks for your comments... We recently visited a couple of Lagoons in Fort Lauderdale. When checking out a L42 with the self tacking Genoa (like the 46) I noted stress gel coat cracks on the tacking tracks... Have you seen this on your 46? How many nautical miles have you put on your vessel?