I posted comments on this thread about the L44's bridgedeck clearance after the 2012
boat show">Miami
Boat Show. Although I did not have a measuring tape handy, I was convinced that the L44's bridgedeck clearance was very close to that of the
Lagoon 400 and 421 which were docked just a few feet away. However, I did think the Lagoons had slightly more clearance (especially at the stern). I became even more interested in this issue after recently
crewing on a
delivery from Norfolk to the USVI. We were sailing a
monohull but I and the other crew members had a lively discussion about catamarans as
bluewater boats. The problem of wave slapping and slamming was given as a major downside for catamarans and therefore a discussion of "minimum" bridgedeck clearance came up. Someone threw out 30" as a minimum and it seemed to eventually gain a consensus. I have no real idea what a good minimum would be as
rum was involved in our debate.
Over the next two weeks I took a tape measure, and with permission, measured the bridgedeck clearance on 4 catamarans. Each was measured forward and aft.
1) 2004
Lagoon 380: Forward - 26" Aft - 22" This boat was privately owned and very heavily loaded in general and had an aftermarket (very heavily constructed)
bimini frame, arch and
davits. It also had a
dinghy with 15HP
outboard hanging from the
davits.
2) 2011
Lagoon 421: Forward - 28" Aft - 25" Another privately owned, heavily loaded boat. The
dinghy was hanging from the davits with a 9.5HP
outboard. I was told the boat had a
generator, AC and even a
scuba compressor onboard.
3) 2010 or 2011
Lagoon 400: Forward - 27" Aft - 26" A
Charter boat, not heavily loaded. No dinghy in the davits.
4) 2011 (may be considered a 2012 model)
Leopard 444 Forward - 28" Aft -26" A
charter boat, not heavily loaded. No dinghy in the davits.
The 380 and 421 were carrying much more
equipment and toys of every kind than the other two boats. I think the 380 was submerged an inch or two below it's intended waterline. The stern scoops were awash at least an inch.
My biggest surprise was that the
Leopard 444 had esentially the same clearance both forward and aft as the
Lagoon 400. Both would probably be considered at half load. The boats were in different
marinas so there was no way to visually compare their bridgedeck clearances. To the eye, the Lagoon 400 "looked" to have at least 2-4 inches more clearance than the Leopard, but that was not the case. I am speculating on the loads each was carrying. I looked around each boat, but didn't do a close
inspection.
The bridgedeck clearance I measured for the Leopard is very close to the specs R&C publishes. To the eye the Leopard looked much closer to the
water the more aft one moved, but the tape measure told a different story - only 2" difference. I would have expected 4" -6" difference just eyeballing it. Just as I had done at the
boat show, when I simply looked between the hulls, under the bridgedeck forward looking aft, there appeared to be plenty of bridgedeck height. But when looking at the stern of the Leopard it still looked much, much lower than the bow. Some type of optical illusion I guess. In general it seems the M&M designed Leopards have bridgedeck clearance comparable to most other production cats, certainly the Lagoons. I do think the previous Simonis designs had significantly lower bridgedeck clearance.