Catamaran For Extended Cruising

[Uric]

Hello everyone,

We are currently looking for a 40-45ft catamaran for extended (3-5 or, hopefully, more years) cruising to take on a coconut run (Mediterranean, Caribbean, South Pacific, Indian ocean, around the cape and back to North America). We have sailed on and off for some 10 years, mostly coastal: Greek Islands, BVI, Pacific Northwest etc. mainly in monohulls. Our budget for the cat+all the necessary upgrades is about $USD 250K I am wondering if someone who is more familiar / experienced with cats that are taken offshore can help us with a few questions:

1) Is our budget realistic for an offshore capable 5-10 years old cat? We are not going to race and are not planning to overdo it with all the latest electronic gizmos. We are looking though for a safe offshore capable reliable cat that we can confidently sail. We are not looking for a floating palace but a reasonable degree of comfort would keep my wife happy :-)

2) It seems like Fountaine Pageot, Lagoon and Leopard / Robertson and Caine are the main three options. I have seen all three of then new at the boat show but, seeing I am more experienced with monohulls, am not entirely sure what to look for. Any comments about the suitability of FP vs. Lagoon vs. Leopard for our purposes? How about quality and resale value? It seems that for comparable cat FP is cheaper. Any reason for that?

3) Ex-charters seem to be about 20-20% cheaper than an owner version. The layout (4 cabins + 4 heads) is actually quite suitable for our family. Would it make sense to get an ex-charter and put the difference in cost towards the equipment?

Any other comments about any of these catamarans or perhaps another production one e.g. Knysna would be really appreciated.

Thank you very much,

Ian

[Dave852]

I think you need to up your budget a bit. If you find a 5 year old boat she may be almost ready to go with just some running rigging replaced. Once you get to 10 years you will need to replace standing rigging, sails and quite a few other items unless its been done already. A charter boat will need lots of equipment added. Don't underestimate the cost of getting her ready for such a trip. You can drop $100k before you know it.

[SVNeko]

Any of those boats will work for your purposes, but for your budget skip the boat shows and take a look at older cats. You have named the 3 main current manufacturers, but consider older, solid cats like Privilege.

[pcm]

For a long range cat, especially will meet your needs so far ahead compare to other catamarans you definitely can consider Schionning Designs from Australia (Schionning Designs, multihull boat design, Newcastle Australia). They are one of the best in the world designing long range capable, safe and quality cats. I am an authorized builder of their designs in Mediterranean (link removed) and if you like I can give you the one in Knysna South Africa. I wonder where is your current location ?

Regards, Neal

[belizesailor]

I've run all the makes you mention as a charter captain and any of them will meet your needs.

You may see lower priced FP's on the market because there are more older FP's out there.

FP's are the lighter built of the bunch, but they hold up well in charter use. Apparently they chose the right spots to go light.

[maxingout]

I am biased toward Privilege Catamarans. Our Privilege 39 got us safely around the world on an eleven year circumnavigation.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by maxingout

I am biased toward Privilege Catamarans. Our Privilege 39 got us safely around the world on an eleven year circumnavigation.

Privileges are built like the proverbial brick out house -- very strong. And despite their beefy build and high topsides they sail surprisingly well. Certainly another candidate.

I used to run a 44 that was definately quicker than she looked at the dock.

[FLLCatsailor]

I've delivered and extensively sailed many of the production catamarans out there. Of the three brands you mentions I would rank them as follows:

1)Leopard
2)Lagoon
3) Fountaine Pajot



There are some steals going on right now down island on, and with the Caribbean season coming to an end...

[Jeannius]

My 10 year old Privilege 435 is available for a bit more than your budget. Fully equipped, with one circumnavigation under its belt and ready to go on a second.

Obviously I'm biased but I don't think there is a better boat for a family circumnavigation!

[Kenomac]

A couple of thoughts. Our friends who lived aboard for ten years on a Tayana 55 recently bought a Lagoon 45 for their full time liveaboard. The Lagoon is a palace on the water, it's huge compared to a 55 ft monohull. For living at anchor in some of the places you mentioned the boat would be ideal and it even got my wife and I to thinking about multihulls someday.

Now, here's the trade offs. Our friends are probably going to sell their one year old Cat and go back to living aboard a 55-60ft monohull, primarily because they want to make several long passages in the open ocean, and they just don't feel as confident sailing a cat which feels more "plastic" and not as seaworthy; their thoughts... not mine.

Another thing to consider, your mooring and marina fees will cost nearly double what they'd be on a monohull. Something to consider if your budget is limited unless you plan to anchor out nearly all the time.

Charter the model cat you have in mind prior to purchase and see what you think first hand. That will give you a chance to see how it sails and expose any shortcomings.

[thelifenomadik]

A 38 catamaran easily surpasses any 50 feet monohull in amount of space, so we have learned. We just got our Leopard R&C 38 owner's version. We are a family of four planning to do pretty much what you are guys planning. The boat costs a lot less than your budget.

We haven't sailed yet, nor cruised before, but we heard at boat shows, that the marina fees are not doubled except probably two places in the world. And it is true, we are now at a boatyard fitting the boat for cruising and we are being charged per foot for 38 feet only.

You can check out our blog where i will write updates about our journey:
The Life Nomadik | Chronicles of a Lunatic Voyage

good luck!

[Clipper4730]

A general once said "You go to war with the army you have, not the one you want"

So many state here that you need all this expensive stuff to "safely cruise" a basic load from the factory on a former charter cat with a few safety related things i.e. epirbs, backup gps's, raft, ais, etc should be plenty. Personally I would throw in a Prasailor too.

Read Tania Abei's book and ask yourself if you think you need to spend 100k getting a 250k boat ready to sail.

Back to the original question my wife and I really like the Lagoon 410 and will be purchasing one hopefully within the year

Cheerio
Will

[FLLCatsailor]

Originally Posted by Clipper4730

A general once said "You go to war with the army you have, not the one you want"

So many state here that you need all this expensive stuff to "safely cruise" a basic load from the factory on a former charter cat with a few safety related things i.e. epirbs, backup gps's, raft, ais, etc should be plenty. Personally I would throw in a Prasailor too.

Read Tania Abei's book and ask yourself if you think you need to spend 100k getting a 250k boat ready to sail.

Back to the original question my wife and I really like the Lagoon 410 and will be purchasing one hopefully within the year

Cheerio
Will

Couldn't agree more!!!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

Couldn't agree more!!!

Very true. I know a number of people who are never leaving the dock because they bought the ultimate cruising boat and now must stay employeed to afford it.

Go with the boat that still leaves plenty of cash in the cruising kitty.

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

I've delivered and extensively sailed many of the production catamarans out there. Of the three brands you mentions I would rank them as follows:

1)Leopard
2)Lagoon
3) Fountaine Pajot



There are some steals going on right now down island on, and with the Caribbean season coming to an end...

I don't have direct experience, but my research to date shows the same - however, there are a great many 5-10 year old Lagoons on the ex-charter market. If they can be gotten at well be current list, they will likely be your best deal.

If you are going to buy a few years into the future, I'm anticipating a similar flood of ex-charter Leopards