Quote:
Originally Posted by daletournier
Hi Boom23, maybe abit of a thread drift but performance can be linked to safety and that's what I'd like to know about.
Few can compare a modern Cat and modern mono of compatible sizes the way you can ie you've owned and lived on both. Some have moved from old monos to newish cats etc but not many have done what you have.
How do they compare performance wise, I'm talking speed in a real cruising situations? now of course a Oram or Outreamer are very fast cruising cats but most I see out here are lagoons ,leopards etc and they are the boats I'm talking about. I've been cruising with a 46 leapord quite abit recently and it's been good to compare.
I've thought for a long time that I'd like a big cat when I grow up, but the more i cruise my biggish mono and the better I get at sailing it, I'm not sure anymore. Spending time on the leapord makes me realise they are a fantastic cruising platform but has also made me realise I'm not sure they are a improvement over what I have, fors and againsts? From a sailing perspective I'm yet to have one of these production cats out sail me ,in fact I tend to sail alot more but this is related more to the ease of an inmast furler than cat or mono performance.
Money wont allow it but I'm becoming a fan of the Amel 50, I look at them and have envy (in a good way) that's not happening when I look at the vanilla type cat, Amel has targeted me perfectly..lol.
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It is really hard to find and compare a monohull and an equivalent (in quality, weight, interior/exterior volume, performance, etc.) catamaran...
I've sailed a (long term cruise loaded) Lagoon 450 in the S Pacific, and an equally loaded Amel 50 in the
Med. These are hardly the same boats or same sailing conditions. Also, I was much less experienced sailor with the Lagoon.
The L450 pulled through some very rough conditions (40kts+ winds and equivalent waves). It was not fast (due to heavy loading) or comfortable (creaking and LOUD bridgedeck slapping/explosions) but, with the right
sails it kept going and felt relatively safe, even though it sounded like it was going to fall apart.
I haven't had the chance to sail the Amel 50 in similar conditions. The
Med is relatively calmer (strong winds, but shorter & steeper waves) and distances are much shorter.
Here's a summary of my observations.
Lagoon F450 Pros:
-Huge living space inside and out.
-
Single level living space. People newer to sailing tend to love it.
- Lots of
salon windows.
- No heeling. We could leave things on shelves. It felt safe.
- Great platform when anchored.
- Relatively easy to maneuver, except in stronger winds.
- Probably easier for people newer to sailing.
Lagoon Cons:
- Average quality. Built to reduce cost and production time.
-
Maintenance is more difficult than on the Amel.
Equipment are everywhere and usually less accessible.
- No real thought was put into anything, except probably the living space.
- Very high boom.
- Miserable (maddening for me) heavy
weather sailing experience.
- Two engines to maintain.
- Saildrives.
- Performance suffers a lot when loaded for
long term cruising.
- Harder to find Marina space.
Amel 50 pros:
- Quality in everything. Very refined feel.
- No creaking.
- Everything is designed to be accessible and functional for
long term cruising.
- Many (6, I believe) watertight compartments.
- Real
engine room.
- Easy to handle
sails.
- I don't need to leave the deep & covered
cockpit to do anything.
- Staysail.
- Better sailing feel/performance and much less
noise. Smooth sailing motion.
- Surprisingly, easier to maneuver due to strong bow thruster.
- Shaft drive.
- One main engine to maintain.
- Easier to find Marina space.
Amel 50 Cons:
- Harder to see out of the
cockpit glass at night, but has opening window/hatches.
- Heels.
- No second main engine, for redundancy.
- 4 steps to living area.
- Much higher
purchase cost.
I may have forgotten few things...
All in all, they are very different boats. I feel that the Amel 50 will outperform and feel better than an equally loaded Lagoon 450. I haven't felt unsafe on the Amel 50 yet.
I'm certainly not going back...