FP 40 Lavezzi vs Leopard 40/42 for £130k-£150k

[toby24b]

On a budget of £130k-£150k, want a multi for family and space and (as perceived by me) safety, for coastal cruising and possibly blue water down the line.
Realise that the budget gets me a 5-8 year old Leopard or FP or Lagoon 41 mostly, don't like the Lagoons. Probably getting a boat coming out of charter but would obviously prefer a private-owned model if I can get it, but it might be a little older and better equipped.
Any comments out there on the relative benefits of the FP 40 Lavezzi vs the Leopard 40/42? Bridgedeck clearance is of interest. FP seems fine, Leopard, not so sure. Build quality also of interest, especailly as buying at 5-8 years old; in this case it's the FP that I'd question?

[drunknsailor]

I personally am a leopard fan. You will find the L42 is a lot more boat than either of the other 2. If the most boat for your buck is the priority, I'd suck up the slamming and get the L42.

If you are against that plan, the L40 would be my second choice as the galley is much better set up than the FP. The biggest shortcoming of the L40 is the salon table will only seat 2 or 3 for dinner.

[drunknsailor]

Oh, and the leopards age much better than the FPs.

[smj]

The Leopards may be more stoutly built but the fact they use balsa core may make them age faster than the FP. Leopards are fairly new to the market having only been built for the last 15 years as compared to the FP's which have been built since the mid 80's. Th FP's in my eyes are much more of a
Performance catamaran with a good bridgedeck clearance where the Leopards maybe built more towards creature comforts.

[toby24b]

OK, so a disagreement already! All good, thanks fellas!
I appreciate the comment about balsa cores, and there are a lot of people on these pages that seem to hate them; but so many great designers and firms seem happy enough to use them these days, so one doesn't know which way to go there.
I agree totally that the worst thing about the FP 40 I saw was the ***** galley, fridge/freezer, galley storage setup; it looks very geared to charter. The build does look flimsier generally than Leopard, too.
For the record, what IS the bridgedeck clearance on the Leopards? Anyone got one who can comment?

[smj]

Just for the record, I don't hate balsa core. I don't think there are many if any production builders that take the necessary precautions when building in balsa to keep the core dry. There are plenty of custom and home built balsa core boats that were built right and will stand the test of time.

[colemj]

Search here and elsewhere for FP osmotic blistering issues - particularly the Lavezzi.

Mark

[ausaviator]

- Lavezzi = Foam core / fibreglass

- Leopard = Balsa core

My mind is made up!

[muskoka]

Other than your budget you should really tell us what you want out of the boat. Is performance important? Or is it just a good weekender for the family? Also, have you owned sailboats before? Sailed cats?

Price / performance / comfort: You can usually only get 2 out of 3!!

[toby24b]

Hi Ausaviator
OK, let's eliminate the Lavezzi. Even if what you say is not right, I hate that galley. Keeping the Leopard for now, what else to look at? Bigger FPs also foam core (which also scares me somewhat, although if you're getting water ingress in there surely you're pretty buggered whatever the material is?)? What else in the budget?

Hi Muskoka
I think you're right. 2 out of 3 aint bad. Whilst I'm not fussy about performance, I like the fact that most cats will sail upright, with less effort, at higher speeds in comfort than most monos. I like that from a safety angle more than for the adrenalin factor; if there's ugly weather about, or even just the huge tides and currents we get around the Solent, I like that a cat can get out of the way of issues better than most monos. I like 2 engines for redundancy. I like that they are very unlikely to sink, unless you sail in front of something big, in which case you get what you ask for. Also the low draft gets us into more of the tide-affected coastal areas. Further to this, it's nice when buying a sailboat, to actually sail; thus those that will sail in lighter winds are preferable; even if you're only doing 3-5 knots it's better than driving. I hate driving around in a sailboat; you wouldn't sail a car, either.
So while it's marginal, I understand the Lagoons to be more comfort and less performance than the other big manufacturers mentioned above and hence am thinking about them less. I'm willing to listen if someone wants to dissuade me (on anything), though.
I haven't owned a boat before but have sailed quite a bit around the south coast of the UK (club and regatta crewing) and in the Med (holidays, on monos). I have a large family (4 young kids) and and inexperienced wife (she's inexperienced as a sailor, as a wife she's done 12 years with me, which is hard enough mileage), both of whom are pretty new to sailing and I have a much better chance of getting them keen by presenting them with a flat, broad platform to sail on than a bucking, narrow one!
This is just for fun, weekend pootling right now. However, if the family loves it, I can see us going to the Channel Islands, Scandinavia, East Coast of England, Scotland, maybe even round to the Med if there's time.
So this boat is for gentle fun, not heroics, or not for many years yet.

[gspeak]

Just to be clear. On my Lagoon 380 the hulls are solid fibreglass below the water line. Balsa sandwich well above the waterline & deck.

Seabreeze L380 #241

[Teeto]

Look at a few custom cats for comparison of bang for buck. Some excellent value out there with many better performance vessels. You can check out background of the builder. Some are built from lightweight cedar with epoxy - no osmosis ever and strong.
Ok, production cats might hold value, but they cost more to start with and have other drawbacks.

[smj]

Originally Posted by gspeak

Just to be clear. On my Lagoon 380 the hulls are solid fibreglass below the water line. Balsa sandwich well above the waterline & deck.

Seabreeze L380 #241

I thought Lagoon had gotten away from using balsa in the hulls. The literature I read is they are foam in the hulls and balsa on the decks.

[toby24b]

Teeto - such as??? I drool over custom builds such as Schionning, Chris white, etc., but did you read my budget?
Interested to hear of who you mean, if they're in my budget.

[gspeak]

Originally Posted by smj

I thought Lagoon had gotten away from using balsa in the hulls. The literature I read is they are foam in the hulls and balsa on the decks.

Hmmm .. you might be right ... I do know its a sandwich above the waterline (you can clearly see the thickening), not sure if its balsa or foam as I haven't cut any holes there. Then again mine is a 2004 model.

Seabreeze L380 #241