Is the Lagoon 400(s2) the right choice of boat for us to liveaboard?

[Catamaraners]

Hi,

we (my girlfriend and I) have been dreaming for some time now about buying a catamaran to liveaboard. Most of my skipper experience is in the Meds with mostly day cruising in coastal areas. My girlfriend is at competent crew level. The idea we had in mind was to sail in the Meds and Caribbean to get the best of both seasons and do that for one or two years and sell the boat afterwards. We have been looking at different manufacturers and models and narrowed down the selection to the owners version of the Lagoon 400 or 400s2 (years 2010-2015) for a number of reasons: 1. Our budget of around $250k and resale value, 2. Great interior space given that this will be our home and 3. safety/reliability and access to spare parts

We are both new to boat ownership, liveaboard and have done most of our sailing on monohulls between 38-42ft.

We have been reading a lot on this topic in this forum and done online research but it would be great to hear from fellow sailors who went through this process of buying and living aboard whether we are missing anything fundamentally before making this decision.

The main questions that are going through our heads are:
Are we even qualified enough to embark on this journey?
Is the Lagoon 400(s2) a good for for our intentions?
Are there any other models you would suggest looking at?
Suggested brokers?
Any pitfalls to watch out for when buying a used cat?

[Dtm67]

Hello and welcome to CF!

We purchased a Lagoon 400 S2 early last year and find that she is the prefect compromise between space, cost and capability. We cruise as a couple most of the time so we didn't need a large boat to accommodate a family. But we wanted livability and being almost 6'4" I also needed a boat that could accommodate that height. We also have plans to take her farther abroad than the Mediterranean, so we needed a boat that could cross oceans. There are many Lagoon 400s and 380s that have done just that. We have also found that 12 meters in length seems to be a magic number for an exponential increase in marina and cruising taxes in Croatia and Greece and are pleased to be 11.97 meters

We are over a year in and and we still believe we have stuck the perfect compromise for us. Love our Lagoon!

[Catamaraners]

Thanks for your response dtm67! Great to hear that you are happy with your 400s2. I am fairly tall as well so good to hear that there is enough head space
It would be great to pick your brain on a couple of points:
1. Can you recommend any broker?
2. Have you come across any major technical issues / faults to look out for?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Dtm67]

We used the Multihull company based in Philadelphia. We wanted to start our journey in the Med with a US flagged boat so it was important to me to have a us based company to deal with that was experienced in this type of sale. They have a broker based in Europe (Zvonimir Kalinic) who I worked with that was very helpful.

As first time boat buyers having zero experience with this type (and size!) of complex international transaction I found their assistance indispensable.

We haven’t found any technical issues with our 400s2 aside from two warranty items that needed to be done. One was a simple fix for better anchor locker drainage. The other is for the escape hatches (which affects many builders beyond lagoon). So far working with lagoon dealers on warranty support has been ok. Not bad as I am the third owner and the boat is six years old....

Just make sure you find a good pre purchase surveyor!

[260124]

Catamarans are thought of as more stable in waves, but, can have an uncomfortable rocking behavior in certain kinds of chop.

[Kinkircating]

The Lagoon 400S2 is a nice little catamaran, but one of thing that I first thought of to say is that I hope you and your significant other are short, because that was an immediate deal breaker for me when stepping aboard.

Don't get me wrong it is passable, but at 6'3" for me and 6' for my wife, I thought it would be a pain to deal with, but others here who are taller than me say they have no issue, so that is a personal preference. Really other than that I think they are really nice, very good size for a couple!

[Piscis]

Elvis has left the building, long time ago...