Lagoon vs Leopard and Sunsail/Moorings vs Dream Yacht Charter

[jim King]

I owned a Leopard 44 with Sunsail Charter for 4 years until Hurricane Irma totaled it last year in The BVI. I got a check from the insurance company and am now shopping for a new cat to put into charter. I really loved my Leopard 44 and bareboat sailed sister ships all over the Sunsail map: Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Bahamas, Belize, BVI, Grenada, St Lucia, Spanish VI.

My question is two fold: Should I get a new cat with Sunsail or jump ship (so to speak) and go with Dream Yacht Charter which has more bases throughout the world. If I go with Dream Yacht I will also need to get a different boat (they don't have Leopards). I am looking at the Lagoon 45S and 45F. If I stay with Sunsail (or Moorings) I can buy a new Leopard 45 for about $80,000 less than the Lagoon 45. I have some concerns, however, with the way the new Leopard 45 sails to wind. Sunsail/Moorings have loaded up the foredeck with more weight: water maker, water tanks and a generator mounted below a solid deck ahead of the forward cockpit. Videos of the boat underway appear to show the leeward bow plowing low through the waves when reaching in moderate conditions.

So my question to all of you who have owned with or compared the two big charter companies (Sunsail/Moorings vs Dream Yacht) is which company would you rather put your boat into charter with? Next question: Which boat would you buy - a Leopard 45 or a Lagoon 45? I'm heading to the Miami boat show in ten days to check out both boats up close and personal.

Greatful for all advice and past experiences,
Jim King

[kristjan]

Dream yacht charters, and consider a Catana if sailing is priority, I’ve sailed all sorts of cats and if I were buying a Charter catamaran with a view to keeping it, I’d choose a Catana.

[Kenton]

Originally Posted by kristjan

Dream yacht charters, and consider a Catana if sailing is priority, I’ve sailed all sorts of cats and if I were buying a Charter catamaran with a view to keeping it, I’d choose a Catana.

Would you please elaborate a little?

[Chablis 1]

Hi,
I'm with DY since 4 years and will keep my Catana 42 after the last next year. So far excellent service and maintenance. I couldn't be happier. Been to some other of thier locations, sailed around with several different cats and always found good quality. Lately on a Bali 4.3, which is perfect for holiday cruising but that I would never switch for. Nor a Lagoon. Don't know about Lepard or Mooring's/Sunsail. I'm to keen on the sailing abilities and comfort at sea, rather than at anchor. I belive that if a sailboat is only comfortable at anchor you will likely not go sailing much and the main point is therfore missed. A Catana has a nice level of comfort and sails good, without beeing extreme.
Would I go again with the same operator and the same cat? Yes.
Thomas

[FutureStories]

If you’ve got time and money try chartering a few different brands and just go with whatever boat you want to ultimately end up with. Or are you only interested in keeping your boat in charter? And when you’ve finished starting back over again?

IMO I’d avoid doing a bareboat charter program to end up with a boat “for less”. I’d buy a boat that was only in private use and light captain charters.

Many of the bareboat charter boats demand heavy refits and to get them looking close to perfect again gets really expensive. Paying more upfront for someone’s pride and joy usually ends up being a lower cost in the end.

[Trvlmedic]

Just an observation and not a judgement. I had two Dream yacht charter cats (Lagoons) come up near me in a sea of Cortez anchorage last week. It appeared they were having trouble setting the hook to go diving. I dinghied over to offer assistance when they asked how I could be where I was as their chartplotter and depth meter were inoperable on two different boats. The puzzled look on my face brought up the fact that "nothing on this boat works" (their words). Take it for what it's worth, just trying to help a brother out.

[kristjan]

Originally Posted by Kenton

Would you please elaborate a little?

1- you want a company that has lots of bases so you can travel, so dream yacht charters fits the bill and the customer service is better. If you only wanted Caribbean I’d pick horizon yacht charters.
2- moorings and sunsail (same company) don’t offer Catana. Horizon is flexible, so you could ask, they could accommodate.
3 - if you want to keep the Boat after then you want to start with a boat that is a bit more robust, and a little more heavier duty, I personally feel that the Catana is a better boat Over all. It is slower to accelerate but I feel it punches through weather better.
4 - if you only want a boat that will maximize charter revenue and plan on not keeping it after, then by all means get a 40 foot, 4 cabin lagoon and stick it in the BVI.

[Dulcesuenos]

We looked at a few boats DY was selling and they were train wrecks.
Not sure this means much but it really was eye opening

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

We looked at a few boats DY was selling and they were train wrecks.
Not sure this means much but it really was eye opening

I asked DY about their programs where you put the money and they own and charter the boat for a number of years. (Advanced buying or similar was called) . My question was how "my" boat would be protected against other creditors if the company went bust.
Quite a basic and legitimate question .
Their answer was that if i worried about that, the "advance buying" concept was not for me.
Rude answer i found it!
May be it was just plain.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by kristjan

Dream yacht charters, and consider a Catana if sailing is priority, I’ve sailed all sorts of cats and if I were buying a Charter catamaran with a view to keeping it, I’d choose a Catana.

I fully agree..nevertheless I don't think DY is still buying Catana for their fleet, but rather Bali's.
I bought my Catana 47 from them, she was 3 years old and in miserable conditions. We spent a lot of money and repaired in our yard and I am sailing myself . It's real joy to sail this boat. However, I don't think Catana is the appropriate boat for charter. For the charter customers sailing properties of the boat is the last concern. They are more interested how much you can do under power, is there a flybridge, how big is the cockpit, etc..

Cheers

Yeloya

[CbroTheDude]

Originally Posted by Trvlmedic

Just an observation and not a judgement. I had two Dream yacht charter cats (Lagoons) come up near me in a sea of Cortez anchorage last week. It appeared they were having trouble setting the hook to go diving. I dinghied over to offer assistance when they asked how I could be where I was as their chartplotter and depth meter were inoperable on two different boats. The puzzled look on my face brought up the fact that "nothing on this boat works" (their words). Take it for what it's worth, just trying to help a brother out.

Had a bad experience with boat equipment state in the BVIs with moorings (on a monohull though) when usually in Greece it's mostly functional. Maybe the charger compagnies have good and bad bases

[Mark424]

Lots of different perspectives.

My last two charters were with DY because they had Catanas with Screechers. Charter cats aren't that great to windward to start with and if there is no sail for the off the wind, then it's not a great sail experience at all. We had the Catana 50 up to 13.6 knots reaching up the west side of Virgin Gorda. And the Carbon 47 up to 12.5 surfing down the west side of Grenada coming from the Grenadines. I've never gotten over 9 knots on the dozen other charters I've done on Lagoon, FP, etc.

I don't know the Catana range, but I'd get a small owners version (it will have better resale) if I wanted to put it in a worldwide charter fleet.

[tiMoun]

Jim
Could you let me know what you decided and how it’s going? Lost my 444 in Dorian.
Michael
mmichaelbrownatmacdotcom