I'm looking at newer model cats and am most thankful for all the great info on the various models of Leopards I find here, and on the
yahoo leopard users group, but am having trouble deciding between these 2 and am hoping some with knowledge of both might add their thoughts on the pros and cons of each.
I plan to
liveaboard perhaps 6 months a year, sailing and
diving throughout the
caribbean, starting in
bahamas hopefully this
winter. Much of the time will be by myself, some with various friends and dive partners. Other times my brother (partner) and his
family will be aboard, but that will be mostly vacations and long weekends for the near term.
I've walked around on all the Leopards, but my only experience on cats is 1 week on a 46'
bahia, and 4 days on a
Leopard 46. I'm hoping that
singlehanding a 40 or 43 will be doable in limited situations. No real
offshore stuff, just puttering around mostly.
For a 1-4 year old
boat, they are roughly same
price, with a slight edge to the 40'. Of course, we'll have to add lots of goodies like genset, ac,
watermaker,
solar, washer/dryer, dive
compressor and more that will add a lot of weight and probably favor the bigger 43.
Some of the things I'm curious to get feedback on are:
- Difference in sailing speeds for a fairly heavily loaded
boat.
- General sailing/handling differences
- Comfort and
noise in sleeping quarters.
Besides debating the 2 different models, I'm also contemplating a new or 1 year old 40. Brand new owners version comes with some of the options (gen, ac) we would have to add to an older ex-charter boat, for an extra $100k or so.
Any comments/feedback greatly appreciated.