Nautitech versus Leopard

[Wpg3ut]

I am looking for any information on a Nautitech 40 versus a Leopard 40. Does anyone have firsthand experience with these boats. I have heard over and over that the Nautitech is the better sailer of the two. Any insight is appreciated.

[John_Trusty]

Depends on year for the Leopard 40 as the design changed considerably after 2009. Also, doesn't Nautitech have the aft helm stations, which are cool for day sailing but somewhat uncomfortable for cruising?

[Wpg3ut]

Thnks John the Leopard is a newer 2019 the Nautitech is the same and yes the Nauti has 2 helms aft which I am ok with. What I am looking for has more to do with how they sail. The Leopard is a fair bit heaver that the Nauti.

[sw34]

We have chartered a Leopard 42 and 45 as well as a Nautitech 44, all in the BVI all in last two years. The Leopard 42 was a 2022ish, the 45 was a 2019ish, the 44 Nautitech was a 2023.

We had similar conditions on the Leopard 42 as we did with the Nautitech 44, and in every condition the Nautitech sailed better and was a lot more fun to sail.

I found the sun protection from the helm biminis on the 44 to be okay, better than I imagined.

In my opinion, I would give the interior fit and finish to the Leopards, but the Nautitech wasn't bad either. Systems wise both had about the same quality of components and had similar install quality.

The Nautitech hulls are narrower so you give up that space, but if it were me I would go for the better sailing.

My best advice is charter both, especially in those age ranges. You will spend less money in two weeks chartering than if you make the "wrong" decision.

[Wpg3ut]

Thanks SW, much appreciated. I am one to always go for the better sailing. Accoutrements are MUCH less important to us than sailing performance. I have compared many manufacturers/models, etc. and it seems that Nautitech is the vessel to maybe cut your teeth on before jumping into an all out performance boat- which is still a possibility for us. I just need more $$
Thanks for the reply, we are headed to BVI in two weeks and have a Nauti chartered for the week.

[John_Trusty]

For comparing catamaran sail characteristics I suggest becoming familiar with the Kersall number (KSP = (Lwl*SA÷D)^0.5*0.5 ) which is a refined sail area to displacement ratio commonly used for cats. Enough values can be found on https://sailboatdata.com/ and even guidance on calculations. Like all ratios, it’s based on manufacturers numbers for light boats, so almost completely fictitious compared to a cruise ready boat fully loaded, but it is a comparison. It does not take into account the width of the hulls (properly mentioned by SW34), which I would think is critical as well.

A quick search shows the new Leopard 40 at 0.69 and the Nautitech 40 Open at 0.72, an insubstantial difference and a decent number for a cruising cat. My older design L40 has 0.76. There has been a tendency for production cats to become slower as they are designed heavier and losing sail area to higher helm stations (see flying bridge). It is a compromise. You will spend 95+ percent of your time not sailing so will appreciate the interior room, but if you don’t enjoy the sailing you might as well buy a house, which has much more comfortable living arrangements. Good luck with your compromise!

[Wpg3ut]

Thanks So much for the great detail John Trusty! Great Information! I have been looking for the polars for the Nauti 46 and haven't much luck finding them. It seems like that is something the Manuf. would have fairly accessible on their web sites. Perhaps I will see it on the site you suggested. What has become blatantly apparent is the delta in weigh between boats mentioned. Nautitich 46 checks in with a dry weight of 22k and change and the lagoons, leopards, etc. are in the range of 35k - 40K that factor alone HAS to affect performance greatly?