Should we or Shouldn't we buy Lagoon 380 or 400?

[Factor]

Originally Posted by zeehag

charter one for a weekend.

This is not a criticism of Zee. She makes a good point.

BUT, Chartering is okay for testing liveability, but not sailing or motoring performance or capability. As others have said, many is the charter fleet that has governors or electronic limiters on engines, and many is the charter boat that has things like bolts in the top of mainsail tracks preventing proper luff tension - but making sure the sail isn't stretched, and outhauls tied off etc etc. And even if the controls are not crippled the sails are often the cheapest and smallest available.

And the right sails make a massive difference to performance.

[faa50]

Independence50 - thanks for your comments, appreciate the insight. I totally agree with your sentiments on plumbling. Two heads is plenty for our needs. I've read a thread where the cost of the hardtop runs about $15k.

[805gregg]

Go on You tube and look for S/V Honeymoon, they bought a Lagoon 38 on the east coast and sailed it to Australia, no problems.

[Independence05]

FAA50,
I believe the $15k is for a hardtop from Lagoon, which is of course very nice. Dedicated Marine of biminihardtop.com has a hardtop for the 380/410 for around $6k. People also make their own out of starboard. The Lagoon owners forum on Yahoo has a lot of threads about hardtop options. Good luck with your search - boat shopping is so fun!!

[faa50]

We've put a couple of "inquiries" out to 380 and 400 owners and awaiting to hear back. Interested in owners version of either boat. Currently avoiding charter boats. Prefer a boat already equipped with generator, inverter, watermaker, AC, genaker, dinghy and outboard. If not we are open to consider installing.

Anyone having a lead on a boat for sale not currently listed on yachtworld.com or FSBO please drop us a note.

[AngeW]

Hi there we have a fully equipped Lagoon 380 currently cruising in Greece available Sept 2016. Message me if more interest. (Sorry short message traveling) cheers Ange


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[faa50]

Your boat sounds great. We plan to push off soon once we find the right boat. Sept 2016 is too far out for us, but thanks for reaching out to us.

[peterp]

Originally Posted by vtomanov

extremely not good for strong winds... including with wind at your back... over 24+ kts wind you can't keep it in straight line, especially with big waves .... toooo big wind resistance on side and front.. against wind more then 25-30kts you cannot actually even get into the harbor on engine ! - been there done that

but of course very nice leaving space inside.. really nice..

Well vtomanov, can't agree with your thoughts at all, I have owned my L400 for five years around 40 knots wind speed is the most I have experienced under engines no problems at all keeping the craft straight, under these conditions very glad to have those hulls, the mighty L400's big hulls just plow through the waves under the above conditions, also same day at night mooring in our home marina wind 32 gusting to 38 knots, again no problems backing in to my berth, just need to read the conditions ahead of mooring and act accordingly.

[AngeW]

Originally Posted by faa50

Your boat sounds great. We plan to push off soon once we find the right boat. Sept 2016 is too far out for us, but thanks for reaching out to us.

cheers Faa, you have some lovely adventures ahead, we've had an amazing 3 seasons and our fourth starts in June. We never regretted the Lagoon 380, comfortable, safe, and we've hosted lots of friends and relatives over the time. cheers
Ange

[faa50]

AngeW - Would love to hear how you settled on the Lagoon 380 for your cruising? From your post it sounds as if safety and comfort were close to the top of your criteria list?

What decisions turned out better than expected? Is there any equipment that you initially felt was essential, but once cruising changed your mind?

What if anything would you do differently?

Was the rig able to handle the various sailing conditions without a lot of breakage?

Hope you enjoy your cruise this coming June - hope to see you on the seas!

[faa50]

A recommendation to watch the s/v Delvos interview videos was well worth the time. The owners speak of a need to use a higher quality sailcloth than Dacron. Their experience is that Dacron easily blows out or stretches to the point of loosing original form in a short period of time. Anyone have an idea of what sailcloth they are speaking of? Do you agree with their experience with Dacron?

Another point I found interesting is that they sail to the "numbers." From this I gather they reef earlier than later, and that they also factor in gusts and set their cruising sails to the higher wind speeds (gusts). Sacrificing speed for less frequent breakdowns, and replacing blownout sails.

Seems a prudent approach for a cruising couple. This approach is significantly different from what I've practiced on a monohull but see the wisdom. A monohull, as the owners point out, can spill the wind's energy thru healing, whereas a cat transmits this same energy into the boat's rigging and twin hulls and often can lead to equipment failures.

[AZ_Zoner]

faa50,

We have just gone through the 380 vs 400 Lagoon over the last 5 months. We started originally looking at many 380’s thinking this was the boat for us. Us being my wife and I. We are an older couple around 60 and will sail by ourselves unless our kids or grandkids come down. Sailing will be the Caribbean for the next few years. Not sure after that.

We did look at many other boats besides the Lagoon but the Lagoons seem to fit us best for our needs.

Anyway, after chartering a 46 Leopard for a week we came away with that we needed to look at the next size up, the 400L. We are glad that we did charter a larger boat as for us the increase was substantial and eliminated the 380 as a choice. We also have thought back to the 380’s that we looked at and had ask why the owners were selling, and 2 of them stated they were looking for a larger boats.

We have limited experience sailing either one at this point and have made our decision based more on just creature comforts. We will finish our purchase of a 400L here in February. And also hope that we bought our 2nd boat 1st.

Craig

[faa50]

AZ Zoner - read your thread about negotiating on a Lagoon 400. Good stuff

[faa50]

We're SOLD!!!! 805gregg turned us onto s/v Honeymoon's videos sailing a Lagoon 380 from the US East Coast to Australia. What a tremendous adventure. Both Elizabeth and Seth do a great job of sharing their experiences. Watching the 23 plus episodes convinced us that the 380 is up to the task. Great info on sail plan, inventory, equipment, boat safety and handling the boat in various conditions.

Either a 400 or the 380 will work for us.

We put in an offer yesterday on a 2010 Lagoon 400, but were unable to come to a mutually satisfactory price. Wasn't meant to be I guess.

So now the hunt begins afresh!!! Wish us luck.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by faa50

Another point I found interesting is that they sail to the "numbers." From this I gather they reef earlier than later, and that they also factor in gusts and set their cruising sails to the higher wind speeds (gusts). Sacrificing speed for less frequent breakdowns, and replacing blownout sails.

That is common knowledge. on a cat you reef to the gusts. Otherwise something will break, tear apart, blow out - or the boat lifts a hull and ultimately flips.
No worries: Reef tables by manufacturers often have some safety margin factored in.

Never heard of the need to get something special sails. For me this was just talk to support their decision to get expensive sails. Some folks consider their boats "performance cats" and like to spend accordingly. Just an "ego thing".