Details are starting to come out about the Lagoon 43, which is scheduled to make its debut in September at the Cannes Yachting Festival.

This boat has naval architecture by VPLP Design, exteriors by Patrick le Quement, and interiors by Nauta Design. It’s a team that has produced a winning combination of elements on other models in the past.

The Lagoon 43 is the third-smallest model in Lagoon’s lineup, intended for cruising couples or young families. Owners can order the Lagoon 43 in a three- or four-stateroom version that’s outfitted with between six and 13 berths—and the staterooms are larger than on previous models, meaning there’s room for families to grow or to welcome friends on board.

In the three-stateroom version, the entire starboard hull is an owners’ suite. In the four-stateroom version, that hull is split into two en suite staterooms. Either way, the owners’ berth is forward, in a location that’s undisturbed by engine noise for a good night’s rest.

Another new element on this model is redesigned access via an extra aft entryway for each hull. The idea is to make it easier for people moving between the boat and the dock.

The dining space can seat 12 people, making dinner parties on the hook a comfortable experience with a great view of the surroundings.

What are the key specs on the Lagoon 43? Length overall is 45 feet, 6 inches; beam is 25 feet, 2 inches; and draft is 4 feet, 5 inches.

Where to learn more: head over to www.catamarans-lagoon.com.

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In February, French boat builder Lagoon brought Hull No. 2 of its 55-foot luxury catamaran to the Miami International Boat Show. I can easily see this long-legged bluewater cruiser finding a niche among its siblings that range in length from 40 to 77 feet.

The 55, designed by VPLP, has an interior by Nauta and exterior styling by Patrick le Quément. Given its size and systems, the 55 will likely be a boat that many private ­owners will staff with a captain and mate, though it’s well-laid-out for a shorthanded crew, and certainly would be suitable for an owner-skipper who is up for the job of maintenance. 

And in charter, where ­Lagoons have long been popular? Well, let’s count the ways the 55 could be enjoyed.

First, there’s the flybridge, where the helm is located. Steps to either side ensure a good flow of traffic. The wheel is offset to starboard. Just forward of it, close at hand, three electric winches handle all the sail-control lines except for the traveler; that’s adjusted using an electric continuous-line winch whose push-button controls are mounted ­nearby. Abaft the helm, there’s a sink and fridge alongside a U-shaped seating area that surrounds a low cocktail ­table—a lovely place to sit.

Below, in the cockpit, are two more tables to starboard with tops that unfold to seat a crowd. There are also multiple cushioned lounges, all facing aft to take in the view astern. When raised, the swim platform/tender storage area provides a balcony over the water. Lowered, it’s a place to sit and hang feet in the water.

Directly forward of the cabin house, there’s another U-shaped seating area, and the center window in the saloon opens so refreshments can be passed out to anyone sitting there. The 55 has a self-tacking jib, with a sheet that’s led to a track on the coachroof just ahead of the mast, keeping lines out of the way on the foredeck. There is also a sprit with an electric furler for a code zero. During the show, the boat was rigged with a cloth sunshade over the forward ­seating area, held aloft by a pair of ­removable carbon-fiber poles. 

The boat in Miami carried a price tag of $2.2 million. That included options such as teak soles on the flybridge, in the cockpit and on the transoms; air conditioning; extra refrigeration; a washer and dryer ­amidships in the port hull; a pair of upgraded 115 hp Nanni engines with saildrives (80 hp diesels are standard); and a suite of B&G electronics.

Lagoon offers a number of interior layouts. This boat had four staterooms. The ­owner’s en suite stateroom was aft in the starboard hull, with a smaller guest stateroom forward. On the port side, two additional guest staterooms sat fore and aft, with a crew cabin (with its own head and shower) in the forepeak. The interior volume in the hulls ­allowed all the guest berths to be laid out athwartships. 

Five- and six-stateroom ­layouts are also available, and an owner can choose to have the galley up or down. All told, the 55 could have berths for 16 people.

Throughout the interior, ports and hatches abound, ­letting in lots of light and providing views of the world ­outside. In my notes, I jotted down “elegant” to describe the boat’s look and feel. 

Under power at a cruising rpm of 2,000, we saw readings of about 9 knots on the GPS. The steering seemed a bit sluggish both motoring and under sail, but the boat had arrived just prior to the show, and I’d suspected that it just needed an adjustment. 

The breeze barely broke 10 knots on our sea trial, and we weren’t able to fly the code-­zero sail due to missing gear, but with the self-tacker set, we moved along closehauled at about 6 knots, and gained ­another knot and a half by bearing off to a beam reach.

It was a comfortable ride. Sailing along, it didn’t take me long to find my sweet spot on the 55: the seat ­incorporated ­into the far forward ­lifeline stanchion, where I hung one arm over the wire and sat watching the bows slice through the waves. Believe me when I say that I could have stayed there all day.

Mark Pillsbury is a CW ­editor-at-large.

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Before we entered our first reef pass in Tahanea, in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia, we were quite anxious. We’d read ­several atoll-pass horror stories featuring punishing currents, breaking waves and dangerous eddies. To our surprise and relief, as we sailed toward Tahanea’s entrance, we found the broad pass laid before us at slack water with no visible threats. Our entry was entirely unspectacular. The weather was calm. We had arrived at the right time.

Predicting slack water in a lagoon pass is not always easy—atoll entry is a hot topic during South Pacific sailor sundowners and at beach barbecues. Different kinds of software tools designed to assist entries are passed around between boats. But often the data intended to help is completely off, particularly when the local seas run rough and the swell is high. Experienced cruisers and guidebook writers recommend rule-of-thumb slack-water estimates, but those estimates often yield contradictory results. Understanding how the tides inside a lagoon work can help avoid some nasty surprises.

During our eight seasons of cruising the South Pacific, we found generalizations such as “slack water can be found around high tide” should be taken with a grain of salt. Different lagoons can behave very differently. Lagoon-pass differences come primarily from the size of the lagoon and how well it is enclosed. For the following considerations here, we ignore the influence of a local high swell and assume calm conditions.

Imagine an open lagoon with several wide passes. Such a lagoon behaves basically like a bay, where the water level follows the tides immediately. In this case, slack water would generally occur in a pass at high water and again at low water. The current comes in during the rising (or flood) tide and flows out when the tide is falling (ebb tide).

The situation is entirely different when a lagoon is well-enclosed. Consider a lagoon with a high reef around it and a tiny pass that can carry only a small amount of water. Such a small amount of water exchange does not alter the water level in the lagoon considerably. If the lagoon behind a small pass is huge, the water level remains basically constant and no tides can be observed inside. The pass will have an incoming current whenever the ocean is higher than the lagoon (strongest around high water) and an outgoing current when the ocean is lower (strongest around low water).

In a closed lagoon, slack water occurs at the midpoint between high and low tide, when ocean and lagoon levels are the same. Just as a river always runs downhill, at the same hour an open lagoon has slack water, the pass of a neighboring closed lagoon has the strongest currents.

Most of the atolls in the Tuamotus are somewhere between these two extremes. The passes cannot fully level out the tidal changes in an open lagoon, but the amount of transported water is enough to cause the lagoon levels to rise and fall. The tidal range inside a lagoon is smaller than outside, and the tidal cycle inside the lagoon lags behind the ocean tides. If ocean swell is not a variable, slack water can be found when the lagoon has a high or low tide. Depending on how closed the atoll is, this might happen up to three hours after the high (or low) water of the outside ocean.

When ocean swell or wind waves reach a certain height, they start breaking over the barrier reef and transport water into the lagoon. Walking along motus during rough weather is interesting because one can clearly observe riverlike streams in the channels between the motus. The barrier is typically high enough for these streams to be one-way, regardless of the tide. This extra amount of water has to find its way out of the lagoon through the pass(es), adding extra current. Depending on the capacity of the pass(es), the lagoon dams up to a certain level. In a ­rather open lagoon, this might be just a few ­centimeters, but in a closed one, it can reach several feet. We spent a lot of time in Pacific atolls such as Maupihaa, in the Society Islands, and Raraka, in the Tuamotus. During high-swell periods, we could clearly observe such raised water levels on these islands with tiny passes. All the beaches and even some of the motus were flooded for days.

The increased lagoon level changes the times for slack water in the passes considerably. As the level rises, the phase with incoming current becomes shorter, while the phase with outgoing ­current gets longer. This occurs until, from a certain level on, the incoming phase ceases altogether. The current in the pass flows out regardless of the tide; moments of slack water disappear. In such a scenario, the current in a closed lagoon is weakest when the ocean reaches high tide, and in an open lagoon after the middle of the rising tide.

Although an engine might help the skipper navigate a tricky pass, the risks of ­relying solely on the engine for safe passage are steep. In our years of cruising atolls, we have met more than one captain with his 50- or 60-footer on the hard for rudder repairs after a reckless pass transit. Keep in mind that the current might be too strong to motor against; standing waves can be brutally steep and high, particularly when the wind blows hard against the current. Hidden eddies can turn the transit into a roller coaster. To minimize the risks, a pass transit should be attempted at or near slack water, when little or no current flows.

Ideally, there should be no amplified waves and no visible eddies. A tide table of the lagoon or a nearby landmark can help, but note that the tables are for the high- and low-water times of the ocean, not the lagoon. In a closed lagoon, the tides can be delayed by up to three hours. Some places such as Rangiroa can be predicted, while others—such as Hao, in the eastern Tuamotus—cannot. Check slack-water times with sailors and locals inside the lagoon via VHF radio, and ask around for personal experience of the area via single-sideband radio nets.

We always try to arrive at a pass early in the morning in order to observe the pass and determine whether the current is going in or out. When the current flows out, waves and agitated water are apparent outside the pass, sometimes up to a mile out. When the current goes in, the boiling water can be seen inside. If the waves are steep and high, we wait for the current to slacken. With an early arrival, there is no rush: We can wait for good conditions and a safe entry. During rough periods with high waves and swell, the best time to attempt the pass is about two hours before high tide. If we’re anchored inside a ­protected ­ lagoon and the seas are ­building, we prefer to stay put and delay the next passage until the seas have calmed down.

The current is usually strongest and the waves highest in the deepest section of the pass. Although it is tempting to approach the pass on its leading line and stay in what feels like the safe center, this is exactly where the witch’s cauldron bubbles the hottest. If the pass is wide enough, we try to stay to one side and attempt to sneak through without getting bashed. Sailing in or out of a ­lagoon smoothly gets easier with experience, but ­approaching an unknown pass is always an exciting moment.

Birgit Hackl and Christian Feldbauer departed the Mediterranean in 2011, sailing via the Atlantic and Caribbean to the South Pacific. They’ve explored Tonga and the Cook Islands, but their favorite cruising ground is French Polynesia. For more information, visit their blog.

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New-boat shoppers have long headed to Florida for a mid-winter look at what’s new on the market. But with the Miami International Boat Show cancelled by the pandemic this year, along with a number of regional winter shows across the country, a handful of builders have decided to host events on their own in the Ft. Lauderdale area over the next few weeks.

First up is Atlantic Cruising Yachts, which is planning its Las Olas Boat Show from Feb. 11 to 14. ACY is a dealer for French-built Fountaine Pajot sailing and power catamarans, and for Dufour sailboats. Models will be on display at the company’s docks at 1800 E. Las Olas Boulevard. Included in the show will be the Fountaine Pajot Isla 40, Elba 45, Samana 59 and the Dufour 360. Appointments are needed to attend; to register, visit atlantic-cruising.com/events/las-olas-boat-show/.

French builder Groupe Beneteau, meanwhile, plans to launch Sailaway Days a week later, from Feb. 19 to 21 at Seahaven Superyacht Marina, located near the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Participating brands include Beneteau, Jeanneau, Lagoon Catamarans, and Excess Catamarans, and each will have a range of their monohulls and multihulls on display. Attendees will need to preregister with each brand separately.

Beneteau’s lineup for the open house includes the Oceanis 30.1, Oceanis 46.1 and the Oceanis 51.1. To register to see these models, visit beneteauvip.com/events/2021-02-19-sailaway-days-seahaven-superyacht-marina-dania-beach-fl/.

Jeanneau also plans to have four of its models on display, including the 349, 410, 490 and 51. To register to see these boats, visit jeanneauamerica.com/en/articles/2026-sailaway-days-get-to-know-jeanneau

Excess Catamarans will have all three of its models on display at Seahaven, including the Excess 11, Excess 12 and Excess 15. To register to see them, visit excess-catamarans.com/our-events/sailaway-days-fort-lauderale-1.

Lagoon models at the open house will include the Lagoon 40, Lagoon 42, Lagoon 46 and the Sixty 5. Registration details for the Lagoons can be found at form.jotform.com/210114887797163.

Leopard Catamarans, built by Robertson and Caine in South Africa, is also planning a Ft. Lauderdale event with three of its sail models, the Leopard 45, Leopard 50 and the just-launched Leopard 42. The boats will be available for dockside visits and sea trials. The show takes place March 4 to 8 at Harbour Towne Marina. The Leopards are also available for charter ownership under the Moorings and Sunsail brands, and agents will be on hand to discuss ownership options and to book charters. To register for the event, and for more information, visit info.leopardcatamarans.com/cruising-world-open-house.

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So, you want to get a catamaran, sail off into the sunset, and capture some magic with your lover or family for a few years. You have no ambition to sail around the world or to live aboard forever, but think a one- or two-year sabbatical might be life-changing. You’d like to sail the US East Coast, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, perhaps the Med—or up and down the West Coast and on to Mexico and Central America. You have $300,000 or less to spend and want a catamaran you can sell at the end of the journey without consuming a bottle of Tylenol to blunt the pain. 

The good news is that this is quite achievable. The bad news is that there is a vast wave of baby boomers who are all looking for the same thing—and for right around the same price. This makes finding a good deal on a great used catamaran a lot of work, even working with a broker. But, it’s possible. You just need to keep an open mind.

The other good news, which might seem surprising, is that an older catamaran, besides being more affordable, might sail just as well—or even better—than the same-size new cat that will cost considerably more. Yes, the older model might have less room inside and lack the latest condo-on-the-water styling, but it was designed and built before the current trend to supersize the newer generations of multihulls at the expense of sailing performance.

Here’s my advice to the cat hunter on a budget: Don’t get too hung up on the length of the boat. Instead, focus on the spatial and payload requirements you seek and which can be achieved within your budget. And best not get too focused on must-have features—what I jokingly call “surround-sound beds.” Catamaran designs and interiors have gone through massive changes in the past 10 to 20 years, and most older designs simply cannot compete with the new ones in terms of space and high-end amenities.

None of the cool cats I have in mind are over 47 feet. This is not because there aren’t bargain boats out there that are 47 feet and longer, but because any larger multihull that you can buy for $300,000 or less will most assuredly need a significant refit or is either very old or very odd. Buying a fixer-upper is, to my mind, the most dangerous thing a budget-minded consumer can do. It’s just too easy to underestimate the cost of yacht refits and repairs due to the extremely high prices charged in most boatyards. 

RELATED: 20 Best Cruising and Sailing Destinations

Nearly any cat you buy over 10 years old is fully depreciated. What we were selling a Lagoon 440 for eight or 10 years ago is nearly the same as what they sell for today. The difference between a good deal and a bad deal is tied solely to a yacht’s condition and refit history. As they joke in private-equity circles, “Any idiot can buy; you deserve congratulations only when you sell.”   

So, when your search gets underway, focus on ­condition—it is far more important than the year, brand or features you might crave. And when you find the cat of your dreams, the best way to remove financial-downside risk is to get a great survey and to choose the newest, smallest cat that will work for your agenda, not the oldest and biggest.

And a word of caution: Your problem will be knowing a good deal from a bad one after the survey is over if you are not well-schooled in pricing. Besides steering you toward potential boats to consider, this is where a broker, working on your behalf, can provide knowledgeable advice. It’s been my experience that this is the point when so many yacht sales come apart: a dispute over the value of a given yacht when the survey results come in. All too commonly we see buyers reject yachts they should have accepted and purchase cats they should have rejected. Remember, a used yacht is a used yacht—not a perfect yacht. A catamaran need not be perfect to remain a perfectly good deal. Here, then, are 10 cool cats to ­consider in the ­$300,000-or-less range:

1. Fountaine Pajot Orana 44 (above)

Fountaine Pajot had the misfortune of tooling up this boat just before the global financial crisis, so not that many of them were built between 2007 and 2012. But these were the first of the larger-space charter cats in this size, but not yet so porky that they still could not sail decently. In the three-­cabin owner’s version, they designed the living space very nicely; even in the four-cabin version, the aft starboard bed was very well-done. 

During this period, Fountaine Pajot had problems with the resin it was using, which led to blistering on the hulls and undersides. Affected models therefore had new bottoms done at approved shipyards throughout the world. Make sure the one you are considering had this done or that it doesn’t show evidence of significant blistering. Honestly it is only cosmetic, but it will impact resale if not repaired. Many consumers think blisters are the end of the world; frankly, they are not.

2. Catana 431

Built in France by a long-­standing yard, the Catana 431 was always a very viable vessel because it is big enough to go anywhere, but not too large for a competent owner to handle. And because the 431 has good underwing clearance and daggerboards, it sails smartly to windward. 

That said, there are a few things to watch for. The primary bulkheads on many of these boats were not tabbed on the outer ends, and over time tended to distort. Often this led, or will lead, to a costly replacement of some bulkheads. So be careful to survey these areas properly. 

The 431′s furniture is all foam-cored and handmade, but the banding on the outer edges in some cases slowly starts to peel, which allows moisture to infect the wood veneer. This can create a somewhat unsightly appearance in the cabinets and drawers. It is only a cosmetic issue, but it can make the interior feel a bit worn out. 

During the period when the 431 was being built, Catana used a distributive electrical card system, and the boats had several modules, each a zone, to which electricity was run. If one thing in a zone stops working, the only solution is to jury-rig a wire from that nonworking item back to the main breaker panel. Replacing the modules or getting them repaired can be done, but it is getting harder by the year. For this reason, the best 431 is a boat that someone else had rewired at some point along the way.

3. Lagoon 470

If you need a larger escape pod, the Lagoon 470 is one of our favorites. This model of older Lagoons was built at CNB’s yard in Bordeaux, France, and the build quality was high. The 470 was the first design to have the more-vertical windows that are a Lagoon signature, and ample saloon headroom. The 470s are also old enough that the hulls were not so supersize that it compromised sailing performance. They have decent underwing clearance, so they are not persistent pounders to windward. Many were built with a galley-down layout, some in galley-up style. You will always pay more for an owner version of this or any model. 

The big thing you have to concern yourself with on Lagoons of this vintage is that the hulls and decks are made with a balsa core, so it is not uncommon to find moisture problems, especially around deck fittings or hatches. This can sometimes require rebedding or recoring areas, and this sort of repair, in North America, can be a costly undertaking. Make sure you get good moisture-meter readings near all deck fittings and, of course, on the hulls. Hulls, however, tend less often to have moisture issues because there are few fittings through which water can enter the core. Were that to happen below the waterline, it is a real mess that must be repaired immediately and properly.

4. Privilège 435

Back when the Privilège 435 was built, Privilège catamarans were constructed by Alliaura Marine in France, and they were truly the Mercedes of the multihull world at that time. While not a performance cat by any means, the 435 was a super-solid yacht, built with great care and the finest components. The 435 is large enough to go anywhere but small enough to handle easily. 

The largest negative of this model—and many cats of this vintage—is that the saloon windows slope dramatically, so the interior gets very hot unless the windows are covered most of the time. When they legalize growing pot on catamarans, here’s the perfect greenhouse for it! Seriously, if you should buy a used 435, you really have to get strong sunblocking external UV covers, as well as interior blinds or shades to inhibit heat buildup. 

Some of the 435s were laid out with the galley down in one hull, and these days most people want a galley-up arrangement, where cooking and food preparation are done in the saloon. A three-cabin galley-up owner version will be far more sought after and cost more than a four-cabin galley-down version. 

5. Leopard 46

This was the first of the Morrelli & Melvin collaborations with South African builder Robertson and Caine and the charter companies owned at the time by TUI Marine to create a catamaran that could be sold both into charter under the Moorings brand and also privately as a Leopard, so effort was made to design a boat with good sailing performance. Gino Morrelli did a good job creating a lot of underwing clearance, the 46 has a powerful rig, and yet its interior still offers spacious sleeping areas and nice flow from the cockpit to the saloon. These can be bought as ex-Moorings charter boats for less than $300,000 but are more costly in the sought-after Leopard owner version.

Because these are balsa-­cored boats, you must inspect deck fittings carefully for moisture incursion. Some of the earlier ones also experienced structural problems on the aft bulkhead and over-door-frame areas between saloon and cockpit. Also, during this period, the windows in the main saloon had a tendency to leak and, when they did, required rebedding or replacement. This was a costly job, so check this out carefully during survey.

6. St. Francis 44/Knysna 440

If you wish to spend under $250,000, the older Saint Francis 44 and Knysna 440 are worth a look.

Back in 1990, Duncan Lethbridge started St. Francis Catamarans in South Africa with the St. Francis 43. The boat was meant to be a fast, strong bluewater voyager—and it was. The 43 was made with foam core, keeping the structure light, and it was very strongly built, with a powerful rig. The 43 loved to sail. And so too did the St. Francis 44, an updated version of the original. 

The boat did have a couple of negatives, however, the first being its sloped windows that built up interior heat. And the boat wasn’t a great fit for tall people, having less than 6-foot-2-inch headroom in the hulls. Also, the engines were installed amidships, which made the boat noisy inside under power. It also made the amidships areas of the hulls too narrow to have centrally located heads and showers, which in turn meant the only layout available was a four-­cabin, four-head design. In the forward cabins, the heads and showers had to be far forward; in the aft cabins, the heads and showers were located far aft.

St. Francis sold the tooling for the 44 to Knysna Yachts in 2004, and Knysna raised the headroom in the saloon and moved the engines aft to each stern. The hulls remained fundamentally the same, but the design was improved nicely. 

The largest negative of both the Saint Francis 44 and the Knysna 440 is that they have very low underwing clearance. Things can get pretty noisy when pushing against ­washing-machine seas. 

But you cannot have it all and still pay less than $250,000 in a midsize cat; compromises must be made. And these boats do sail quite smartly compared with many in their size range.

7. Lagoon 440

This was the most popular catamaran ever made, and it started the catamaran flybridge craze, which helped to convert many powerboaters to sailors. 

What I like about the 440 is that it is an infinitely better sailer than some of its peers, and has decent underwing clearance, vertical windows, and nice cabins for sleeping and living. While the aft cockpit is rather small, the saloon is quite large.

Flybridges are a bit of a love-hate thing. There is no question that in a cat of this size, the windward performance suffers a bit due to the boom positioned so high off the water. When piloting, the skipper is separated from those on the bridgedeck. Part of the reason flybridges are so popular in charter is that most of the parties take place up there while sailing and at anchor. In private ownership, however, it is seldom that everyone is hanging out on the flybridge during a long passage. 

As always with Lagoons, these are balsa-cored boats, so a careful survey is in order. Pay attention also to bulkhead ­tabbing to make sure they have not separated from the hulls.

Because so many of the 440s were built to go into charter, there are a lot of four-cabin, four-head models for resale. These will sell for considerably less on the ­brokerage market than a ­coveted three-cabin, ­private-owner model.

8. Leopard 40

When you get into the 40-foot size range, a four-cabin layout can become pretty cramped and claustrophobic below, but the three-cabin owner version of the Leopard 40 is a very nice pocket cruiser. A Morrelli & Melvin design, the 40 has good underwing clearance and nicely shaped hulls. Not a large cat, per se, and less-suited for significant distance sailing than others because its payload is limited, the 40 is still well-suited for a couple and a child or two for near-coastal and ­island-hopping action.

9. Manta 42

If you are searching for a cat in the $200,000 range, the Manta 42s were well-built in Florida, and their electrical systems were very well-done compared with many other multihulls of that era. While many of the features on the boat are quite dated, these Mantas sail very well, and easily, and have been popular with coastal cruisers for two decades. 

The largest negative of the Mantas is that people taller than 6 feet will find the saloon headroom right on the edge, and the berths are not especially large. Also, forward visibility from the saloon windows is not particularly panoramic, so the interiors are a bit darker inside than current-­generation catamarans.

10. Lagoon 410

The Lagoon 410 was quite a popular cat in its prime, and for good reason. It offers lots of visibility thanks to its vertical windows, good headroom for a cat of its size, nice berths, and a workable, though smallish, galley-up design. The 410 has decent underwing clearance, can sail nicely over the waves, and its singlehanded operation is super easy. In the three-cabin owner’s configuration, it’s just a very cool little cat.

As always, a balsa-core boat must be surveyed carefully, especially on deck, for moisture incursion near fittings and hatches. It can be costly to repair rotted core and to rebed deck fittings. But find a dry one, and it should definitely be counted as a contender for a buyer with a limited budget. 

Phil Berman is the president of the Multihull Company and the founder of Balance Catamarans. He has managed the sale of more than 900 catamarans.

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Change is good! At least that’s what Lagoon Catamarans is banking on with its handsome new 46-footer, which had its North American launch this past winter at the Miami International Boat Show.

The newest model from longtime Lagoon collaborators VPLP and Nauta Design replaces the immensely popular Lagoon 450. For the better part of a decade, the 450 occupied the sweet spot in the company’s range of sailboats that runs from 38 to 77 feet. First launched in 2010, more than 745 of them were sold. By any definition, that’s a pretty impressive number, and the new model will have big shoes to fill.

RELATED: Lagoon 50 Catamaran Review

But the 46 is a pretty sweet ride—as I found out when I tagged along on its delivery up to Fort Lauderdale after the show. As with its 40- and 50-foot siblings that were launched a year earlier, the mast on the 46 is stepped relatively far aft, allowing for a larger and more powerful self-tacking jib up forward, and a smaller and easier to handle mainsail.

We had a heck of a day to go for a sailboat ride. An east-southeasterly breeze was blowing in the low 20s as we paused in the lee of Fisher Island to tuck in a reef and raise the square-top main before motoring the rest of the way out of Government Cut. Past the breakwater, we hooked a left, rolled out the self-tacking jib and headed for deeper water. For the record, with the throttles wide open, the boat’s two 57 hp Yanmar diesels pushed us along at 8.5-knots. More to the point, with the motors cut, our speed over ground hovered right around 9 knots closehauled. And by the time we’d gained enough sea room to crack off to a reach, though the wind had settled down into the teens, we still managed to add a couple more knots to our pace by unfurling the code zero.

The entire trip was on port tack, so I can’t talk tacking angles, but I can say once in Fort Lauderdale’s narrow canals—and when it came time to dock—the boat proved quite agile under power.

Underway, the flybridge on the 46 is the place to be. The boat we sailed had a hard Bimini top for shade (a canvas one is an option) and lots of cushioned lounging space just aft of the wheel. Offset to port, the winches are close at hand for the skipper, and all sail control lines lead to them. On the hook or dock, if you’re looking for sun and quiet, there’s a small cockpit forward by the trampoline. A much larger and more spacious social area is aft, shaded by the flybridge. The cockpit sports a couch across the transom and a table with foldout leaves and L-shaped seating forward, to port. Opposite, there’s more room for lounging on a wide daybed.

Just inside the saloon, a roomy galley is located adjacent to the door and sliding window, which when open, allows treats to be passed in and out. A nav station is forward to port, and across from it, there’s another dining table. In between, the center forward window slides down and opens onto the foredeck. Speaking of windows, the saloon is surrounded by them so daylight pours in.

Below, VPLP introduced pronounced chines that flare outward just above the waterline and considerably add to the living space in each hull. This is most noticeable up ­forward, where bunks are typically packed into the narrowing portion of a cat’s hull. On the 46, though, the forward berth on the three-cabin model is a full-size island queen, identical to the one aft. (A four-cabin layout is available as well.)

Adding to the sense of roominess below, blackwater tanks for the heads are located under the sole rather than mounted on the side of the hull, and bulkheads in the owner’s quarters have been eliminated.

Large rectangular hull ports make the guest cabins feel light and spacious; in the owner’s quarters, they make things feel downright elegant. The space is well-allocated and includes a queen berth aft and a large set of drawers and bookshelves amidships. Forward, a couch and desk occupy the outboard side of the hull and lockers line the inside, just aft of the roomy head and separate stall shower.

The base price for the 46 is $620,000. Fit out like the one we sailed—solar power, electric winches, watermaker, air conditioning, genset and code zero, to name a few of the toys—the bill comes to about $740,000. And for that, you’ll get a very comfortable cat to call your home.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

The post Boat Review: Lagoon 46 appeared first on Cruising World.

As our plane descended to land in San Juan, I twisted around in my aisle seat to see past my daughter, Lily, and a fellow sitting by the window, and was rewarded with a view of lush green hills, cloud-shrouded peaks and an insanely blue sea behind us. Welcome, then, to Puerto Rico.

Honestly, Lily and I had no idea what to expect when we boarded the plane at the crack of dawn on a late April Saturday morning in Boston, Massachusetts. Puerto Rico had been hit by Hurricane Maria a half year earlier, as had other islands in the northern Caribbean. Still, when my colleague Dave Gillespie and I ran into Sail Caribe Yacht Charters owner Jim Veiga during the Miami International Boat Show in February, he told us that life was actually getting back to normal. Storm damage had been extensive and repairs were ongoing, but the out islands and beaches were intact, stores were stocked and open, the trade winds still blew and his boats at Puerto del Rey Marina in Fajardo were in the water and ready to sail.

So that’s just what we were heading there to do, jump aboard a Sail Caribe catamaran and explore the Spanish Virgin Islands, arguably among America’s most overlooked gems. It would be my first real vacation in some time with Lily, who had recently finished grad school. She had a friend, Maddy, joining us, and Dave brought along his wife, Sandy, and their son, Andrew. Talk about an all-star crew.

Our plan was to meet at the San Juan airport, hop into a van sent from the marina and stop for provisions on the way to the charter base. Sandy had even worked out menus and a shopping list, though all for naught it turned out, after her and Dave’s flight was delayed for several hours. Whatever. Four of us found our ride and then winged it at the market, filling three carriages with supplies for the week. Meals might be unscripted, but no one was going to go hungry.

With 1,000 slips, storage racks ashore, and multiple on-site businesses, Marina del Rey is a sprawling complex, one of the largest in the Caribbean. Our van pulled into a loading area shortly after dark, where the driver corralled a couple of large metal carts for us to load. When we were ready, these were hitched onto a golf cart that delivered cargo and crew to Azulita, a 2018 Lagoon 450 tied up on the outer docks.

By the time we put away the food, stashed sea bags and had a cold can of Medalla Light in hand, Dave and Sandy arrived. After a welcome toast, we walked up the dock and grabbed dinner at La Cueva Del Mar, a waterside bar and restaurant that served up ample portions of live reggae and delicious fish tacos. The tropical night air was as sweet as the sound of tree frogs peeping along the shore.

As promised at check in, Capt. Jose Bernard arrived Sunday morning and walked us through Azulita‘s many systems, including watermaker, air conditioning and genset. We went over the navigation and safety gear, the anchor and windlass, and then our attention turned to the charts. Capt. Bernard left no stone unturned.

Then, when it was time to go, the captain took the wheel and deftly slid Azulita out of its tight quarters (better him than me, I thought) and motored to the fuel dock across the channel. The last task was to raise and drop the main. Then, with a handshake, he departed and we were off. The channel out of the marina seemed narrow. Or maybe the Lagoon’s 25-foot 9-inch beam seemed wide. Either way, I took it slow, getting used to the boat and recalling the captain’s advice to favor the seawall as we turned the corner to head to sea. Abruptly, the breeze picked up and we in open water, the trade winds blowing in our face.

Given our afternoon departure and the fact that our anchorage for the night was 10 miles dead up wind, we decided that rather than starting our sailing vacation with a sail, we’d go motorboating instead. We found a relatively comfortable cruising rpm, but it was still a wet ride. The girls, with sunbathing on their minds, didn’t last long on the cushioned foredeck before they were soaked (and enjoying every minute of it) and back in the cockpit drying off.

We were headed to Punta Tamarindo on the west side of Culebra. Nearly all the marked anchorages around the islands have mooring balls. Officially, they are for day use only; unofficially, grab one and stay as long as you’d like. When we arrived at Tamarindo, we tied up to a ball on the north side of the point, well sheltered from the southeast wind and swell, and shared the anchorage with just one other boat.

Culebra is a mountainous island, and much of its west and north coast are undeveloped. That night we were surrounded by dark hills to east; to the west the twinkling lights on Puerto Rico were just lovely.

Monday morning, Dave and I took the dinghy ashore and found a dirt road that rose steeply into the hills. We hiked to the top of the first one and were rewarded by spectacular views of the deep blue ocean on one side and the lush green valleys of the island’s interior on the other. It was already hot, so back at the boat we dug out masks and fins, and everybody went for a swim. We’d been told the snorkeling was good on the point, but the current there was strong. Instead, Lily, Maddy and I swam back along the shore, where we spotted a few fish and a sea turtle. Mid morning, a tour boat full of snorkelers arrived, followed by a dive boat that anchored farther north along the shore. It was getting crowded! Time to go.

Flamenco Bay, on the north side of the island, has a spectacular beach that Dave and Sandy remembered from a previous trip. That was our next stop, right after another up-wind motorboat ride.

Culebra’s rocky coastline turned into a series of bays with white-sand beaches once we rounded the top of the island. Flamenco was one of the first we came to. Swells crashed onto the reefs on either side of the wide U-shaped cove as we entered, but the deeper in we went, the calmer it got. We anchored in about 15 feet of water, launched the dinghy and headed ashore. The beach was, indeed, stunning. At the eastern end there was a resort near where we waded ashore through the surf. There were a few people sunbathing, but most of the activity took place at the other end, where there was a picnic area with several shops selling food and drinks. Flamenco is not far from Dewey, the main town on Culebra, and it seemed a popular spot, even on a Monday afternoon.

From Flamenco, we motored in the center of the channel that runs between Culebra and Cayo Norte until we came to the pass through the reefs just outside the entrance to Bahia de Tortuga, the main anchorage on Culebrita.

The small island is a wildlife refuge, and undeveloped except for a few well-maintained trails and El Faro, an abandoned century-old light atop its highest hill, 300 feet above the water. On that afternoon, a couple of day boats sat bow to the beach, and three or four other sailboats were anchored or tied to moorings. We grabbed a mooring ball at the edge of the anchorage and settled in to enjoy our stay.

It happened to be my birthday, and that evening, Lily and Maddy made a merry time of it by decking me out in party finery that they brought for the occasion. It was the first of two birthdays aboard; Andrew would celebrate his on Thursday.

Tuesday was the third day of our sailing vacation, and we still hadn’t gone for a sail, a problem we planned to resolve after lunch. But first, we hiked to El Faro, a relatively easy 20-minute walk. Atop the hill the views of Culebra, St. Thomas and the reefs to the south were nothing short of breathtaking.

Later, we followed our GPS track back past the reef at the bay’s entrance and hoisted the main. Conditions were perfect for a long beam reach in deep water across to the north shore of St. Thomas and back. The breeze built throughout the afternoon, from about 12 knots to a very sporty 20-plus before we returned and grabbed the same mooring for another night. We capped off a perfect afternoon with a walk along the beach and across rocks to The Baths, which are tide pools on the northeast side of the anchorage where ocean swells pound through holes in the boulders in a splash of foam and bubbles.

Bright and early Wednesday, we set off for Ensenada Honda, Culebra’s deep and protected harbor. Along the way we stopped at Puerto Manglar, a lovely bay lined with villas. Inside it, we followed a tight channel close to shore to pick up a mooring and go snorkeling on the shallow reef at Las Pelas. We stopped again for lunch at Ensenada Dikity, an anchorage behind the reef at the entrance to Ensenada Honda, and from there, continued in and anchored just off the town dock in Dewey.

Every cruising guide we picked up recommended cocktails at Mamacita’s, located on the narrow canal that runs from Ensenada Honda to Bahia Sardinas, on Culebra’s west coast. When in Rome…

Dave and I hit the store across the canal from the restaurant for ice and a birthday cake for Andrew, dropped the supplies at the boat and then joined Team Azulita on Mamacita’s waterfront deck. The bushwackers were as good as advertised, topped only by the sunset we were treated to on a dinghy ride afterward.

Thursday was our day to knock off some miles. We were headed for Vieques, the southernmost of the Spanish Virgins. We had a 10-mile, three-tack sail across open water, and then another 10-mile reach west along the island’s coast. With more time, we could have easily visited any number of small, inviting bays, but instead, put in a waypoint just off the village of Esperanza, the main town on the south coast, where we anchored for the night.

Between passing rain showers, we headed to town and locked the dinghy to a pier not far from the malecon, a broad seawall and sidewalk on the main street. We found a handful of small hotels and restaurants across from the beach, and we paid a visit to the local museum for a glimpse of the island’s past. We walked the length of the sleepy downtown and then into the neighborhood behind. The streets were lined with modest homes, some seemingly piled on top of each other, but many with large fenced-in yards and well-tended gardens. Dogs and chickens were everywhere.

We arrived back on the waterfront just in time for happy hour at Bananas, where we took a table in the back under ceiling fans in the shade. Our waitress, Leah, was from Buffalo, N.Y. She had come to Vieques three years earlier for a vacation and discovered island life suited her. Back in Buffalo, she quit her job, packed her belongings and returned south — all with no regrets.

In laid-back Esperanza, the main town on Vieques’ south coast, the locals’ beach art made it pretty clear how they felt about Hurricane Maria, which dented but didn’t break the waterfront community.

The next morning, we moved on. Approaching the western end of the island, the mountains stopped abruptly and the shore was low-lying and covered with dense undergrowth where we anchored for breakfast just south of Punta Arenas. From there, we had about an 8-mile sail to get to our final stop at Isla Palominos, and we’d have the wind at our backs the entire way. What’s not to like about that?

We ran west to clear the reef that extends from the end of Vieques, then jibed and reached due north, seeing only one other boat the entire way.

Palominos is a private island, used by a resort on the mainland to entertain its guests. There are mooring balls along its northwest shore, though, and visitors are welcome on a portion of the white sand beach. The resort was closed when we visited, but was expected to open again soon.

The snorkeling between the boat and the beach was the best we encountered, with loads of tropical fish and a turtle or two swimming in about 10 feet of water. Lily, Maddy and I walked along the beach where a couple of local powerboats were anchored, their crews standing and floating in waist-deep water enjoying lively tunes and drinks on a hot afternoon. We sat for a spell and enjoyed the sun ourselves, until a rooster chased us off his turf.

That evening a powerboat arrived and unloaded visitors at a party in a building overlooking the anchorage, but out on the water, we had the place to ourselves. We watched the last glimmer of light disappear behind the cloud-shrouded mountains on Puerto Rico. What a week it had been. Fine sailing, great company, remarkable islands — I could have easily spent a week or more exploring any one of them, and come away feeling it was a sailing vacation well spent. They really shouldn’t be missed.

But all good things must end, and our time in the Spanish Virgins did the next morning, when we reluctantly made our final 45-minute return voyage to the base. It was one last chance to take in the towering peaks of the Puerto Rican mainland and a memorable ending to a trip I’ll not soon forget.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

If you go

For U.S. citizens, traveling to Puerto Rico and the Spanish Virgin Islands is as simple as buying a ticket and climbing on a plane. The islands are a U.S. territory, so there’s no need to clear in or out when you arrive in San Juan.

Transportation from the airport to the marina and back was arranged through Sail Caribe. The fee for four passengers, including an hour stop for provisioning was $90 each way; additional passengers were $20 each.

Sail Caribe Yacht Charters has been in Farjardo, Puerto Rico, since 2005, and recently opened a second base in American Yacht Harbor on St. Thomas. Sail Caribe is also an ASA Sailing School; its sister company, Atlas Yacht Sales, is the area’s Lagoon Catamarans and Jeanneau dealer, and those brands make up Sail Caribe’s bareboat and crewed charter fleet.

Many of the available cruising guides focus just on the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, but A Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands, by Steven J. Pavlidis (Seaworthy Publications), includes the Spanish Virgin Islands and proved quite useful.

Ralph’s Food Warehouse in Fajardo is a large and well-stocked grocery and liquor store, comparable to what you would find in any U.S. city. We did our main provisioning there. In Dewey, on Culebra, we also found markets to top off stores as needed.

The post Sailing Through the Spanish Virgin Islands appeared first on Cruising World.

Winner: Lagoon 42

The first of three dedicated catamaran classes for 2017 was a decidedly French affair, with three of the four contestants hailing from the ­sailing-crazed nation, which has been one of the hotbeds of cat design and construction for decades now. So it’s no surprise that the competition for Best Full-Size Multihull Under 50 Feet came down to a battle between a trio of boats from two longtime BOTY adversaries and competitors: the Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 and the Lagoon 42 and 450 S.

Before diving into the category analysis, we’d be remiss not to mention the fourth boat in the class, a sharp 39-footer built in Vietnam, the Seawind 1190 Sport. While the minimalist, ­performance-oriented Seawind was an outlier in the battle of more traditional cats waged between Fountaine Pajot and Lagoon, the judges believed it was a critical success and honored it as such with a special award.

That left the French cats, beginning with the Lucia 40. “Fountaine Pajot has been in business for 40 years, during which time they’ve built some 3,000 boats, all cats,” said Tim Murphy. “The Lucia 40 replaces the Lipari 41 in the builder’s line. Over a six-year span, they built 200 units.

“The Lucia can come in four different layouts with as many as four cabins,” he added. “It’s an infused hull: They do a vinylester skin coat, and then the rest is ­resin-infused. The decks are injection-molded. It’s worth noting that Fountaine Pajot builds the largest injected part of any industry in the world: the decks on some of their larger models. It’s impressive.

“Once we were underway, I was pretty happy,” he concluded. “I felt the boat would be a strong contender before we sailed it, and that was only confirmed once we hoisted the sails. The builder claims it’s a performance boat, and our test sail confirmed that, making 7.7 knots on a beam reach in 10 knots of true wind. She felt fine and spritely. It was definitely easier to handle and keep track of all the lines compared to some of the other catamarans we’ve tested.”

Next up was the first of the two Lagoons, the 450 S. “The ‘S’ stands for ‘sport top,’” said Murphy. “They introduced the Lagoon 450, which was a flybridge model, six years ago, and in the time since have sold some 650 of them. The sport top is all about the steering; the Lucia 40 had a similar configuration. It’s really a hybrid between traditional bulkhead steering and a flybridge. You step halfway up and sort of look over the cabin top, so you have good visibility but not a true flybridge. There have been many tweaks along the edges to go with the new steering station, but this is a marginally new design.”

On the other hand, the Lagoon 42 was a ­completely fresh model that replaced the previous 421 in the ­company’s quiver. “There were 280 of those built, so this is likely to be a ­high-production boat,” said Murphy.

With the 42, Lagoon made a deliberate effort to consolidate the floor plan and living areas, making it a much more intuitive space by eliminating long ladders and compartments. But they didn’t stop there.

“One of the major things they did was move the mast aft, which had big structural implications,” said Murphy. “Lagoon feels there’s a big advantage there.”

“One of the positives of moving the mast aft was that you expand the foretriangle, and in addition to any spinnakers you might fly, there’s now a self-tacking jib,” said Carol Hasse, our resident sailmaker. “It’s a bigger headsail, so you have a little more power in there now, and it means the boat’s a little less mainsail-­driven, so the main is less of a handful when you want to reef it or you’re under sail.”

All that left the judges with a difficult decision to make, one that ultimately came down to the Lucia 40 and the Lagoon 42, both of which came in at basically the same $18 per pound. “It’s a tough call, a really tough call,” said Hasse. “The Lagoon toerails and big cleats felt a bit more substantial to me. The bow pulpit seats were comfortable, and I liked the lifelines between the hulls forward. The Harken hardware is also excellent.”

With two boats so similar, the little things stand out. Furthermore, when the votes were cast, the Lagoon 42 felt like a real departure and evolution, which is why the judges named it 2017’s Best Full-Size Multihull Under 50 Feet.

Find out the Winner of the 2017 Best Full-Size Multihull Over 50 Feet.

The post Best Full-Size Multihull Under 50 Feet appeared first on Cruising World.

It was a perfect morning for pulling up the covers, ordering room service and renting a movie, none of which was on my agenda. Nope, I had different plans. I was going sailing.

Over the years, I’ve lost track of the number of boats I’ve tested and reviewed, though I’m certain I put the hundredth in my wake many moons ago. Most of the time, the boats are neat and it’s a blast. In some instances, the vessels are ill-prepared and not ready for prime time, or the breeze fails to materialize, and it’s either boring or an ordeal (and sometimes both). ­Rarely does the weather devolve to the point where the whole exercise becomes dodgy and dangerous, but it does happen. Even at the worst moments, however, I count myself lucky: Not everyone gets paid to put flashy new boats through their paces.

In any event, as I stuffed my backpack with notepads, cameras and foul-weather gear, on this morning I had no clue how the day would transpire, other than that I had scheduled two test sails aboard a pair of French cats that had made their American debuts at the show a few days ­earlier: a late-morning session on the Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 and an afternoon appointment aboard the Lagoon 42. The ­radar app on my smartphone confirmed the TV weatherman’s forecast: The current line of thunderstorms was quickly moving off the Florida coast, with clear skies to follow. What the wind would do, if anything, was an entirely different matter.

Cautiously optimistic, I downed breakfast and headed over to the marina. Little did I know that one of my cooler, more agreeable days of boat reviewing was about to unfold.

Lucia 40:

The Owner

The sky had cleared and bright sunshine was drying the still-damp docks as I made my way down a pier to rendezvous with the crew of the ­Lucia 40, who’d just tied up after an earlier test sail with ­several of my fellow scribes from other ­sailing magazines. (I like my colleagues but avoid group boat tests whenever possible; I prefer to have the ­undivided attention of the ­builder or their representative so I can ask stupid questions free from embarrassment.) It was ­pretty clear from their ­expressions, which were as limp and still as the drooping flags on the dockside displays, that their outing had not been an ­exhilarating experience. “Good luck,” said an old writer friend as we passed each other. “There’s not a breath of air out there. It’s flat calm.”

Another cardinal rule of boat reviewing — though this too is sometimes unavoidable — is to never test a brand-new boat with its brand-new ­owner. I know it’s hard to ­believe, but some new owners have reservations when I ask to set the spinnaker or shake out a reef in building breeze, or to roll their lovely vessel ­into a death turn under power at 2,800 rpm. Go figure.

So I was a little taken aback when I stepped aboard to shake hands with Steve ­Clawson, the justifiably proud ­owner of Love Knot, hull number two of the Lucia 40 line. Steve in turn introduced me to a pair of strapping young bucks from Annapolis, Maryland, where the boat was bound after Miami. Clearly, these lads weren’t Frenchmen from Fountaine Pajot; in fact, there wasn’t a company rep in sight. It appeared it would be the four of us. Steve asked if I was ready to go sailing. Mate, I was born ready.

I’d already taken the opportunity to poke around the Lucia 40 earlier, during the show. Visually and stylistically, the Olivier Racoupeau design has a lot going on. In profile, the hulls feature aggressive plumb bows and reverse sheer lines that rise ­unexpectedly amidships before tapering aft into what look like reverse ­transoms but are actually pronounced outer rails for the two sets of transom steps (with a swim ladder on the starboard set). A solid canopy that ­also hosts the beam-width ­traveler on its aft edge caps the cockpit. A pair of portlights in each hull pour natural light ­into the staterooms below and ­accent the wraparound coachroof windows. With the clear ­objective of maximizing space, every item on the boat ­appears to have been given a lot of thought.

As on many modern cats, a sliding-glass door and drop-down window separate the cockpit and the main ­cabin; when everything is opened up, the two distinct areas merge into one open floor plan. Naturally, the centralized L-shaped galley straddles the cockpit and the saloon, putting the cook squarely in the middle of everyone and everything. A big L-shaped settee opposes the galley and shares a seat corner for the desk and navigation station. ­Spatially, these bookend features are both functional and fun. From the inside looking out, the coachroof windows offer ­arresting views.

To port, down four steps, the boat sports staterooms fore and aft with inviting double berths and private heads. But it’s the owner’s suite to starboard — in what Fountaine Pajot calls the Maestro layout — that’s arguably the nicest spot on the cat. A desk and vanity in the middle of the cabin are sandwiched between a large double berth aft and an enclosed head, with a huge dedicated shower stall forward. It’s a terrific layout.

As we motored out of the marina, bound for Biscayne Bay, Steve handed over the helm to his professional delivery skipper, Jordan Peacock, and we repaired to the trampolines for a good old gam. I found Steve’s personal sailing story every bit as intriguing as his new ride.

Having grown up on a landlocked farm in ­Indiana, when it came time for ­college, Steve was eager to see both the water and the world. A commission to the ­United States Naval Academy in ­Annapolis provided an avenue to both.

Though he’d fussed around with small boats on Midwest lakes, at the Academy he ­truly learned to sail, and a ­posting to a Puerto Rico duty ­station at the outset of his ­career ­provided the opportunity to purchase his first boat, a 20-foot wooden sloop aboard which he happily explored the nearby Spanish Virgin Islands.

For many years after, constant moves made boat owner­ship impossible, though he continued to hone his skills at Navy sailing clubs when posted to bases in ­Newport, Rhode Island, and ­other ­locales. By 2008, having ­retired from the Navy and working as a ­consultant based near ­Annapolis, he was ready to again take the ownership plunge and bought a locally built Gemini catamaran from Performance ­Cruising.

Though most of his sailing had been in monohulls, Steve; his wife, Luz Marina; and their family loved the space of the cat and the fact that they could take novice sailors and kids out on Chesapeake Bay with no worries. But he was also thinking about a blue­water boat he could cruise farther afield. And while he’d chartered boats frequently in the Caribbean over the years, including many monohulls, some of his best trips had been aboard Fountaine Pajot cats like the Mahé 36 and Bahia 46. At the Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show in 2015, he saw the drawings of the company’s new Lucia 40, and a week ­later he put down a deposit for one of the first to come off the line.

A trip to last winter’s ­Paris Boat Show, where hull number one was unveiled, and a coinciding visit to the Fountaine Pajot yard in La Rochelle to see his own boat under construction — he’d toured countless manufacturing ­facilities over the years, and was ­impressed by the craftsmanship, the cleanliness and the quiet, all of which he likened to an art studio — convinced him he’d made the right choice. That was confirmed when the boat arrived in Fort Lauderdale and, with Jordan and a third hand, he sailed the boat across the Gulf Stream and back in heavy weather and big seas for a photo shoot in Bimini. The Lucia 40 handled her maiden voyage with aplomb, recording nearly 12 knots of boat speed in 25 knots of breeze.

Now, out on Biscayne Bay, the gently ruffled waters signaled the impending ­arrival of a fresh sea breeze. Nice. We put the throttle down to motor out and greet it. Like most new owners have, Steve had upgraded the twin Yanmar 20-horsepower diesels to the 30-horsepower options, and we skidded along nicely at 6.3 knots at 2,100 rpm and 7.3 knots at 2,800 rpm.

The breeze wasn’t howling, but with a steady 6 to 8 knots, we had enough to go sailing. The big, fully battened square-top main was ­hoisted with the aid of a Lewmar electric winch — who doesn’t ­enjoy push-button sailing? — and once the genoa was ­unfurled, we began tacking upwind at over 5 knots, making good progress considering the light air.

With all lines led to the raised helm station (including a clever continuous line setup for the traveler, the most ­important trimming tool on any performance cat), nicely shaded by a dedicated bimini, the Lucia was simple and easy to operate, with a light helm. After a while, I turned it over to Steve with exquisite timing as photographer Billy Black picked the ideal moment to wheel alongside in his photo boat. Everyone else dashed below and hid so Billy could nab some hero shots of Steve in command, alone on his boat.

So much for my rule about test sails with owners: Steve’s happiness was infectious. And he hopes to share that joy with other sailors in the future by offering the boat for charters on Chesapeake Bay and in the Virgin Islands, depending on the season (see loveknot-­sailing.com). Anyway, the ­combination of boat and crew couldn’t have been lovelier. Those morning showers were a distant memory.

Lagoon 42:

The Builders

If my midday Lucia 40 sea ­trial was a mellow stroll in the park, my afternoon Lagoon 42 excursion was an enjoyable scramble up a tall peak. Such are the differences ­between a light-air foray under main and jib and a full-on test of a ­complete sail inventory in punchier breeze with a couple of professional rock-star French sailors.

I’d had the distinct pleasure of sailing with Lagoon’s director, Yann Masselot, on several earlier occasions, but this was my first outing with Olivier d’Enquin, a bundle of ­kinetic energy who works in France handing over new ­Lagoons from the boatyard to their ­eager new owners. ­Obviously, the job requires a talented, supportive sailor. ­Apparently, ­neither Yann nor Olivier had yet sailed the 42, which had been rushed to Miami on a freighter just in time for the boat show. And they were very anxious to put her through her paces. (Quick aside: It takes confident builders to share their inaugural sail on a new design with an inquisitive sailing journalist just dying for something calamitous, or ­rather, interesting to happen.) They also had a couple of crisp new reaching and running sails they hoped to check out. Would I mind?

Why, not at all, mon amis. Let’s get this party started.

As with the Lucia, I’d had a thorough tour of the Lagoon during the show and come away impressed. Perhaps more than any other cat builder, ­Lagoon has achieved a consistent look across the brand with its distinctive coachroof treatments — specifically the tinted, wraparound, turretlike windows and overhanging eyebrow. You know a Lagoon when you see one.

Yet with the 42, the yard has also pulled off a ­pretty ­difficult achievement by ­producing a yacht that looks ­reassuringly familiar but is in fact brimming with fresh, ­innovative ideas. For example, there’s been a concerted effort by ­naval architect Patrick Le Quément, in collaboration with VPLP design, to create spaces that flow naturally from one to the next, making the simple act of moving about the boat effortless and intuitive. From the low, suspended teak transom steps; to the two series of steps up from the cockpit to either the raised helm station, to port, or the wide, clear side decks; to the three steps that lead from the “winch station,” adjacent to the wheel, to the coachroof platform, which is home to both a daybed and a trio of flat solar panels, the 42 is a boat that practically invites you to roam around.

As with other recent ­Lagoons, the entire sail plan and rig have been shifted aft, which opens up the fore­triangle and the option to set any number of downwind sails. This translates to a shorter boom, but that’s ­compensated for with the full-battened square-top main. Combined with the standard self-­tacking jib, the working sails have plenty of drive yet are easily managed.

In the accommodation plan, the builder’s major theme was maximizing living space by utilizing the full beam and ­pushing things outward as much as possible, including in the main cabin and the staterooms in the hulls. That trend is especially noticeable in the spacious main cabin, where the settees, cabinets and counter space are all maxed out to the picture windows; in the five gradual steps that lead to the owner’s stateroom, to starboard; in the stateroom ­itself, where the extra space is utilized for access to the large double berth; and in the lockers, seat and shelves in the stateroom’s centralized desk and settee.

When I arrived at the ­Lagoon in midafternoon, Yann was noticeably antsy. Let’s just say that the show workers charged with breaking down the docks and finger piers had not been in any ­particular ­hurry, and Yann and Olivier were extremely ready to break out of the corral and gallop into the open range. About a nanosecond after the last ­offending pier was moved, we were underway, with dispatch. It felt like a jailbreak.

“Where to?” Yann asked. We had two choices: ­motor out of Government Cut and into the open Atlantic, or ­retrace my earlier steps on the ­Lucia 40 by heading back ­under the Rickenbacker Causeway and into Biscayne Bay. I had no idea if there was wind in the ocean but was sure about the bay, so suggested the ­latter. There was only one ­problem: The mast on the ­Lagoon is 68 feet tall, we weren’t entirely sure about the causeway clearance, and the chart plotter was not yet loaded. So I hailed photographer Billy Black on the VHF, and after double-­checking his charts, he ­reported that the bridge was 78 feet high. No worries.

Except that, as we made our approach, the distance between the top of our stick and the bottom of the causeway sure didn’t look like 10 feet. Yann shot me a glance, and I shrugged in return. At which point he put the dual throttles down. “If something happens, we can always blame Billy,” he said. Luckily, we made it under unscathed.

And there was more good news: The breeze had built a bit more and was locked in at 10 knots — still a little light, but pretty darn good. After powering into clear ­water, making 7.4 knots with the twin 57-horsepower Yanmars at 2,000 rpm and 8.7 knots at 2,400 rpm, in seconds flat my talented, capable crew ­hoisted the main and unfurled the self-tacking jib, and we shut down the engines. The silence was golden.

Tacking through about 100 degrees, closehauled on starboard tack, we ­easily clocked along at better than 6 knots. Oddly, on port tack, we couldn’t quite register the same speed, making 5.7 knots. I’m guessing the rig still ­required a little tweaking on this inaugural sail.

Cracking off, in went the jib and out came the code zero, a sweet, perfectly cut Mylar sail set off a dedicated sprit that immediately gave us a nice burst of speed, with the 42 skimming across the bay at just under 8 knots. Hard on the breeze, you wouldn’t want to fly the code zero in any more wind (though you could certainly crack off with it), but it was just perfect for the fine conditions.

But Yann and Olivier weren’t finished. After our trials, they too were planning on sailing to Bimini for a photo shoot (they’d have the same boisterous conditions as the crew on the Lucia did, and at one point had the 42 scooting along at better than 16 knots), and they had one more sail they’d like to set, a whopper of an asymmetric kite. Did I want to check it out? Gentlemen, knock yourselves out.

It went up without a hitch, and after a couple of jibes, we were soon joined by a big group of Lagoon ­personnel and prospective clients ­enjoying an outing on the ­Lagoon 630 MY power cat. By this time we’d spun around and were heading back to the ­marina by way of the Rickenbacker Causeway. I was quite enjoying my time at the helm when Yann gave me a nod. I understood exactly what he meant. Did I want to sail ­under it?

Now, I had a general sense that this might not be an ­entirely legal maneuver. And the fact that there was a large ­audience in a huge cat right on our hip was kind of daunting. So too was the perception that the beam of the 42 was not appreciably smaller than the span between the bridge’s central piers. For this test, a ­writer from another magazine had joined us. She seized the ­moment to helpfully interject a vote of confidence: “OK, pressure’s on.”

I’ll credit the Lagoon 42’s effortless tracking and pinpoint steering for permitting us to pass through uneventfully. Once safely clear, the power cat sidled alongside and passed over a few ice-cold beers. Their timing was wonderful; in all the excitement, my mouth had become very dry.

We’ll be revisiting both the Lucia 40 and the Lagoon 42 this fall, during our 2017 Boat of the Year tests. I have a strong sense both boats will be solid contenders. As I gathered my things and headed back to the hotel, I couldn’t recall conducting two tests where the weather and venue had been so similar but the actual experiences so different. If only ­every day at the office, I thought, were just like this one.

Herb McCormick is Cruising World’s executive editor.

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It’s too early yet to see where the future of electric drive in sailboats is headed, but Lagoon has taken a bold step with the Lagoon 420 Hybrid, its first production sailing cat that marries a diesel generator and electric propulsion motors. In other respects, the 420 delivers what the world’s biggest catamaran builder always does: a comfortable ride in well-appointed surroundings. In the saloon, Lagoon’s trademark vertical windows create tremendous volume, with headroom all around and an undistorted view. Protected by eyebrows, the windows also limit how much solar heat enters the accommodations.

Lagoon offers an “owner” version, in which the port hull is a master suite, with the bed aft, an office/lounge amidships, and a large bathroom with separate shower forward. The “charter” version has a queen forward, with a shower in the bow, a queen berth aft, and two head compartments separated by another shower. In both versions, the starboard hull has the two-cabin arrangement. Throughout the boat, the joiner work, while not fancy, retains traditional yacht features and a sense of having been handmade.

A sliding door opens from the saloon into an enclosed, comfortable cockpit where it’s two steps up to the aft deck and a couple more to the side decks. The helm station is to starboard, with a bench seat for two from which the helmsman can see clear over the deckhouse. All sail controls lead there, including traveler lines and reefing lines, so the pilot can operate the boat alone if need be. The electric winches will aid in recruiting volunteers.

All this convenience comes with a couple of trade-offs. Choosing the most secure route from deck to cockpit hasn’t been made to be intuitive, but it will doubtless become automatic with familiarity. Raising the boom to clear the rigid “bimini” roof and give the helmsman standing headroom also raises the sail plan’s center of effort, which, perhaps in turn, restricts its area when meeting a heeling-moment target for stability. Lagoon’s unique deckhouse design also provides solid handholds for getting around the boat. Flat side decks offer firm footing, too, and a centerline platform provides secure access to the anchor-roller support to which the optional detachable roller-furling reacher attaches. This platform is the top of the center component of the hull’s gull-wing configuration, which Lagoon’s design team developed to split waves before they can slam into the underside of the bridgedeck. Powerboat wakes in Miami’s Government Cut proved a useful test, with positive results, of the effectiveness of the concept.

Under power itself, the Lagoon 420 Hybrid behaves differently from its diesel relatives, and it sounds different, too. While the generator rumbles quietly and evenly behind the forward cockpit seating, short bursts of silent power replace the growls of diesels being gunned; torque from the electric motors is instant and produces an immediate effect. Top speed was 7.5 knots. Lagoon estimates that at 75-percent power on both motors-about 6.5 knots of boatspeed-the 420 Hybrid can run “silent” for two hours.

Sailing performance was undoubtedly slowed by the 19-inch-diameter propellers on our test boat. Designed to turn freely when sailing, the props are big so they can regenerate electricity, starting at about 4.5 knots. It took us 10 knots of wind to reach that speed, even with the reacher set, but once it overcame that threshold, the boat became more responsive, reaching at 7 knots when the wind spiked to 12.

As well as providing power for propulsion, the generator delivers AC for the boat’s “hotel” services and to run the battery chargers for both the propulsion batteries and the 12-volt house batteries. Where a catamaran of this size has three diesels (including the generator), the 420 Hybrid has only one, certainly reducing the maintenance schedule.

The Lagoon 420 Hybrid offers a taste of the future in a cruising catamaran along with the other well-established qualities and characteristics we’ve come to expect from its builder.

Jeremy McGeary is a CW contributing editor.

Lagoon 420 Hybrid Specs

LOA 41′ 4″ (12.61 m.)
LWL 40′ 4″ (12.30 m.)
Beam 24′ 7″ (7.50 m.)
Draft 4′ 2″ (1.28 m.)
Sail Area (100%) 809.4 sq. ft. (75.19 sq. m.)
Displacement (light) 25,842 lb. (11,720 kg.)
Water 105 gal. (400 l.)
Fuel 79 gal. (300 l.)
Engines Two 8-kilowatt electric drives
Designer Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot PrÈvost
Sailaway Price $433,000
Lagoon America
(410) 280-2368
www.lagoonamerica.com

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