lagoon catamaran issues

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Lagoon 450 forward bulkhead deformation: owners encouraged to seek an inspection

• Katy Stickland
• October 18, 2021

Catamaran builder Lagoon has stressed that no navigation or safety issues have been connected to reports of forward bulkhead deformation on the Lagoon 450

Since 2011, 1,011 Lagoon 450s have been produced. Credit: Lagoon/Nicolas Claris Credit: Lagoon/Nicolas Claris

Catamaran builder Lagoon is seeking to reassure owners of the Lagoon 450 following reports of forward bulkhead deformation.

Lagoon, which is part of Groupe Beneteau, has stressed that no navigation or safety issues have been reported as a result of the fault.

Since 2011, 1,011 Lagoon 450s have been produced.

The boat builder said it had thoroughly examined the cases reported to it ‘to understand causes and potential impacts of deformed or broken forward bulkhead’ on the Lagoon 450.

The French naval architectural firm, VPLP Design, which designed Alex Thomson’s latest HUGO BOSS and the new Maxi Banque Populaire XI , was also bought in to review the findings, and concluded that: ‘there is no safety issue when navigating with a broken or deformed bulkhead. Potential damages on forward bulkhead could not lead to neither dismasting nor any risk for the crew.’

Lagoon Brand Director, Thomas Gailly told Yachting Monthly that less than 20% of owners had ‘proactively’ contacted them about the issue, and that 80% of the boats inspected had no deformation or ‘were very lightly impacted’.

Lagoon is encouraging boat owners to contact their nearest Lagoon dealer or official service centre for a full inspection of their forward bulkhead, which will be paid for by Lagoon.

Owners will need the following information: hull number; current and past names of the vessel; full name and contact information of the owner; current and past passage plans of the boat; current and past mooring locations; usage history of the vessel (private, professional or charter ); any sales history of the vessel; any available professional surveys; vessel survey at the purchase date (for secondhand boat only); any incidents of note for the vessel; any copies of logbooks for the vessel.

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For 450s under warranty, Lagoon will fully cover the costs of labour and parts.

It will provide customised bulkhead reinforcement and dedicated parts kits to all owners whose boats are out of warranty. Labour costs will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

All repairs by a Lagoon dealer or service centre will be certified by Lagoon and have a one year warranty.

Lagoon said it will support each Lagoon 450 owner whose boat was subject to ‘normal use’.

Examples of abnormal use include: sailing out of the Owner’s Manual sailing advice; sailing with more sail area than allowed on the Owner’s Manual sailing advice; powering against sea and wind for a long time at 30° off the true wind; sailing in very shallow waters to a point where waves could end up in occasional groundings ; anchoring in very shallow waters to a point where waves could end up in occasional groundings ; grounding; tightening the rig out of the mast manufacturer specification and improper haul out and storage .

More information at: https://www.cata-lagoon.com/en/lagoon-450-support?fbclid=IwAR3wjZemcAkYwKezGBSj3jCWEJU8_V4lc-uu5O1OV0WCKR2_EpMn2yN10Ms

Are Lagoon Catamarans Good? A Complete Review

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Lagoon is a leading catamaran manufacturer famous for its luxury products and state-of-the-art boats. However, if you’re considering purchasing a cruising catamaran, you may get overwhelmed by the vast selection of boats on the market, and you might be left to wonder if Lagoon catamarans are worth the money, especially after the big “bulkhead-issues” debate started by Youtube channel Parlay Revival.

Lagoon catamarans are great if you’re looking for spacious interiors and exteriors and have a large family to consider. They’re perfect for parties, and the sturdy construction and luxurious looks are favorable. However, they are known for having bulkhead issues (L450) and are sometimes critiqued for poor build quality.

In this article, I will explore the pros and cons of Lagoon catamarans, describe the most popular Lagoon cats’ features in detail, and offer some useful tips on choosing the right cat for your needs.

Table of Contents

The Pros of Lagoon Catamarans

Lagoon has been building catamarans for almost 40 years , and with nearly 6,000 vessels under their belt, it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing. They have nine different sailing models, meaning you have even more choice than ever. 

Let’s take a look at what sets Lagoon apart from the rest. 

They’re Spacious 

Lagoon catamarans are famous for being large and spacious , making them a perfect choice for big families and gatherings. Most Lagoon models have 3 or 4 cabins with lots of storage space and roomy sleeping arrangements.

The galleys feature under-counter fridges and nestled microwave ovens, creating a safe and even more spacious accommodation. Dining tables, freezers, and bench seats easily fit in the big galleys to create a homey feel.

Most models also feature large flybridges with enough room to offer navigation and relaxation at the same time.

Lagoon cats’ saloons and cabins are famous for being friendly to tall sailors. Most of them feature double-berth accommodations with individual showers and head compartments.

They Are Bulit Strong (Most…)

One of the biggest advantages of Lagoon cats is their sturdy construction. Made of balsa wood covered with fiberglass layers through vacuum infusion molding, the furniture in the interior and exterior constructions are strong and lightweight. 

Plus, all parts of the boats are well-finished with vinyl ester resin to avoid osmosis.

The interior is also a combination of luxury and long service life with core-mat sandwich or solid glass and Alpi wood laminates.

They use dry layering instead of wet layering, leading to more resistance and precise positioning. Plus, the dry technology allows for the use of less resin, making the designs more lightweight.

Every corner has perfect seals to avoid any leakage or cracks, and the infusion technology makes sure the construction is soundproof, durable, and rigid.

BUT! And this is a big but, there have been some issues with the Lagoon 450 bulkheads, the issue involves some very poorly constructed main bulkheads which tends to break and once broken it will transfer the loads to other smaller bulkheads. This starts a chain reaction that in the end weakens the boat’s structural integrity to the point where I would question its seaworthiness.

If you are buying an Lagoon 450 it is a MUST to check the bulkheads for cracks! Gabo

If you want to better understand this problem I suggest you check out this video from parlay revival.

They Boast Spacious and Clean Decks

Another strength of Lagoon cats is their exterior spaces. Like the interiors, the decks are spacious and wide, with many storage compartments and lockers with trampolines and sunbathing areas.

There are sliding doors between the exterior and interior spaces that can provide extra room for big gatherings, and all parts on the flybridges are easily accessible.

In some models, the stairs directly go to the cockpit, leading to more safety, too.

A few weeks ago a went on a day trip on a Lagoon 380, the boat is quite small with its 38ft, but Lagoon really utilize every centimeter and the boat feels huge.

Lagoon Has a Huge Owners Community

Since there are so many Lagoons sailing around the world, getting an experienced sailor to answer your model-specific questions is never hard. This, I believe, is one of the largest benefits of having a Lagoon, since sooner or later you will have to do repairs, it is a comfort to know there will be people around you that can help you out.

They’re Luxurious

Luxury is the word intended to come to mind when thinking of Lagoon catamarans. All the sturdiness, rigidness, and durability come wrapped under a rich layer of anti-UV finishes.

The interiors are very well-lit, with big windows at eye level offering panoramic views, making it seem like an exclusive hotel room rather than a boat’s cockpit. 

Most of the boats have U-shaped seating areas and pleasant furnishing, and the Alpi wood finish gives everything a sleek, elegant look, combining comfort and sophistication.

They’re Safe

Lagoon cats are all well thought out for safety considerations, with handrails all over the place for safe movements even in bad weather conditions. The decks are wide and clutter-free, and the running rigging is suitable for short-handed sailing.

They all conform to the Conformitè Europëenne ( CE ) standards for the unsinkability of multihulls. Everything in the living space is waterproof, and all the wiring is high quality and reliable.

If you are looking for some serious offshore cruising, there will be things you will have to change on every boat so that it fits your specific needs, if you want to know more about offshore cruising, I suggest you read some other articles I wrote called:

• What is the best-size catamaran for offshore sailing
• 9 best cats for circumnavigation and why

Cons of Lagoon Catamarans

As with any product on the market, nothing is perfect. Lagoon catamarans may exceed in luxury and safety, but there are some areas that customers find they are lacking. 

Below are some of the areas that may leave you opting for another catamaran manufacturer.

They’re Bulky

Although Lagoon has tried hard to reduce weight, some experts still consider them to be bulky. For example, some models, like the Lagoon 440, are among one of the heaviest models on the market. Some call it a “condomaran” to refer to its lowered performance due to its large size.

However, the company has tried to address this issue by making more compact models while allowing for more volume.

They Can Be Costly

Lagoon cats’ high costs are probably the most significant drawback compared to other big names with similar features. Their hefty prices may be a real turn-off for some sailing enthusiasts. But with their large selection of boats from different models and specs, they have a boat for every budget.

Expect to pay a little bit more just because of the name.

They’re Not Very Fast 

These wide spacious catamarans come at the cost of speed. However, newer models have addressed the issue and perform reasonably well both upwind and downwind. 

Lagoon catamarans will never be Gunboat or an outremer so if your looking for exciting and fast sailing this is probably not the right boat for you.

But, If you don’t have much sailing skill and want to make sure you have some extra margins of safety Lagoon cats might be the best choice for you.

The Tall Rig Can Be an Issue in Ports and under Bridges

Some models, such as Lagoon 52, have tall rigs to increase windward efficiency and improve the performance in the wind. However, the tall rig can be a problem under bridges.

Popular Lagoon Models

Lagoon has constantly been trying to address its most common issues with newer models and beat their previous models, even if they were wildly popular. 

This sense of competition has led to plenty of innovations. For example, it launched its Lagoon 420 in 2006 as the first catamaran in the world with hybrid propulsion.

Below are some of the most popular Lagoon cats in its history, starting with the best seller and working down in terms of units sold. If buying new is not an option, some of these older models may be just what you’re looking for. 

The Lagoon 380 is the top seller catamaran globally, although the company has discontinued it.

As mentioned before, I sailed an L380 just a few weeks ago, and here is a short description of that cat.

The L380 has four cabins with two bathrooms, is 11.5 m (38 ft) long, and has two engines. Its most praised feature is its comfortable, simple, and convenient accommodations with oodles of overhead clearance, spacious galleys, and large cabins.

Although it’s slow, it gets the job done because it’s easy to control and performs well enough in poor water and weather conditions. It’s also easy to dock because of its small size, and the two engines make it highly maneuverable.

The 380 is said to reach up to nine knots in good weather with a decent breeze , (we maxed out at 6kts during my sail) – an acceptable speed for cruising catamarans. It sails up to six knots to windward, which is not impressive but not surprising. Though it hobby horses in medium to high waves, it can be managed by putting the weight in the center of the boat.

It also features Lagoon’s signature vertically-positioned windows that provide maximum space in the cabin while at the same time allowing a lot of light inside.

That said, it’s not lightweight, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given its bulky construction. Below the waterline, it features solid fiberglass and a mix of balsa wood and foam.

Although the interior looks cozy and spacious, the furniture finish wears pretty quickly because it’s not the highest quality. And like other Lagoon’s older models, the top bimini is soft, which you can replace with a hard one if you can’t take care of it.

All in all, the 380 is good value for money and stands up well to frequent, private cruising. It’s a classic catamaran that delivers more than what it promises.  

For a more detailed review of the cat, watch the YouTube video below:

The 400 is another highly successful Lagoon model produced between 2009 and 2017. The 400 S2 was a refresh introduced in 2012.

Like most Lagoon models, the 400 also suffers from being heavy, struggling in lighter airs. It belongs to the company’s third-generation boats that favor comfort over speed and performance.

That said, it’s easy to maneuver and performs well in a breeze. In lighter winds of under ten knots, you can perform well if you fly the larger sails by the bowsprit.

It features a mainsail with a square top that boosts the sail area and makes her tack well. The rig is also easy to handle because all the line sheets come back to the helm with one manual winch.

The deck is clean and clutter-free so that you can get around the boat safely. The flush decks are wide with recessed hashes, and the bow lockers can accommodate all the lines, sails, and fenders.

This model has many different variants on the market in terms of living space. There are three or four cabins with different head configurations, and the refreshed model (the 400 S2) added cupboards aft and made space for a freezer by moving the electrical panel from the galley to the nav station in the saloon.

For a more detailed review of the 400, you can watch the YouTube video below:

The 40 is one of the most reasonably-priced Lagoon cats that combines luxury, comfort, and performance, making it another top seller. Compared to the 400, it’s lighter and has a wider mast. Plus, the company shed 800 kg (1763.7 lb) of its weight compared to its predecessor, the Lagoon 39.

Watch this YouTube video to see more of the Lagoon 39:

Although space isn’t a rarity on lagoon cats, the 40 is the best in its class space-wise. The bigger windows and the more angular look are pretty easy on the eye, with the signature Lagoon look on the inside. However, it has a more streamlined appearance due to its stretched windows.

Its performance is impressive upwind, and the square-top mainsail makes it sail well in a breeze. Still, it needs a bit of wind to get going fast because it doesn’t perform well in light airs. 

It’s also easy to handle short-handed because you can handle all the sheets and lines from the helm. However, the saloon’s roof doesn’t have ventilation, making the area down below stuffy. 

There are three or four-cabin options with two to four heads, and the other parts of the saloon and galley are standard lagoon layouts with plenty of storage space.

Check out this YouTube video for a detailed review of the Lagoon 40:

Lagoon 450F

The Lagoon 450F (F: Flybridge version) is fourth in line in terms of the units sold. It’s one of the two versions of the 450 series, the other one being 450S. Although it doesn’t boast high performance, it sails well upwind.

Compared to its predecessor, the 440, it’s quite an improvement in terms of luxury and comfort. The flybridge is easily accessible from down below, and it has a new basking lounge.

The elegant, luxurious interior is big enough for up to 12 people to sleep in, with four bathrooms, four to six cabins, and eight to 12 berths.

The 450S, which is not even a performance cat, does surprisingly well in different weather conditions, and the boom is lower than the 450F, increasing performance due to reducing the rig inertia. It also prevents the cat from hobby horsing, leading to faster and more stable rides.

One of this model’s winning features is its semi-raised helm station which doesn’t stand out from the rest of the boat. It gives the cat a pleasing look and makes the helm more easily accessible.

This YouTube video shows a walkthrough of this model:

The Lagoon 55 is Lagoon’s latest model, launched in March 2021 with Lagoon’s characteristic sleek look. Generous living space, an outdoor galley, a forward cockpit, and a roomy flybridge featuring a dining table are the new design’s features.

It also has internal overhead windows that take the sky-watching experience to the next level. It comes with several three to five-cabin layouts, and the internal furniture comes with a walnut wood finish.

Check out this YouTube video to get an exclusive look into the new beauty:

Tips for Choosing a Catamaran

Choosing the catamaran that suits your needs can be confusing and overwhelming. After all, you’re putting a considerable amount of money into the purchase, and you want it to be a long-time investment.

Here’s what I consider when looking for a cat, and maybe it will be useful for you as well:

Consider Your Needs, Skills, and Budget

If you’ve chosen a catamaran over a monohull, you know the advantages of the former over the latter. For example, it’s more stable, better for big families, and offers more visibility due to raised helms.

For a deep dive into the differences, I suggest some of my other articles:

• Cats vs. Monos
• Are trimarans faster than catamarans?

But, in choosing the right cat, you should dig deeper. The first thing you should consider is your budget, as a tight budget will significantly narrow down your options. Plus, you should consider additional costs for insurance, taxes, marina fees, and maintenance. Unfortunately, this may take some Lagoon models off the table. 

How much does it cost to live aboard a catamaran ? real numbers from liveaboards!

Although, you could opt for second-hand, well-maintained cats if you’re short on budget. The best-selling Lagoon models described above are all available in used markets, and you should have no problems reselling them in the future because of their popularity.

If you need the catamaran for short-term getaways, your choice will differ from what you need for long-term living aboard. Are you going to sail around the world or spend most of your time at anchor? These factors determine the type of catamaran in terms of performance, space, and comfort.

Want to see some good examples of offshore capable cats ?

Since Lagoon is known for its spacious interiors and luxurious finishes, it might be worth spending a little more if you’re planning on longer journeys. 

If you don’t have great sailing skills (yet), you should opt for a smaller cat setup for solo sailing.

How to learn to sail a cat!

Inspect Everything

Before you buy the boat, inspect every little corner to make sure it’s safe and secure, and pay attention to all structural details such as main and support bulkheads, standing and running rigging, etc.

What are the parts of a catamaran called?

Pro-tip; if you entertain frequently or have a big family, you need to think of both space and privacy. 

What about fixed vs. removable furniture? Is it important for you to move everything outside when entertaining? Even round and square furniture can prove to be a nuisance in different situations.

The amount of light, airflow and ventilation, and ceiling height are also important considerations. If you’re tall, you don’t want to be crouching all the time when you’re inside.

When buying new, you should have no issues getting all the little details your need on your Lagoon catamaran. However, if you purchase second-hand, you may need to compromise on certain amenities to account for the lower cost. 

How Much Weight Can You Carry?

Boats have certain limitations in terms of the allowed payload, and excess weight will affect your catamaran’s performance . With full water and fuel tanks, there’s a fixed amount of gear you can take on board. 

Does the cat offer emergency water or fuel storage on deck? Lightweight cats sometimes have more wiggle room for adding extra gear and provisions.

The galley layout also plays a major role, especially if you travel with your family. Can you live with the current size of the galley, and is there room to add appliances such as a microwave, ice maker, or coffee machine?  

Check out this guide to choosing the right design!

Think about where you’ll be preparing food, putting the dishes to dry, or laying out plates to serve. How much space do you need for cooking?

In general, Lagoon cats are known to offer plenty of room inside , and most of the kitchens come with plenty of optional extras to make your time aboard as stress-free as possible. 

Do Your Homework

Finally, never jump into buying the first catamaran that catches your eye. Shop around online and offline, considering every little detail. Talk to experts and perform “sea trials” if possible. 

Some companies let you try the boat by staying on it for a few days. This way, you’ll get a real feel of what it’s like.

It’s also possible to work with a broker who can help you search for and negotiate when buying new and used catamarans. 

I have put together a few buyers guide that could help you on your journey towards a good buy!

• Catamaran buyers guide
• How to buy a used catamaran
• How much does it cost to liveaboard a catamaran?

Final Thoughts

If you’re considering getting a cruising catamaran, Lagoon is one of the brands I would recommend looking into. It’s famous for its luxuriously spacious interiors, sturdy and safe construction, and easily accessible and manageable decks.

Since there are a lot of Lagoons roaming the planet there is also a huge community and help is never far away.

However, the Lagoon models aren’t the best performers, especially in upwind due to their bulkiness. Although you can find them at various prices, they can be too steep for some budgets. If you don’t mind the lower speed, you can find some used ones at reasonable prices.

Owner of CatamaranFreedom.com. A minimalist that has lived in a caravan in Sweden, 35ft Monohull in the Bahamas, and right now in his self-built Van. He just started the next adventure, to circumnavigate the world on a Catamaran!

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• Boat Maintenance

The DIY Bulkhead Rebuild on a Production Charter Cat

In 2021 I bought Epic, a 2013 Lagoon 450 catamaran, and soon learned the boat’s forward bulkhead, along with other important structural components, were damaged. I discovered this thanks to Colin MacRae who runs the Sailing Parlay Revival  YouTube Channel. MacRae was sharing videos about broken bulkheads on his Lagoon 450. Watching his videos helped me diagnose my own problems. I decided to sail down to Linton Bay, Panama, to repair the bulkheads alongside MacRae and his crew. I never expected to dedicate a year of my life to learning about bulkheads and creating a YouTube channel around repairing them, but that’s what happened.

I took on the repairs out of necessity. Two different Lagoon dealers I spoke to told me the misaligned doors and trim, horrible creaking under sail, and even bent floors were normal in a used catamaran. Even my surveyor missed the broken bulkheads, which can be hard to confirm without removing significant amounts of trim.

The forward/main bulkhead is located directly under the mast. In my catamaran like so many others, this bulkhead is a single laminated sheet of plywood and fiberglass that runs the full width of the boat and ties all the major hull components together. The structure helps stiffen the boat laterally as wind and waves twist and strain the rig, hull, and deck. There is also a transverse beam that runs along the top edge of the bulkhead, and under the deck.

The beam provides critical reinforcement under the mast and in the area above the two fore-and-aft passages in each hull. These large openings create nearby “hot spots,” areas in the bulkhead where forces are concentrated. This is where the problems often begin.

The bulkhead helps support the downward compression of the mast and the upward tension of the rigging. On my boat, the bulkhead consisted of a single piece of 15 millimeter plywood and a few layers of fiberglass reinforcing it on each side. The forces of the mast and shrouds had compressed the bulkhead at the inboard side of each hull passage causing the bulkhead to bend and crack.

Once the bulkhead fails, the shrouds pull the port and starboard hull upward and outward. This causes a bow in the deck that can be measured using a taught cord and tape as MacRae demonstrates on his YouTube channel.

The most certain way to confirm bulkhead damage is seeing it. This requires removing door trim and adjacent paneling. The bulkhead on our boat was severely disfigured. It had been compressed to resemble an “S” shape on the port side. On the starboard side it was bowed about an inch, so that it pushed against the adjacent cabin liner.

SURGERY BEGINS

First, we had to remove all the interior paneling, ceiling and cabin sole surrounding the damaged area. We had to expose the bulkhead as well as the top beam. Screws holding the interior paneling together are behind glued panels, making it very difficult to disassemble without damage. I planned to customize the forward cabins, so I decided to tear the interior panels out.

Once the bulkhead was exposed we found more problems: some fiberglass sheathing the main beam had failed to bond or had delaminated; the fiberglass tabbing bonding the bulkhead to the hull had separated in some areas; and the joint between the main beam and deck—bonded only with adhesive—showed signs of separation.

Around the time I disassembled the cabins, Lagoon connected MacRae with Vincent Lauriot Prévost, designer of the Lagoon 450. Through video calls, the naval architect explained how to reinforce the hull to prevent further damage. Prévost described the wood-ply and laminate schedule that would safely strengthen the hull. MacRae had conceived a way to use jackstands, a Travelift and the hull’s own weight to straighten the boat before repair. To me, it sounded crazy, but Prevost approved the plan (see  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dzMjfitl5c&t=50s ) .

After much audible cracking and creaking, the bulkheads were straight, the hulls realigned, and the deck was level. It was an amazing sight, but the real work had not even started.

Grinding away the bad fiberglass laminate to expose good structure for bonding was a slow and tedious process. I spent three long, hot (90 F) days in a Tyvek suit wearing a full respirator. Only a spray hose could remove all the dust. My skin itched for weeks.

We dried the interior with a pair of dehumidifiers and every fan we could get our hands on. Surprisingly, this dried out all the wet wood within 24 hours. The boat was clean and the beam and bulkheads were fully prepped. Of the original bulkhead in each hull, a single sheet of bare plywood remained. This clean slate would serve as the foundation of all the reinforcements to come.

We rebuilt the bulkheads for each hull in three stages: first we constructed a new beam, we then bonded newly laminated bulkhead sections in place, and finally, we tabbed the bulkhead into the surrounding hull and structures. The relaminated beam was 20-percent thicker than the original.

We made cardboard templates of the port and starboard hull bulkheads and cut out twin panels of 18mm marine plywood for each hull. When each pair was laminated in place, the new bulkheads were three times thicker than the originals.

The new bulkhead pieces were glued in with thickened epoxy. Stainless screws joined the pieces as the glue set. Fiberglass tape capped the inboard end-grain. Finally, the new bulkhead pieces were reinforced with fiberglass.

The corner where the edge of the bulkhead met the beam (inboard upper corner of the entryway) was identified as a weak point by Prévost. This was also where the beam had cracked. We followed his advice and wrapped the beam-bulkhead joint in fiberglass, overlapping and covering the entire radius of the corner.

Every structure had to be tabbed into each other to get full strength and help spread the load evenly. We fiberglassed the beam and bulkhead into the surrounding structure and the lower bulkhead under the floors was tabbed into the hull. We joined the top edge of the bulkhead, beam, and ceiling/deck with fiberglass laminate. We used fiberglass tape to join the reconstructed bulkhead sections in each hull to the undamaged center section of the bulkhead.

REBUILDING THE INTERIOR

The last step, still in progress, is to rebuild the cabins. MacRae, who had carefully dismantled his cabins, was able to rebuild his in about two weeks. The newly reinforced bulkheads proved to be the largest hurdle during reassembling. MacRae compensated for the new thicker bulkhead by shaving away the backside of the wall panels to match the contour of the new bulkhead. The rest of the walls were reinstalled with battens from behind and limited screws on the front. The lower half of the cabin was covered by vinyl wall panels which hid many of the cuts. The floors were reinstalled with battens as well and new supports were fiberglassed to the hulls.

As I write this, my bulkheads are still exposed. We will rebuild the cabins soon, but for now, I really enjoy seeing my badge of honor. By fixing the bulkheads we inadvertently converted a production charter boat into a capable bluewater cruiser, a project I would have never taken on by choice. We did install temporary floors so the cabins would be usable. We splashed the boat and had a rigger tension the shrouds to spec.

With the bulkhead repairs complete and the rigging set, it was time to sail home. Over the next month we sailed Epic 1600 miles from Panama through Mexico and home to Texas, and she performed flawlessly. The hulls no longer flex or twist in big seas. The boat is completely solid and silent while underway–not a creak below deck.

From haulout to splash, it had taken me 11 months, we had many delays because of the location. With a couple of skilled workers and access to tools and parts, the repairs could be completed in 6 weeks. In total, we spent about $33,000, which was significantly more than what I had originally estimated, but only a fraction of what we would have had to pay a company in the U.S. to fix it. We had quotes ranging from $75,000 to $120,000. We spent $8,000 on materials and tools, another $12,000 in yard fees, $2,000 on helpers, and $11,000 on flights and car rentals.

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What a project! Great job David!

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Lagoon 410 with broken bulkheads

• Thread starter geem
• Start date 19 Jul 2022
• 19 Jul 2022

Well-known member

Active member

Great family, but I did not see any broken bulkheads or delamination. What we need is the surveyors report and actual pictures etc. It's normal for some designs of mono or multi hull yachts to flex, and I remember a copy of a real good American cutter that was made in Taiwan that went too far North during a crossing of the pond from Bermuda to the Azores. The interior had fallen apart, although the actual hull and rig were OK. About half of the internal glass used to attach the furniture to the hull had split. Serious warranty claim.  

Rhylsailer99

I watched that yesterday, it will be interesting to see how it happened.  

Rustyknight

There was a thread in the Liveaboard section not too long ago about this.... Another Broken Lagoon  

Rhylsailer99 said: I watched that yesterday, it will be interesting to see how it happened. Click to expand...

Just_sayin'

that looks like rather poor plywood is used. Assuming it is around 15-18mm 7 thick layers breaking like that doesn't look good. Pretty sure 18mm marine ply has more (and thinner) layers. all imho  

vas said: that looks like rather poor plywood is used. Assuming it is around 15-18mm 7 thick layers breaking like that doesn't look good. Pretty sure 18mm marine ply has more (and thinner) layers. all imho Click to expand...

This is the list of activities they are going to use to dodge paying for the repair: * Examples of abnormal use (all examples are common sense and most can be found in the Owner’s Manual ) : • Sailing out of the Owner’s Manual sailing advice: ◦ Sailing with more sail area than allowed on the Owner’s Manual sailing advice ◦ Powering against sea and wind for a long time @30° off the true wind ◦ Sailing in very shallow waters to a point where waves could end up in occasional groundings ◦ Anchoring in very shallow waters to a point where waves could end up in occasional groundings ◦ Grounding ◦ Tightening the rig out of the mast manufacturer specification. Check the Dock Tune ◦ Improper haul out and storage ( Owner’s Manual ) Umm, I seem to have done at least half of those points!  

RivalRedwing

the discussion in the liveaboard section referred to above is worth a look  

AngusMcDoon

I can't believe how weedy the bulkheads are in Lagoon cats. The 450 weighs 15 tonnes and seems to have some low quality 1/2" plywood for bulkheads. The main bulkhead on my former Dragonfly trimaran, a boat that weighs 2 tonnes, was 50mm thick.  

TNLI said: This is the list of activities they are going to use to dodge paying for the repair: • Sailing out of the Owner’s Manual sailing advice: ◦ Sailing with more sail area than allowed on the Owner’s Manual sailing advice ◦ Powering against sea and wind for a long time @30° off the true wind ◦ Sailing in very shallow waters to a point where waves could end up in occasional groundings ◦ Anchoring in very shallow waters to a point where waves could end up in occasional groundings ◦ Grounding ◦ Tightening the rig out of the mast manufacturer specification. Check the Dock Tune ◦ Improper haul out and storage ( Owner’s Manual ) Click to expand...

AngusMcDoon said: This is just Lagoon squealing 'not our fault' as a presage to the inevitable class action lawsuit that's coming. Not ' Powering against sea and wind for a long time @30° off the true wind'. Really? Are they selling ocean going sailing boats, or canal houseboats? Has there ever been that restriction applied to any other kind of boat (it didn't seem to do my Dragonfly any harm)? Do they seriously expect that usage restriction to stand up in court? The cost of proper recompense or repairs (not their half baked fix for boats where the bulkheads haven't broken yet) for the failed 450's is enough to put the future of the company in doubt, let alone the sales hit from a complete loss of confidence in the brand. If it's other models as well, they are done for. I hope they are set up as financially independent of their parent company Beneteau. There's going to be trouble ahead. Click to expand...

TNLI said: Wild guess, but the type of repair involved would cost around 10K. Click to expand...

My friend Bob who was the technical man at Leros Marina told me of countless construction problems with Lagoon cats. They seem to be very lightly built.  

• 20 Jul 2022

vyv_cox said: My friend Bob who was the technical man at Leros Marina told me of countless construction problems with Lagoon cats. They seem to be very lightly built. Click to expand...

AngusMcDoon said: Lagoon seem to have mastered the combination of a lightly built boat that at the same time is grossly overweight. A 45' cat that is pushing 16 tonnes dry weight - strewth, no surprise that they sail like a salad dodging Catalac. The Outremer 45 weighs 8.7 tonnes, Fontaine Pajot Elba 45 10.8 tonnes, Broadblue Rapier 550 9.5 tonnes, Dragonfly 40 4.8 tonnes. Click to expand...

Chiara’s slave

Boathook said: Leave Catalacs out of it. Mine likes salad and is always trying to loose weight ! Click to expand...

Chiara’s slave said: Catalacs aren‘t badly built nor have pretensions to grandeur, or performance. Their owners know what they bought. The onboard space/cost ratio cannot be beaten. And the bulkheads don’t fall to bits. Click to expand...

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Lagoon 450S Catamaran Review: Design, Construction, & Performance

Lagoon 450s exterior, design, construction & sailing ability (part 1).

In the last three months, we have completed 3 blue water sailing trips, totaling 2400+ NM, on our Lagoon 450S catamaran. We are ready to share our thoughts about its performance, as well as our likes and dislikes about the catamaran overall. When we first saw the drawings of the Lagoon 450S, we really liked the design. It had many of the features we wanted in a cruising catamaran, the most important feature being the semi-raised helm station. This was always a non-negotiable point for us and the SporTop fit the bill perfectly. The other catamaran choice offering a semi-raised helm would have been the Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 (review and pictures). The FP Helia is a nice boat, but we didn’t like the interior as much (purely personal preference) and it is substantially smaller than the Lagoon in volume (click on the picture below  to see the comparison).

Good cruising performance was another important feature but since living space is equally important to us, we opted to go for a cruiser rather than a racer cruiser like Outremer or Catana. We live and work aboard and we occasionally do educational charters . Therefore, we wanted good interior space, but we certainly did not want a slug either.

Based on previous sailing reports and the Lagoon design team’s projections, the Lagoon 450S seemed the right choice for us (Read our post about “ Why we chose the Lagoon 450S”  ).

We originally weren’t too thrilled about owning one of around 500+ similar catamarans built in the last four or so years. On top of that, production boats like Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot are often times unfairly tagged as “condomarans” that cannot sail worth a damn. These perceptions were not a good start for our new “home” right off the bat and not great for our exit strategy either. So, we researched this extensively. We found that unlike some other brands, statistics proved that Lagoon’s resale is very strong, particularly the 3-cabin version . But the 4-cabin Lagoons don’t do badly either. So we made peace with that issue, knowing that Lagoon holds its value fairly well. Moreover, we figured that with so many units built, all or most kinks should be worked out on this model by now. We really liked that idea! 

At the Lagoon factory, a quality controller oversees every stage of the production during the entire build process and every imperfection is dealt with immediately (see the video below in “construction” section). That was very impressive and set our minds at ease. We highly recommend doing a factory tour in La Rochelle. Not only is it very exciting to see your boat being manufactured, but the city of La Rochelle is a gourgeous old walled coastal city situated in the southwest part of France (AND the French food and wine is exquisite)! See a live cam of Port de Plaisance in LaRochelle, France.

How Did The Lagoon 450S Catamaran Measure Up?

So, on the surface we liked the Lagoon 450S. BUT, did it pass the test for our purposes as live-aboards with a penchant for sailing long ocean passages?

Lagoon 450S Sailing Ability  

As I said before, over 500 Lagoon 450 Flybridge versions were produced. So this model has already proven itself to be a good ocean cruiser in various ocean crossings and rallies like the ARC Rally . Bearing in mind that the 450S is not a performance catamaran, we were pleasantly surprised with her performance under all conditions. Period. Doing a 200+ NM sailing day is very important to us. We often sail long distances and we wanted to be able to make good progress every day and to out-run bad weather if possible. It was a goal that we easily achieved on our delivery from Guadeloupe and subsequently on other passages.

Lowered Boom: We really liked that the boom on the SporTop is substantially lower than the Flybridge version (28 inches), with a mast height of 74 ft. The lower boom brings the center of gravity down lower and reduces inertia in the rig. That, coupled with the increased bouyancy forward created by the chines on the inside of the bowsand the sail plan, increases performance and eliminates hobby horsing, making it a faster and much more stable and comfortable ride, despite the maximum volume and very high freeboard.

Nimble In Light Conditions: During our delivery from Guadeloupe the boat sailed very well on all points of sail and did well even in very light winds which was a pleasant surprise. She easily sails at 50% of apparent wind speed. Generally, most boats will sail well in strong winds, but it is the light wind performance that defines whether the boat is a good sailor or not and the 450S is very nimble in light conditions in part because of the enormous 872sqft of square-headed fully battened mainsail.

Good Performance: She also displayed good upwind ability on a close reach and tracked really well. On a reach and beam reach, the favorite point of sail for a cat, our Lagoon sails like a dream. We often sailed in double digits without too much trouble. As an example; we sailed 41NM in 4 hours in 18-20 knots between Turks and Caicos and Georgetown in the Exumas on a beam reach in 6-8ft seas with little or no slamming. That is an easy 10.25Knots per hour – not a rocket ship to be sure, but certainly very respectable.

Squally Conditions: During our trip in the Gulf-stream going north, we were caught in several squalls. Conditions were deplorable with 10-12ft waves and had wind speeds of up to 38 knots. We were able to luff up the main and reef down in no time, which was easily done from the safety of the cockpit. Luffing up is the best course of action when you’re temporarily overpowered. It reduces the speed and helps keep the boat under control. Once we had the reefs in, we bore away and ran with the wind. The boat was moving at around 12 knots with 38 knots of true wind from astern. By running or doing a very broad reach we managed to reduce the apparent wind speed on the rig to around a manageable 26 Knots until the squall blew through and we could resume our course. Video of our trip in the Gulf-stream

Genoa / Self-tacking jib: We have a full Genoa instead of a self-tacking jib. While the self-tacking jib is a nice feature for short-handed sailing, the sail is small for anything but a close or beam reach. Another reason why we opted for the conventional genoa setup, is that if a jib sheet parts, it is easy to use the lazy sheet to control the jib while replacing the damaged sheet. If the sheet parts on a self-tacking jib, which has only one sheet, there are all sorts of problems and you have no choice but to furl the sail if you can.

Sailing upwind: It is commonly believed that a catamaran cannot point as high as a monohull unless it has daggerboards. That is not exactly accurate. Generally most catamarans point as high as cruising monohulls but make more leeway because they have less lateral resistance although, catamarans with daggerboards do point higher than ones with fixed keels. However, if you fall off the wind 5 – 10 degrees, its boat speed will be higher than an equivalent monohull and maintain a faster VMG upwind. In fact, Dennis Connor’s 1988 America’s Cup victory on ‘Stars and Stripes’ in San Diego over KZ-1, the world’s most radical 90ft. monohulls, bears this out. 

Sail changes: Stephen and I did several sail changes on delivery, including hoisting the spinnaker. It was easy enough to do. All the lines come back to the cockpit and quite frankly, even as big as this rig is, it was not very difficult to handle the sail changes single handedly. The single line reefing makes it really easy to reef quickly. We learned how easy it was to reef at two o’clock in the morning when a massive squall hit us out of nowhere while sailing north in the Gulf-stream from The Abacos in the Bahamas to Norfolk.

We have a pad eye on each bow and attach the tack of the sail to the windward bow using a snatch block and a line back to the forward cleat (the reason for this is that if you get into a situation it is easy to release the cleat line and let the tack fly free, you can then recover the sail using the sheet by pulling it down behind the main).

The head is hoisted using the spinnaker halyard and the clew is attached to a sheet that runs outside of everything to a block on the leeward side stern and then to a winch for trim control. To get the best performance out of the Asymmetrical, you should ease the sheet until the luff of the sail starts to collapse and then sheet in a bit. Ideally you should see a periodic flapping/collapsing of the leading edge of the sail but only about a foot or so. Be mindful not to sail with the Asymmetrical sheeted in too tight; it will not perform to its optimum.

To conclude, we have few complaints about the sailing ability of the Lagoon 450S!

Sailing Ability

The mainsail is a little sluggish in coming down. Intermediate cars would have made all the difference. The distance between the cars on the sail is around 10-12 feet. When the sail drops, having this much distance between the cars, makes the sail billow out and prevents the sail from coming down fast. It’s an easy fix though.

Sailing Ability: What The Experts Say  

« 19 days! Maybe not a “Route du Rhum” time, but nevertheless a very creditable performance for a voyage from La Rochelle to Pointe à Pitre (3477 miles) in a strictly standard Lagoon 450.” »Jean-François Tanguy, professional skipper – February 2011

« The 450 rewarded us with pleasant, lively behaviour in the light to moderate conditions; it jogged along with a spring in its step… » Phillippe Echelle, Multihulls World 2011

« The sailplan gives the boat enough power to remain fast and dynamic in a wind of less than 10 knots. » Multicoques magazine, FR / Multihulls World, UK-January 2011

Construction

This boat is well constructed. Even as we pushed the boat with as much power as the conditions allowed, we did not notice excessive creaking or shuddering. We had some VERY picky crew members on board. They inspected every corner of the boat but could not find much fault. Every inch of the boat is well finished, even in the darkest corners. When we did the factory tour, we noticed that every stage of the build was inspected for quality along the way, and you can tell from looking at the finished product.

Vacuum Infusion: What impressed Stephen (the more technical member of our team) is that the hulls are vacuum infused, ensuring the optimum laminate/resin ratio which reduces weight significantly. As we know, weight is a killer for catamarans and less weight allows for more volume; Good or bad, I don’t know. But what I do know, is that in spite of the much talked about heavy “condomarans”, this boat sailed very well and is comfortable in all conditions.

Solid construction: The other things that made an impression on Stephen is that the rudder tube is composite and laminated into a solid section of the hull towards the stern instead of on the join (which would have been the easy thing to do). The chain plates are well bedded onto a section of very heavy duty solid laminate which transfers the load into the hull section. All equipment fitted on the deck, such as the cleats, have substantial backing plates for strength (see the picture insert). That is however not the case with all catamaran brands. We have heard of cleats being ripped out of the deck on some cats in strong winds.

Bridgedeck Clearance

The bridgedeck clearance is around 26 inches, which represents 5% of LWL, which is a very respectable ratio. ( Read here about bridgedeck clearance on catamarans ). One of the biggest surprises for us was how quiet the boat was during passages. There was very little slamming even in big steep seas. Now, we all know that catamarans slam under the bridgedeck from time to time. There is no getting away from it but it’s the degree of slamming that makes the difference.

We have been in catamarans where the saloon table literally bounced up and down and the whole boat vibrated from the slamming on the bridgedeck. The Lagoon 450S’s bridgedeck clearance is very good and the transons are well out of the water even fully loaded. The gull-wing shaped tunnel breaks the waves somewhat, which reduces wave impact and therefor slamming. It really is a feature that we were very pleased about since it is crucial for catamaran seaworthiness and crew comfort.

The Semi-Raised Helm Station

Safety: The person on watch in the cockpit can still be social with other crew down in he cockpit or even in the galley. When it’s just the two of us on long passages, ease of social interaction and safety concerns makes a big difference for peace of mind. We are always within easy reach of each other. 

Instrument panel: The instrument panel is awesome! There is a lot of space for instruments on the instrument panel. The engine panels are well positioned on the panel, so you don’t have to bend down to see the engine RPMs. One has good visibility of the sails and all four corners of the catamaran and the engine controls are in a good position even for a shorter person.

The one negative is that I (Estelle) am a little short to stand and see over the coachroof properly, but I have found a vantage point that works for me.

The anchor locker is deep and wide, which stops chain from piling up and jamming the windlass. It comes with 170ft of oversized 1/2inch chain (a little overkill but it is great for sleeping soundly at night). The boat easily carries the weight. it’s stowed right in the chest under the mast and we have plenty of buoyancy up forward. We did replace the anchor with a 74-pound Rocna anchor . We keep the other one as our secondary anchor. It would have been nice to have a second bow roller to leave the second anchor in place but because of the way the anchor is situated in the chest, it is not possible.

Electrical & Plumbing  

The electrical panel is adequate and user-friendly. The system is well protected with breakers at every critical juncture. It has easy access to all wire and technical spaces. Access to the circuit breakers (general and engine) is easy and protected in a housing with a hinged cover at the foot of the berth in the aft cabin. The plumbing is easily accessible everywhere and everything is high quality.

Two of the breakers are in very awkward spaces and were hard to find at first.

Engine Power & Generator  

We chose to upgrade to the 57 HP Yanmar engines with Flexofold props and we’re glad we did. They give us lots of power when we need it. The engine rooms are accessed from the scoops and have a lot of space. There is plenty of space inside the compartment to be able to work on an engine with ease if necessary. There is also a convenient storage shelf over the engine compartment. We use three big storage bins so it’s easy to unpack if necessary. The Cummins 13KW generator in the chest of the boat has great access and is remarkably quiet.

We replaced the manufacturer’s fuel filter units fitted by the factory with two Racor 500’s. The manufacturer’s units were just too complicated. Stephen likes to be able to change the Racor filter cartridges quickly in the event of a blocked filter and the Racor filters, which he knows well, do the job best. Under engine we do a comfortable 7.5 knots at 2,500 rpm & 8.9 at 3,200; both cruising speed and top speed are satisfactory.

Scoops / Aft Boarding Steps  

The steps in the “scoops” are a little steep and the bottom step is not deep enough. This is a big negative for fishermen!! On our Island Spirit the scoops were huge, wide and shallow. It’s a great place to land the fish and then immediately cut up and clean it. Because of the size of the scoops, it is safe and has plenty of space to work even in big sea. Not so on the Lagoon 450S. We will probably rig a fishing table on the stern. Even so, the steps are easy to board from a dinghy and providea nice swim platform. On the positive side the high steps and angle are great to reduce noise when underway which, believe it or not is quite loud. The other advantage of the scoops on the L450 is that when you have big seas from astern the boat remains dry and it is very unlikely that you will be pooped.

Dinghy Davits  

They are sturdy and easy to operate. They are rated at 450-pounds per side and easily accommodate our Walkerbay 12ft deluxe super tender and Honda 20HP outboard engine. We had our dinghy and the engine hauled up and secured during passages and even with big seas the dinghy stayed steady and in place. The dinghy is fitted with a bridle and is easy to hoist. We have an electric winch right at the base of the davits and is easy to handle.

Boat Owner Manuals

The owner manuals are fantastic. It is very precise with pictures to show the various systems, plumbing, electrics, etc., both in English and in French. The English version is not a “direct” translation from French, so you don’t have to guess what they are trying to convey. Each individual piece of equipment on board has a user manual and separate warranties.

Overall, we are very satisfied with our choice of catamaran. We fitted a rub rail with stainless insert, a satellite TV, Iridium, and some other equipment after market. But we pretty much had a finished boat when we accepted delivery. In general, the quality of the important equipment from the factory is good and you can see that this is a fully evolved product. All warranty issues (we only had a couple of things) were dealt with promptly. If we were building the boat ourselves, it would be tough to do much better. This Lagoon 450S is a really good, comfortable live-aboard blue-water cruiser. Our biggest pleasant surprise is her sailing ability and comfort at sea.

Price & Specifications

>>Part Two of the Lagoon 450S Review: Interior Living Space and Forward and Aft Cockpits!

Estelle Cockcroft

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8 thoughts on “Lagoon 450S Catamaran Review: Design, Construction, & Performance”

Thanks for the review, Its very hard to find objective and thorough evaluations! I look forward to part 2.

I also look forward to you getting a better video camera, 🙂

Best of Luck.

Very nice review, I can’t wait for part two.

The audio was a bit rough due to the wind noise picked up by mic, but I’d rather have that than no video at all!

Having been a monohull purist for a long time, I’ve only sailed Lagoon cats, and although I’ve loved the 38, 40 & 42s I’ve chartered, the 2014 39 we had going from St. Vincent to Grenada over 2 weeks this Spring was a dog. It was the slowest, most difficult and uncontrollable sailboat I’ve ever skippered. I learned from the captain we handed her over to at the end of the trip that they have a bad reputation, which had me concerned about other, newer Lagoons. So I was thrilled to read that you’re so happy with your 450S. Thanks for the great review and I’ll be looking for a 450S for our next charter.

Thanks for the great summary

Did you compare performance, internal room against Leopard 44?

No max displacement number. What cruiser doesn’t want to know that?

Monohull owner here. I have spoken with a few lagoon 45 owners. I have been invited on board a couple different year ones. Their boats are all newer 2015 and up. Why are they all experiencing bulkhead de-lamination ? If l am not mistaken, 2010 was the first year for the lagoon 450. To date well over 1,000 hulls have been built. Lagoon is well aware of this problem. What year did the hull problems begin ? What year did lagoon correct the problem ? What have they done to remedy this default in manufacturing ? Not meaning to insult you. But your review reads like an advertisement for Lagoon. I thought your job is to be unbiassed. You did not find one fault. That tells me you are not a trustworthy person. Your job means more to you than your integrity. That makes you a boat salesperson, not a boat review person.

Hi Matthew (monohull owner) MY ANSWERS IN BLUE CAPS Not meaning to insult you. YOU JUST DID. WITHOUT GETTING ANY CONTEXT AT ALL AND YOU CERTAINLY DON’T KNOW US. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE DO. IF YOU DID, YOU WOULD KNOW THAT WE DON’T PROMOTE ONE BRAND OVER ANOTHER. THIS REVIEW WAS DONE IN 2016 WHEN WE PURCHASED OUR BOAT (HULL #5). I STRESS “PURCHASED” BECAUSE WE DID NOT GET SPONSORED AND WE DID NOT GET IT FOR FREE. WE BOUGHT THE BOAT OUT RIGHT BECAUSE WE BELIEVED THAT IT WAS, AT THE TIME, THE BEST BOAT FOR US. WE STILL HAPPEN TO LOVE THE BOAT AND ONCE THE BULKHEAD ISSUES ARE TAKEN CARE OF, IT IS STILL A VERY DESIRABLE BOAT. WE SOLD OUR BOAT (LAST YEAR WHEN WE UPGRADED) TO CLOSE FRIENDS OF OURS WHO LIVE IN THE SAME MARINA AS WE DO AND THEY NOW LOVE THE BOAT AS MUCH AS WE DID. But your review reads like an advertisement for Lagoon. WE HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH LAGOON WHATSOEVER. WE ARE FREE TO SELL ANY BOAT WE WANT TO, INCL. FOUNTAINE PAJOT, NAUTITECH, BALI, LEOPARD, XQUISITE ETC. (ALL OF WHICH HAVE THEIR OWN SETS OF ISSUES). SO, WE ARE NOT IN THE TANK FOR ONE PARTICULAR BRAND AT ALL. I thought your job is to be unbiassed. You did not find one fault. YOU MUST HAVE MISSED OUR NEGATIVES ON THE BOAT IN THIS POST. THERE ARE SEVERAL NEGATIVES THAT WE POINTED OUT. WE DID THE REVIEW AND IT WAS OUR OPINION AT THE TIME. YOU ARE FREE TO TAKE FROM IT WHAT YOU WILL. That tells me you are not a trustworthy person. Your job means more to you than your integrity. That makes you a boat salesperson, not a boat review person. WHILE YOU SAY YOU DON’T WANT TO BE INSULTING, YOU ARE MAKING PRETTY STRONG AND INSULTING ACCUSATIONS BUT THEN, THIS IS WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA ALLOWS. WE DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND CANNOT HAVE A FACE TO FACE WITH YOU. I have spoken with a few lagoon 45 owners. I have been invited on board a couple different year ones. Their boats are all newer 2015 and up. Why are they all experiencing bulkhead de-lamination ? If l am not mistaken, 2010 was the first year for the lagoon 450. To date well over 1,000 hulls have been built. Lagoon is well aware of this problem. What year did the hull problems begin? What year did lagoon correct the problem? What have they done to remedy this default in manufacturing? REGARDING THE BULKHEAD ISSUE: THIS CAME TO LIGHT TOWARDS THE END OF LAST YEAR (YEARS AFTER THIS POST WAS WRITTEN) WHEN A CRUISER DISCOVERED THE ISSUE AND MADE OTHERS AWARE OF IT. WE HAVE NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THIS AND LAGOON HAS CERTAINLY NEVER SHARED THIS WITH US PRIOR. NOR WOULD THEY, AS WE HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH THEM. WE, LIKE THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY ARE WATING TO HEAR THE OUTCOME OF THIS ISSUE FROM LAGOON. PLEASE DIRECT ALL YOUR QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO LAGOON WHO ARE MOST QUALIFIED TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. AS YOU KNOW, SOCIAL MEDIA IS ABUZZ REGARDING THIS SUBJECT AND YOU WILL GET VARYING OPINIONS FROM ALL THE PARTIES INVOLVED. WE RECOMMEND TO OUR CLIENTS AND EVERY LAGOON OWNER TO LODGE THEIR CLAIMS WITH LAGOON. I BELIEVE THAT THE FACEBOOK GROUP HAS PUT OUT A BULLETIN ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS. AGAIN, FEEL FREE TO CALL OR EMAIL US ANY TIME TO DISCUSS TEL: 804-815-5054. [email protected] OR [email protected] .

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Lagoon 52 Catamaran Review – Good and Bad Points!

The Lagoon 52 is a redesign of the classic Lagoon Catamarans. This Lagoon 52 Catamaran Review will focus on the new aspects of the boat as well as the other features that make up the 52.

The intention of the redesign was to create more efficient use of space and improve accommodations.

At first glance, the 52 appears no different from other Lagoon Catamarans, but the differences, good or bad, are significant.

Table of Contents

Accommodation

A noticeable change from the original catamaran design is the streamlining of the living spaces on board.

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Comfort and ease of movement created by the layout of the boat make for a relaxing sailing holiday.

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Under sail, the 52 is powerful and can be easily handled under the stiff wind. The boat maintains speed and stability while making good time and crossing impressive distances in a short period of time.

Due to the redesign, the 52’s bridge and cockpit have undergone significant structural changes.

These changes have made operating the vessel markedly different from skippering other catamarans of a similar size, so there is an adjustment period needed.

The interior was designed to maximize space and emphasize the convenience of the layout.

The galley is not cramped, has a good amount of surface space, and is accessible to the saloon.

Storage lockers and storage areas are deep and hold every necessity comfortably.

The saloon can accommodate all guests without the feeling of being crammed together.

The construction of the cockpit was altered to make room for a flybridge deck and the layout of the lounge area on the deck.

This change has its good points and bad ones. The bridge opens up space and provides better shade, but because the mast was moved to accommodate this layout, the skipper’s line of sight is obscured in the center.

To get around this detriment, the wheel’s position can be changed.

Lagoon 52 Vs 500?

The Lagoon 500 is a classic catamaran design that is efficient and solid but lacks the space offered in a 52. In comparison, the 52 has much more space for passengers, especially on the flybridge.

This means more people can travel in relative comfort, as opposed to packing in too many people in less space or having fewer guests than you wanted.

Lagoon 52 Vs 560?

The Lagoon 560 is the larger of the two vessels but has less living space than the smaller 52.

This is largely due to the redesign the 52 underwent. Performance and stability are similar, though they are accomplished differently.

The structural designs and layouts are different as well, which could be the major decider for a sailor, depending on their personal preferences.

Why Sail the Lagoon 52

• The redesign increases space and comfort and improves the functionality of the boat.
• The boat is easy to control
• The galley and saloon designs are particular favorites among sailors
• Performs well, even under adverse weather conditions
• Ample storage
• Can accommodate more guests comfortably

Overall, the 52 has been vastly improved by Lagoon’s redesign. Compared to other vessels of the same size, the 52 has more space and comfort without compromising the performance, stability, and safety of the vessel.

The design may not appeal to every sailor, which is why there are so many designs from which to choose. However, any sailor willing to try something new should try the 52!

Specifications

• Cruise speed: 7
• Maximum Speed: 8
• Beam: 8.74 feet
• Maximum Draft: 1.5 meters
• Type: Catamaran
• Year Built: 2016
• Engines:  Yanmar 57 HP Onan Genset 17.5kVA 1500 RPM, 220v/50Hz Inverter 3000W

Did you sail the Lagoon 52? If so, feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

Daniella has been passionate about travel, the sea, and nature for many years. As a child, she frequently traveled throughout the Mediterranean and continued with her journeys throughout her adult life.

Her experiences have created the desire within her to share her love for traveling with other passionate and adventurers who want to discover beautiful horizons and new cultures.

16 thoughts on “Lagoon 52 Catamaran Review – Good and Bad Points!”

This cat is amazing! I’ve captained a Privilege 48, which isn’t much smaller than this boat, but the cabin space on the Lagoon is much bigger.

I’m not a huge fan of the bridge deck as you’re completely isolated from the rest of the crew. You’re also going to feel every little wake being that high up. But another benefit that you don’t mention is it makes it easier for you to see the water, which can really help navigating areas with shallow reefs.

Great to hear from you again!

Thank you for mentioning this benefit which is important !

About the bridge ,You have the option to be alone or accompanied .Your are not completely isolated, you can still have some guests around you and have fun together.

Thank you Chris for passing by and for your helpful comment

Have a great day

To be honest, I never really considered that chartering a boat was a remotely affordable way to vacation. Obviously, this still isn’t cheap, but it does look like a good way for a family to spend some quality time together. What would you suggest as a cheaper alternative to the Lagoon 52?

I would suggest you the Lagoon 380 as it is much cheaper than the 52 and still have plenty of space!

Here you can find further detail about the Lagoon 380 :

I hope it helped

Thank you for passing by and wish you an awesome day

Hi Daniella, Thank you for the review! I’m looking for a ship to go on a surfing trip along the French coast. We will be going with 10 people who are all bringing 1 or 2 boards, as well as wetsuits and some filming equipment. Do you think the Lagoon 52 has enough storage capacity to bring along all this gear, or should I be looking out for another model?

I would suggest the Lagoon 52 (6 Cabins) if you plan to sail with 10 people.

There are plenty of space and enough storage lockers and deep stowage areas for your equipment. As it says in the review the Lagoon 52 was redesigned to improve space and accommodation.

please let me know if you need any further information, and I will be more than happy to help you.

Have a great day!

Wow, this catamaran lagoon 52 looks awsome. I like all the clear large photos you put on your website to accurately and clearly illustrate what you are talking about. I also like the plan of the boat as that always helps me work out what is where and whether it’ll work for me when I;m out on the water next.

Thank you for the compliment, I really appreciated.

It’s always helpful someone can help you with the plan!

Hope to see you soon on the water and I wish you a great day

Hey Daniella, Great review, love the pictures. I can’t wait for next year, we are planing a trip to Europe and we are definitely looking to charter a sail boat for a week. Do you know if charter company have off-seasons rates? And if they do, when is it? Thank you,

Hi Jonathan,

Yes, they have off-seasons rates, but it depends where you want to sail in Europe and when?

Don’t hesitate to contact me for further details, I will be pleased to help you to have a wonderful sailing vacation.

Thank you for passing by and wish you a great day!

Thanks for this review! What a beautiful catamaran. Thanks for the comparisons between the Lagoon 500 and Lagoon 560. At least now I know which one to opt for when taking the whole family out for a trip next year. Do you recommend this particular model if you’re going on a trip with kids?

Yes, I think it’s important to compare, it helps you to chose the right boat and to decide:)

Kids love sailing, and yes I would definitely opt for this spacious and comfortable cat. Of course, you need a net for the children’s security.

Thank you for the comment

I wish you a wonderful day!

I was blown away just by the picture at the top – Santorini isn’t it? I have read quite a few of your charter reviews now and am definitely planning on booking one in the next few months! Not quite sure where to yet but the Lagoon 52 looks a-ma-zing! From 8,000 Euros as well that is not too much between several people – how many people can it accommodate up to? I need room for all my luggage! 🙂

Sorry, this isn’t Santorini, it’s the British Virgin Island:) The Lagoon 52 can accommodate 10 to 12 people, this yacht is spacious and comfortable. You won’t have to worry about your luggage!

Thank you for the comment and wish you to sail soon!

Bring soft sided luggage on any boat excursion and your sure to have much more room. As to the Lagoon 52, I can assure you’ll be comfortable with a total of up to 10 onboard as I’ve just done the BVI on a new model with 8 (including crew of 2). If you have to go over budget for the Lagoon 52, do it. You’ll be glad you did.

That’s wonderful. I am glad you had a good time on your Lagoon 52 in the BVI:). Indeed. This catamaran is spacious and comfortable! Yes, you are right, soft bags are much easier to store on a boat. The Duffel bags are great for sailing!

Thank you very much for sharing your experience and wish you a lovely day!

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Description

The Big Seller Only the 380, 400, 40 and 42 have sold more I believe. We were lucky enough to charter a flybridge version called “Ludmilla” in Mallorca for a week. This is a review of how we found the boat. We had two families (7) on board.

She comes in two versions, the 450F with a flybridge and the later 450S (Sport) with a more traditional Lagoon helm at the bulkhead. Many competitors have copied the flybridge idea (read our Bali 4.3 review for example), but it has been Lagoon who have developed this configuration most successfully over the years.

This catamaran continues to be a very popular charter boat (particularly the fly version) and it’s one of the most popular mid-sized catamarans on the second hand market. She’s not a performance boat (check out our Slyder 49 review if that is more what you are after) and doesn’t pretend to be: the 450 is all about space and comfort at a reasonable speed.

This is a large yacht with plenty of space for two families. With plenty of different zones on the boat like the forward cockpit, the fly helm, a big saloon and the aft cockpit area, it’s easy to find a bit of private space or to find somewhere to hang out. We’d recommend a read of Colin’s Lagoon 450F Owner´s Review . He bought a 2012 L450 called Parlay that had been damaged by Hurricane Irma and fixed her up, so he knows his way around these catamarans.

• The forward cockpit area
• The flybridge at anchor
• She’s very manoeuvrable under power helped by good visibility from the flybridge
• Anchoring is easy as the helmsman and whoever is on the windlass are close… so it’s easy to communicate.
• She’s comfortable on the hook with a bridle set nicely
• She was surprisingly good upwind. We weren’t trying to win any style points, sticking the leeward engine on in lower winds got us to where we wanted to go quickly.
• Off the wind was great fun especially with the gennaker up and she felt safe. We were reefing early to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves and still hit 8.5 knots at one point
• Very comfortable. This boat had all the kit. A/C (great in marinas), water maker, genny. She’s heavy though.
• All reefing lines came back to the helm.
• Comfortable cabins, plenty of space to sleep outside under the stars on warmer nights.
• There has been some pretty high profile issues with bulkheads raised by Parlay Revival . I am not going into the details here, but my impression is that Lagoon responded to this pretty well enabling owners to fix any defects.
• That flybridge means that the boom is very high. If you have a problem (which we did with reefing lines) it’s not that easy to get to the sail without climbing up the mast steps.
• I must have hit my head ten times on the flybridge bimini and ended up with a Loony Tunes style bump on my head.
• The flybridge floor is another hazard if you are tall moving about in the cockpit below.
• The winches are next to throttles and there is a big drop down the steps from the flybridge, .. you really have to watch your footing.
• The ventilation in the saloon could be better, with only two forward facing hatches and no hatches in the coach roof. Things got hot and stuffy fast.
• It’s stressful keeping an eye on everyone with the flybridge. Five minutes was all we could manage without wondering “where’s so and so?” etc.
• The galley felt cramped considering the size of the saloon, although the sliding window which opens up to connect to the aft cockpit is handy.

Charter a Lagoon 450 Catamaran

Are you looking to charter a Lagoon 450? Browse our extensive list of Lagoon 450s’s for rent below ⇓

Find a well maintained, high quality Lagoon 450 for charter with Katamarans.

Helm from High All the control lines lead back to the helm with some meaty Harken winches to help you manage the sails. The 450 comes in two flavours: the 450F which has an off-centre Flybridge helm (this is the boat that we chartered in the Med) and the 450S with a more traditional Lagoon bulkhead helming position.

The Flybridge helm is pretty exposed, but the view is great up here when the weather is good.

Great Visibility You can see all four corners of the boat from up here when you are docking and anchoring, and it´s easy to communicate with the person at the windlass. One thing I found though, was that the boom is pretty high on the 450F. If you have problems with the reefing lines for example (we did), then it´s not so easy to sort out without climbing up the mast steps which can be pretty scary in a seaway.

Another thing that annoyed me about the helm on the boat that we chartered is that I kept hitting my head on the bimini. Some boats have a sturdier looking hard top over the flybridge which is worth looking out for if you are looking for a second hand 450. Read our Fountaine Pajot Alegria 67 Review to get an idea of how cool these flybridge hard tops are- they give you an extra living space on these flybridge cats.

But it is a fantastic place to hang out when you are on the hook or when the weather is calm -there´s no doubt about it. We spent a lot of time up here. I even slept up here on warmer nights, and there´s even a sunbathing area, directly forward of the helm on the upper deck.

Sport Option On balance, I would go for the bulkhead helm though (450S), but that´s a personal preference. If you have kids onboard, you lose sight of them up here if you are helming. It´s not so easy to keep an eye on everybody while you are underway.

Aft Cockpit

Stepping down from the helm brings you down into the aft cockpit which, while not as big as some Open concept boats, has plenty of space. The cockpit has a wraparound sofa and dining table to port, and a day bed to starboard. I found I had to watch my head when moving between the cockpit and saloon though.

The corners of the galley’s overhead lockers are very sharp and just at forehead height for me: you need to watch yourself around them.

We had a big drinks fridge out here on Ludmilla and a good system for storing rubbish.

Big Safe Galley There´s an ample U-Shaped galley facing aft on the port side which you can wedge yourself into if it´s getting rough. Forward of that, there’s a big nav station with a roomy L- shaped sofa and dining table to starboard. The saloon has a pair of big seat lockers, one of which can house an optional 11-kilowatt generator. This can also go in one of the forward lockers in the forward cockpit – probably a better spot for it to be honest.

The boat can carry up to 1000-litres of fuel and 800 litres of water.

Wide Roomy Hulls The Owner´s set up has the entire starboard hull dedicated to the skipper´s living area, with a big wide berth aft and a separate head and shower forward. There´s plenty of storage space down here, plus a writing desk and small sofa. There´s a sliding door on the Owner´s boats for privacy.

The other hull (or both hulls in the four cabin version) has two cabins – one aft and one in the bow. There are two heads with separate showers in the middle. We had no complaints about the sleeping arrangements, there is oodles of space down here thanks to those wide hulls.

The forepeaks can also be converted into cabins (4+2 configuration).

For such a big, comfortable boat, the 450 sails well. She’s no performance cat, but she holds her own. With a big, 75-foot, double-spreader rig and square-topped mainsail (that’s an option), there´s plenty of power to head upwind at 6 to 7 knots in a decent breeze. Come off the wind and you should see 8 knots and up to double figures, especially if you are flying a gennaker set off the bowsprit.

We were playing safe and reefing early on Ludmilla, and still hit 8.5 knots.

Well Organised Running Rigging The mainsheet and traveler are aft of the helm on the coachroof and all of the sheets and reefing lines are forward; everything is set up tidily with electric winches, clutches and big pockets for your lines. You can sail her solo theoretically (we’d recommend at least one decent crew member though: she’s well set up for 2). Just watch yourself around those steps and duck under that bimini if you have one.

The boat we chartered had added a downhaul to help get the sail down. With a well lubricated mast track, you shouldn´t need it, but it´s as well to have the option as the boom is high, especially on the 450F.

Under Power

The 450F is powered by 2x 54 HP Yanmars. With one engine at 2400 rpm you will get around 5-6 knots as long as you are not heading into wind. With both engines at 2800 you will get 8-9 knots out of her in calm conditions.

It’s pretty easy to see why the Lagoon 450F and 450S are such hot sellers. They hit the sweet spot for the charter market (2+ families on board), and they have managed to appeal to owner-operator cruisers as well. Many disparagingly refer to the Lagoon 450 as a “condomaran”, but you can’t knock ’em.

This is one of the most successful catamaran models of all time and has wide appeal. The 450 delivers high comfort and solid performance in a great value package.

Lagoon 450 Brochure

View the Lagoon 450F Brochure

Is the Lagoon 450 the French Manufacturer´s best selling boat? No, that would be the 380, although that catamaran is no longer in production. The 450 is probably the best selling current model.

How many Lagoon 450s have been built? Lagoon have built over 700 units of this model

What is the top speed of the Lagoon 450? Well, if you are surfing down a wave on a reach you might see speed in the low to mid teens, but this is a boat built primarily for comfort and to get you to your destination safely. You will probably average 7- 8 knots.

How close can a 450 Lagoon sail to the wind? She will sail at 45° to apparent which will give you a COG of around 55°. Stick the leeward engine on to point higher or sail with the Trades!

Do Lagoon still manufacture the 450? The 450F is no longer in production, having been replaced by the 46. At the time of publishing, the 450S is still featured as available.

Technical Specification

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Lagoon 42 Review

Welcome to what we hope to be the most comprehensive and up-to-date Lagoon 42 catamaran review on the interwebs. We manage the Facebook Lagoon 42 owners’ group and are the owners of Blue Buddha hull #333, currently under charter management with Dream Yacht Charter (DYC) in Antigua. We will be curating this review with input from owners who are active in the Facebook group. Please suggest changes or additions using the comments feature below the article.

The Lagoon 42 is likely to become the best selling Lagoon catamaran ever made. With over 500 hulls made in the first 3 years of production, the L42 is far outpacing the Lagoon 38 sales numbers by a wide margin. There is a reason for this. The L42 is one of the fastest production cats on the market today and its large width-to-length ratio (as wide as the L450!) makes the boat feel much larger than other boats in this size-range without sacrificing performance. The boat is extremely easy to sail by a couple and thus is likely one of the best options for couples who will be sailing with limited or no additional crew. Yet, like all boats, the L42 has issues and compromises worth knowing. Below we review all systems and key features of the Lagoon 42, including common issues.

Speed/Performance

Most people reading this review have seen the promotional video of the L42 doing 16 knots. I confess that video was what initially got me excited about this boat as I thought the L42 would be as fast as an Outremer 45 but with much more space and at a much cheaper price tag. The reality is that the L42 is no Outremer – but it is fast. You won’t be hitting 16 knots unless you have an empty boat flying the spinnaker in 25 knots of wind on the flat waters of the Abacos (like they did in the video) but you will often hit double digits surfing down waves and will cruise in the 8-9 knots without feeling that you are about to break the rig.

In strong winds, upwind performance is very decent. We cruise at 7+ knots at 60 degrees true (45-50 apparent) in 18+ knots of wind with one reef in the main and full jib. Even faster speeds are commonly reported by owners with folding props and over flat waters. Downwind in strong winds, the boat flies. On the southern coast of Antigua, we cruised at 8-9 knots and hit 10 knots of speed in 20 knots of wind using full sails. We even kept these speeds after reefing the main when the wind climbed to 25+ knots. And we got these speeds without the folding props or a square-top main!

In light wind, the boat is extremely sensitive to the sail plan. Without a spinnaker or code zero, the boat is simply a tank that will barely move. You will essentially need 10 knots or more to get the boat moving above 3 knots of speed. However, with a spinnaker or code zero the boat becomes a rocket ship. Doing 9 knots in 12 knots of wind with the code zero is common. On passage from Guadeloupe to Antigua we cruised at 7 knots in 9 knots of wind using an undersized asymmetric spinnaker at 60 degrees true. So having the right sail plan is imperative to get the boat moving in low winds.

Overall, the L42 is one of the fastest production catamarans in this size range. It will not fly at 16 knots like in the marketing videos, but with the right sail plan you will comfortably beat most same-size cats and monohulls and the boat will take you across passages fast and in comfort.

As most recent boats, the L42 is easy to handle short-handed given that all lines come back to the helm. The self-tacking jib also makes it possible to single-hand the boat easily. The main is easy to raise with the electric winch with little friction as long as the reef lines are prepped in advance. Reefing is also a breeze especially if the main halyard is marked for the correct reefing points. Some owners have reported rapid chafing of the first reef line due to an unusual angle of the first reef set up during commissioning, although we have not experienced that issue. Our 1st reef line has no sign of chafing after almost 1 year of use.

Now, for those who like to actively trim sails and get the most performance out of the boat, you should know this boat is tricky to properly trim. First, with the standard sail plan, the center of force is significantly aft of the beam resulting in severe weather helm. The skipper will need to know how to properly flatten the main and power the jib to reduce the weather helm and increase speed (see my trimming guide with more details on how to trim the L42). Trimming the main correctly is much more complex than just easing or sheeting in the main sheet as it requires a good understanding of how the traveler and the main sheet are used together to find the correct trim for each wind angle. In addition, the leech of the factory jib is cut a bit too long, which makes it difficult to remove the twist. It is almost impossible to flatten the jib enough when needed, even when correctly positioning the jib cart. So in some wind speeds and angles, you will be unable to trim the jib correctly and will lose some speed (albeit only enough to make a difference if you are racing!).

Trimming the Lagoon 42: https://bluebuddhaadventures.com/how-to-trim-the-sails-on-a-lagoon-42-cruising-catamaran/

Here is a list of the many safety features of this boat that we love:

• The bow and stern have watertight sacrificial compartments. As long as the valve connecting these sections to the main bilge is closed, the boat will not sink when you hit that iceberg off the coast of Greenland.
• The sugar scoops are as wide as you would find in much larger boats creating a very safe platform for entering/exiting and during passage.
• The location of the life raft is as ideal as it comes. It is placed inside a dedicated open compartment on the most aft section of the boat and can be deployed easily even if the boat is upside down.
• Unlike cats with a flybridge and high booms, the boom of the L42 is low enough that is fully accessible by just walking on the coach roof. This increases safety if something happens that needs to attending during rough weather (i.e, untangling a line, bringing the sail down manually during a storm, etc).
• The U-shape galley is narrow enough near the stove that it is easy to brace yourself and cook safely even in rough weather.
• There is a mast compression post in the middle of the saloon. This has often been seen as an eyesore and undesirable consequence of the new mast location. However, several times that post has saved a crew member from falling in rough weather. In fact, we now consider the compression post a critical safety feature as we often find ourselves being grateful that the pole is there when needed to regain our balance.

Safety Concerns

There are some safety issues that potential and new owners should keep in mind. Some owners have added additional handholds throughout the boat including on the steps towards the hulls. There is definitely a lack of handholds needed by anyone with limited mobility specially when coming to the saloon from the hulls. At least one injury was reported in the owner’s FB group after a crew slipped while walking on the edge of the coach roof. The issue is that the no-skid grip surface ends about 1 foot from the edge of the roof and thus that area of the roof is quite slippery. Some owners have solved this problem by adding 3M non-skid translucent tape to the smooth surface. Another major safety issue is that the helm station is exposed and unprotected. Unlike the new lagoon 450S that has a door to protect the helmsperson from falling overboard, the helm of the 42 is fully open to port. We temporary solve this issue during the passage by simply closing that opening with webbing. Other owners have considered more permanent solutions like adding a custom fiberglass barrier door similar to the one in the 450S.

Mast step and hatch recall. Furthermore, there have been 2 major safety-related recalls. The first was for a modification of the mast step that impacted 2018 and prior models. This recall was likely related to two dismastings reported by owners of earlier models. We have not heard of any other dismastings after the recall and the 2019 and newer models have a different mast step setup. The second recall was to install a reinforcement to the escape hatches. This recall is not unique to the L42 (or to Lagoon) as it impacts all boats that use that same 3rd party hatch. There have been several reports of these hatches failing in other boats resulting in the partial or complete sinking of the boats (we know at least of 3 Helia 44s that experienced similar hatch detachment issues). We have not heard of any reports of the L42 experiencing this problem.

Design issues we love and hate

There are a number of clever design issues that we find extremely convenient, some of which are unique to this specific model.

The helm station is amazing. We have sailed almost every current catamaran model in the 42-45 foot range, and the L42 has by far the best helm station. All instruments are ideally located and angled just perfectly for the helmsperson. You would think that angeling the instruments so that they can be seen easily by the helmsperson would be a design 101 issue, but this is actually a rare benefit of the L42 that is not available in most other boats this size. Likewise, the side by side helm/line management areas make them ideal for a two-crew to manage any sail changes without getting on each other’s way. Yet, the stations are close enough so that the helmsperson can maintain one hand on the helm and still manage the line if needed. This setup is actually not that common in other boats. For example, in the L450 flybridge, the first mate has to climb behind the helmsperson when tacking if two-handed. In the Helia 44, the stations are too far apart so that it is quite difficult for the helmsperson to manage the line without using the autopilot.

The helm seat is too low. The only thing that is universally hated about the helm station is the height of the helm seat. It is simply too low unless you are a basketball player. When seated, your visibility is significantly reduced which has led many owners to make modifications. These go from replacing the cushions with a taller one to replacing the seat altogether. Likewise, the helm station provides limited visibility for short people. Some owners have built a folding step on the helm seat to provide better visibility while others have built a completely new higher subfloor.

The engine rooms are easy to access. The engines are located aft of the berth with easy access from the stern of the boat. Some boats have the engines under the berth requiring you to dismantle the entire bed every time you need to check the oils. Other boats have the engine so far aft that the opening is in the sugar scoops making it a bit unsafe to access while on passage. Not so on the L42. Furthermore, the engine rooms provide easy access to all key steering systems so in case of a failure it is easy to identify what went wrong.

The anchor locker is deep. After years of chartering, we learned that the location of the windlass breaker is one must-know piece of information to get during the technical briefing. In many boats, the anchor locker is not deep enough and the chain piles up tripping the windlass and requiring a mad scramble to reset the breaker. That is something we never have to do in the L42 as the locker is quite deep and the chain never piles up.

Outdoor locker space is at a premium. The two bow lockers are large but they must be limited to light items like sails, fenders, and toys. The only two forward lockers are small especially if you have a generator or the extra water tank. Lockers in the cockpit are even more limited. You essentially have one single large locker under one seat and a smaller locker dedicated to the gas canisters. The amount of space is sufficient for the non-live aboard but for those cruising full time finding enough space is a challenge. Now, you could reframe this as an opportunity to get rid of all those useless things you want to bring (e.g., big inflatable swan!) but the reality is that owners planning to cruise full time in remote areas will need to find creative ideas to add more storage space. For example, we added a large cooler as a seat for the cockpit table that can double as a wet locker for all snorkeling/dive gear.

We have a love-hate relationship with the davit system. The first time we used a L42 we hated the new davit system. Yes, it is easy to use with the electric winch on the helm but we found it extremely awkward and somewhat unsafe to get in and out of the dinghy with the davit bar always getting in the way. When I first complained about this issue in the owner’s group, most people reported having a different experience and loving the davits. Later, when we were able to sail our own boat, we realized that the length of the lines that attached the davit to the dinghy makes a massive difference. If the lines are too short, the davit bar becomes a safety hazard when trying to clip the dinghy but if the lines are long enough the bar becomes a key safety improvement as you can hold on to the bar easily while trying to clip in. So we no longer hate it as we used to and actually feel the entire system is excellent with one exception: it is impossible to raise the dinghy without using the electric winch. Some owners have even installed additional blocks to get more purchase but they indicate the system is still too heavy to raise it manually. Honestly, this worries us because we want to be able to operate all systems manually in case the electric winch fails. Imagine being stuck in remote french Polynesia with a broken winch and being unable to lift your dinghy without getting a hernia or pulling a muscle!

The staterooms are large for a 42ft boat. In the 4-cabin 4-head layout, both aft staterooms have their own heads with separate showers. The forward rooms are large compared to similar boats (Fountain Pajot Astrea) and although the head does not have a separate shower, it is large enough not to feel claustrophobic.

Storage space in the 4 cabin layout is minimal. For those interested in the 4 cabin layout for extended cruising, keep in mind that storage is minimal and mostly inadequate for anything more than a couple of weeks of cruising. Setting a 4 cabin model for extended cruising would require adding storage to the cabins. Doing so for the aft cabins is easy as you can simply add a layer of cabinets to space under the cockpit seat. In our case, we will be converting one of the aft cabins into a master cabin by removing the walls to the head, removing the toilet, and adding additional storage where the toilet used to be. We know of at least one other owner planning to do a similar conversion.

Storage space in the galley is also limited. Owners’ opinions on this issue vary. Some feel the number and size of cabinets are not sufficient for extended cruising while others feel that with some modifications, the boat offers adequate storage. Common modifications include adding the Lagoon microwave storage unit to the port side, adding additional storage under the upper cabinets, and adding baskets to store items behind the seats. We have not tested the limit of the galley storage as we have provisioned for no more than two weeks. So the jury is still out about how we feel about the storage situation in the galley for extended cruising.

This is a very large 42ft boat! That is not an oxymoron. At 25ft wide, the L42 is as wide as the L450 and significantly wider than other boats in the range (FP Lucia 22ft, FP Astrea 23ft). It is also a true 42ft boat unlike the Astrea 42 which is actually 41.3 ft. Thus, the boat truly feels closer to a 45ft boat without the expense :-). This extra space is especially critical in the 4 cabin layout as it allows the two aft heads to have separate showers. In contrast, for example, the Astrea 4 cabin does not have separate showers in any of the heads. The entertaining space in the outdoor cockpit is also quite large for a boat this size and the outdoor cockpit sits 8 for dinner. Our only complaint about the entertaining space is the lack of a proper entertaining area on the bow, like the one found in the FP Astrea.

MAJOR AND MINOR ISSUES IN NEED OF ATTENTION BY NEW OWNERS

The saildrives seals are failing prematurely. There are countless owners reporting water in the sail drives within days of launch. In fact, several owners had to haul out in Portugal and Spain for service due to water leaking into the drives. We experienced the same issue after 8 months of charter use. We know of several cases in which Yanmar has paid for the haulout and seal replacement as long as there is no evidence of damage to the saidrive (e.g., fishing line, etc) so this seems to be a common warranty issue that we hope that it is solved soon by Yanmar.

The factory anti-fouling fails prematurely. Another common complaint of new owners is that the entire bottom paint is mostly gone after a couple of months of Caribbean cruising. We have heard from several charter company base managers indicating that this is an almost universal issue with all new Lagoon boats coming into the charter fleet. Our bottom paint suffered the same fate. The paint was gone all the way to the gelcoat in several areas after just 8 months of use. Our recommendation for new owners is to not get the factory antifoul package and instead use a commissioning company to put a high-end antifoul. We are repainting our boat with Seajet 038 which was highly recommended by our base manager. Apparently Chris Doyle conducted an extensive test of several antifouling agents and found the new Seajet 038 to be the best http://www.caribbeancompass.com/painttest_2017.html

The factory-installed watermaker has been a disaster. Complaints about the watermaker either not performing to specs or not working all together have been nearly universal and have affected almost all 42s in the DYC Caribbean fleet. The Facebook owners group has extensive discussions about this issue and some possible solutions. Until the core of the issue is solved, our recommendation to potential owners is to not get the factory option and instead get a more reliable watermaker installed during commissioning.

Test the bilge pumps frequently. Some owners have reported that the Rule Mate 1100 bilge pumps do not work correctly and may need to be replaced. Ours works fine. The Rule 2000 has been reported as a better option.

Some fuel tank caps are defective. There have been a few reports of the fuel tank caps breaking and spilling diesel into the bilge. When I mentioned this to our base manager, she mentioned our caps were replaced preventively as this appears to be a common issue. A pic of the culprit caps below.

Refrigeration ventilation needs upgrading. We have seen several reports of the freezer and fridge units, in both the saloon and the cockpit, either underperforming or failing prematurely. The general consensus seems to be that this is due to poor ventilation behind the units given that increasing ventilation has solved the issues. One owner added computer box fans to the panel on the port aft cabin that connects to the back of the freezer/fridge units and got great results. Another owner added vents to the top of the saloon freezer to improve performance.

The blocks at the base of the mast need can get tangled. The factory blocks at the base of the mast do not come with springs to keep them up. This leads to the blocks collapsing on each other and getting tangled. Under the wrong conditions, this can lead to blocks breaking. Solutions include adding springs to the blocks to keep them from collapsing or simply running a bungee cord through the middle of the blocks to keep them up. We used bungee technique is what we did with Blue Buddha and it cost us no more than $2.

There are other issues that have been reported but I wanted to keep this list to only those issues reported by more than 1 owner. For a comprehensive list of all issues, I invite readers to see the “Issues” topics in the Lagoon 42 Facebook owners group.

In sum, the Lagoon 42 is a beamy, fast, and extremely comfortable boat that is arguably one of the best catamarans for cruising couples. At this size and price range, it is difficult to find a better catamaran in the market. FP did a great job with the Astrea 42 as it is a great boat that should be on the shortlist of anyone seeking a cat in this size range. Yet, the Astrea is smaller and more expensive and thus the Lagoon 42 provides better value. We always talk about whether we will refit our L42 when we start our circumnavigation in 4 years or get something else. So far we have not seen anything that would tempt us away from our Blue Buddha – unless I win the lottery and decide to get the amazing-looking New Privilege Signature 510 🙂

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Really liked your article on the 42! This article justifies my thoughts on the Lagoon 42 as the cat that fits my budget and is best in category until I have 1.8 million to spend on a Privilege. Thank you, I look forward to reading all your articles.

Thanks Bill! If you are on Facebook, make sure you join the Facebook Lagoon 42 Owners group. There is a great community there with lots of wisdom. Best, Nestor.

Great and helpful article. I’m currently researching for a liveaboard vessel. I’ll be sure to join your FB group to gather more information. Thank you so very much for putting the information out there.

Great article, enjoyed your blogs too. We are on a similar path of 1,000 days to start living to “live” versus living to work, and also considering a L42, also looking at the Bali 4.2, mainly for Med sailing 6 months a year and living on the hard for the other 6 months. Thank you for sharing your insights.

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Lagoon 500 Review with John of S/V Wicked

• Post author By Diane Selkirk
• Post date February 18, 2021
• No Comments on Lagoon 500 Review with John of S/V Wicked

John and his family are aboard a 2009 Lagoon 500 called S/V Wicked. He and his four kids and assorted pets and spouse have lived aboard boats for quite a few years from monohulls to a power catamarans. We’re going to learn a little bit about the Lagoon 500.

Key Takeaways of Lagoon 500

• Enormous salon with multiple places to sit. Galley that four people can stand in. A pantry. Many small cabin spaces for many people.
• Was the flagship of the Lagoon fleet in her day, so they invested all their resources as a company to show off what they could do.
• Built 150 hulls of the Lagoon 500 so there is good availability on the used market and many have crossed oceans or circumnavigated. Likely find one anywhere in the world.
• She will do seven and a half knots sipping fuel at 1800 rpm all day long. She carries a thousand liters of diesel, so she has a thousand nautical mile range under power alone.
• The flybridge helm is great – dry, has excellent visibility and has seating for 6 people.
• Cockpit is large and nicely enclosed with only one exit, so that is great for smaller children and having the cockpit be more secure.
• The 500 came in a three cabin model which has a dedicated owner hull, a four cabin version which has a large owner cabin, and a five cabin which had a small master and bunk beds.

Challenges of the Lagoon 500

• Requires help to dock. Came with backup cameras as you cannot see the stern ends of the boat when backing up from flybridge helm.
• Eats lines because the sail drives are mounted aft of the rudders. They are exposed to lines when going backwards, and there are often lines in the water at docks that get wrapped around the propellers.
• The boom is very high and it is difficult to get to in order to for example zip up the sail bag. They put a hardtop bimini and fly the kids up on a halyard to help address this. They also less often zip up the mailsail bag.
• Sails at 5 knots in 10 knots of breeze 45 to 60 degrees off the wind. John usually motor sails.
• Hard to tack in light winds.
• Transoms are old style than newer designs and lack the beach type platform which would be nice to have.

Tell us a bit about yourself

We’ve been around boats for almost 20 years. The first time my kids went sailing (my oldest is 20) was when she was four months old.

We’ve had a boat ever since then. We started with monohulls and then we migrated to catamarans. We went to catamarans because with four kids we needed room.

Back in 2012 I sold my business, and we decided to take a year sabbatical. We found a 43-foot Lagoon power catamaran, and we went cruising the Caribbean. Three years later we outgrew that boat and really understood what we wanted and specifically looked for a Lagoon 500.

Back in 2017 we purchased our Lagoon 500 and migrated from one boat to the other. We’ve been on her since.

Can you tell me what it was about the Lagoon 500?

The more we spent time on boats and different boats and before we had purchased any catamaran we had chartered six different models over the previous six or seven years. While we owned the monohull when we go on charter on vacations somewhere, we usually looked to charter a catamaran.

We used it as a way to learn about what we wanted, so we’ve tried the Leopards, the Fountain Pajots, the Lagoons, Catanas and an Endeavour catamaran. We tried an Endeavour for a while for one of our cruises.

And there were attributes of each boat that we liked. Having lived on board a boat, it was very different than the four weeks we had spent chartering which was the maximum amount of time.

We learned that we wanted a boat with lots of individual rooms or places to be. So with four kids on board I still kind of run a business out of our home in this case the boat and homeschooling and everything else we knew we wanted bigger.

Our 43 was too small. We wanted a saloon where people could actually sit in multiple places. We wanted a kitchen where three or four people could stand in it. We wanted a pantry which is kind of weird right, but we realized that we wanted a place where you could store stuff. We didn’t want to keep going into the bilges to pull stuff in and out on daily use.

The more we looked around in different boats the 500 series of the Lagoons which we first saw 10 years ago was always out of our price range, and they had just gotten to the point now or three years ago where they became somewhat affordable for us.

We loved how big she felt, and then there’s a lot of other attributes of the 500 but specifically when we were looking for a boat we were thinking 45 to 60 footer. We wanted to find the biggest smallest boat if that makes sense that we could get to, and the 500 was excellent at almost 29 feet of beam and 50 feet long.

She has a gorgeously large salon area. That was our core attraction to her.

Tell me about sailing her. How about getting in and out of marinas? Do you need every kid on deck to give you a hand?

That’s a great question. Whatever boat we purchased, we knew that we wanted to be able to be short-handed, so what’s nice about the 500 was she’s full electric meaning all the winches are electric. She was Lagoon’s flagship where Lagoon had designed and spent most of their effort, “this is what we can do with a boat.” That was back then.

When that boat came out she was right at the top of their range, and she was the first of the large next generation boats that they had.

You asked about maneuvering. I can sail the boat on my own. The only caveat I would say is docking and line handling right. Unless the weather is perfect I need someone to toss a line and grab a line.

But maneuvering in and out is really easy. She’s got her sail drives aft of the rudders to protect the sail drives when you’re underway, but that also means that she steers backwards quite nicely.

Now the downside to that is that she also likes to eat lines from the rear. You’re going to chew a line backing up if you don’t pay attention. It took me about three or four entrances before I kind of went all right you know we have to make sure there’s nothing in the water and never our lines to be fair was never our lines but someone’s lines were always there.

The 500 is very easy. It’s a flybridge boat which we love the idea of. She handles very well under power. Because we spent the last two summers in the med and the med has very fluctuating winds. She will do seven and a half knots at sipping fuel at 1800 rpm all day long. She carries a thousand liters of diesel, so she’s got a thousand nautical mile range under power alone.

Tell me about her under sail. Have you been in rough weather?

We have not crossed any oceans with S/V Wicked. When we purchased Wicked, she was in Turkey. We’ve been as far as Gibraltar, so we’ve done the entire Med, and then we’re heading back towards Turkey.

We will stay in the Med for a little bit longer. We wanted an ocean crossing boat, and the reason that the 500 was always on our list is there are 150 of them made and there are dozens that have crossed. So our boat was originally purchased by an Australian. They sailed it to Australia from France. From Australia it sailed back to the Med. Was owned by a Spaniard. The he sold it to an Egyptian, and then we’re the fourth owner if you will. So our boat’s been around the world already.

Many 500s have been, so that was the kind of important thing. I didn’t want to buy something that nobody’s ever crossed on. I wanted the ability to do it.

What kind of weather systems have you been in with her? How does she handle strong winds because I know you do get those in the Med?

We’ve been in some significant blows. The biggest difference that you would find in coastal or near coastal which is what we’ve been doing is that you don’t get the giant rollers. You’ll get steep seas which is probably harder on you and the boat than the big ocean or swells

We don’t have a lot of experience with ocean swells which is not that big of an issue, but we do have a lot of experience in 35 to 40 knots of wind when a Meltemi blows through or a strong gust comes off the mountains in Europe. She handles perfectly. She loves 15 knots to 20 knots of wind speed. We reef the first point at 20 knots. Honestly if we know that it’s going to pick up we’ll reef at about 18 knots, and then she’ll comfortably sail all day long.

She doesn’t slap, and everything we’ve seen we like. She’s got a fly bridge, so it’s rare to get any spray up there even when we’re pounding into the waves, and it gives really good visibility.

Are you up there when you come in to dock?

Absolutely. In our previous boat, a Lagoon 43 power cat. The power cat has a flybridge steering, and an inside steering. What we quickly realized is we love this fly bridge routine. It’s beautiful visibility on the 500.

It’s got a big seating area, so all six of us can seat up on the fly bridge. We did an upgrade and put a full bimini on it because our experience in the Caribbean was that we like being outside, but we don’t want to be sun drenched the whole time. Our solid bimini covers the whole area up top.

Your visibility is perfect. I can’t see the rear corners when we back in. So that’s actually one of the limitations on this boat and on many others. You can’t see the rears, so it came with cameras.

I removed them because we never use them, and usually it’s all about line handling. If i’m backing into a marina by myself, that’s not going to happen because I can’t do the line handling, so there’s always someone on board or if there isn’t and i’m not going to do that maneuver.

I will side tie somewhere and wait for someone to help us.

What’s nice about being up on the fly bridge, you can jump to either side. I can literally take one stride to the left look down one side and see the end of the boat one stride to the right look down the other side to see the boat. So it’s not as limiting as you would think, but when you’re sitting there steering you can’t see the aft corner.

So the Lagoon 500 is very easy to sail by yourself?

Her beam makes her very stable. She has decent enough clearance underneath. We don’t slap even in the short waves. We pound like anybody pushing into two meter chop. It is horrible. Usually it’s like turn around we’re going the other direction for a while.

The only negative is how high the boom is. If you’re standing, the boom is above. The 500 is weird because when you’re standing on the deck the boom is about chest height. Then you’re stepping into the fly steering area and that puts the boom overhead. So you can’t get to the sail bag.

I wish I had spoken to more 500 owners before we got on board and that would have made our discovery much easier. In our previous boat after absolutely every day of sailing, we would zip up the the bag and then the next day zip it open. Now with the 500 our approach is if we’re sailing for the week and we’re moving every day at night, we don’t zip the bag.

Also our solid bimini has walking areas, so we immobilize the boom with two straps on the back, so the boom’s held in place. You climb up the bimini. You can walk along it and at that point you’re sitting over top of it.

So you find ways around it, but we upgraded our bimini to alleviate the problem. You still have to climb on top of the roof to get to it, but at that point I have full access and now because I have so many kids usually they all want to do something, so we usually end up putting one in a bosun’s chair and setting them up. They have a good time, and they unzip the bag and you know if we’re stationary for a couple of days. We’ll pull the halyard off, tie it to the side, so we don’t hear the banging and then zip the bag up right.

Everything drops into the sail bag anyways, so the real challenge ends up being to zip open and close the sail bag.

Tell me about her in light wind because big heavy boat. What do you need to move her?

My first boat was a Swan, so she was a nice deep keeled very responsive boat.

Our next boat was a charter 43 monohull which didn’t point very well, but still moved and it felt like a sailboat. It was great.

Our next boat was a power cat, and I’m like this looks awesome. All i do is set the throttles and don’t have to worry anything about it?

We went to the 500 because we wanted ocean crossing range, and we wanted a bigger boat and 500 motors great and sails significantly well.

I’ll put my caveat there which means usually I didn’t go sailing if the wind was under 10 to 12 knots because I didn’t want to do three or four knots.

What we found and then we met some cruising friends who happened to be a sail maker and he was on a on a Fountaine Pajot 46, and he’s like, “John, you should sail that thing. It should have great sailing ability.” I’m like yeah if it’s 50 knots we’ll go seven and a half. He’s like, “no you should do it in ten.” I’m like I’m not sailing in ten, we’re gonna do four. He goes,”well you can get five.”

We sailed from the coast of Spain to Mallorca. He and I did, and in somewhere between 8 to 10 knots of wind, we were pointing 60 degrees to 45 degrees. She was handling well. She was easily doing five knots, so i think if you want to go sailing she sails remarkably well in the lighter stuff.

She’s hard to tack like most catamarans are especially in the light winds, but we were comfortably doing 50 percent half the speed of the wind.

Tell me about the inside.

I believe the 500 was the last of the liveaboard designs that Lagoon put together. I’ll make that claim. I don’t know if that’s true or not. There are features on the 500 that make her not great for charter, and those features that don’t make her great for charter make her excellent for living aboard.

In the 440s which is kind of the 500s kind of little sister it’s like 70% of a 500 is very similar right.

What we like in the 500 as far as the features is the salon is much bigger than you would expect for a 50-foot boat. We’ve been on Privileges 585 which is the other boat we considered or a Privilege 615 and our salon is bigger than theirs.

It has a step down kitchen. The kitchen is actually offset only by about six inches. One step lower. You can be sitting in the kitchen and be kind of eye level looking out the boat nicely. You can be talking to the people who are sitting in the salon.

Our salon table seats ate comfortably. We’ve had 14 people for dinner inside the boat. Four people cooking at the same time.

The boat came with four refrigerators from the factory, a dedicated freezer and two fridges and then a bar fridge outside. This is all standard kind of from the design

There’s i think probably three characteristics that make the 500 unique and i haven’t found another boat that’s very similar to it. We like the asymmetric cockpit outside. Unlike most charter cats where you want to be able to get out and into the water back and forth easily we only have one way in and out, so we are captive. It’s an asymmetric design, so it’s very enclosed which makes our cockpit area very safe.

There’s kind of like a door to get out and then when the screens are down we have a separate room with a nice table with big u-shaped seating that can seat eight people on the outside. We liked that an awful lot. You can have six or seven people sitting for dinner outside and people still coming and going not being interrupted.

Most of the modern catamarans they’re much more kind of walk through the back to get to the outside. I know that wasn’t a popular thing in the charter market for the 440s and the 500s, but for us that is a great.

We immediately get into our cockpit, take our life jackets off because you can’t fall out you can’t fall out back. It feels very safe and secure which i think makes it important for crossing. It makes it important with smaller kids. Ours are a little older now, but she would have been a perfect boat with toddlers because there’s no way out.

So we love the cockpit.

The other thing we really liked is this boat had a pantry. You step down into the hull on the port side hall there is a good 10 foot room. The hallway right between the front and the back. In that 10 foot room is our built-in two refrigerators and our laundry facilities and a big counter that’s six feet long where you can stack all your stuff on top of and there’s cabinets on the inside and there’s cabinets underneath.

We also like the fact that most boats when they say they have a master’s cabin they’re talking about an owner’s hull. They dedicate the entire hull of the boat to the owner. The 500 in the four cabin layout has a very large owner’s cabin, so it’s kind of like a regular cabin plus what would have been the pantry area dedicated to the owner. In our master we actually have a full sitting desk which is great to work on most of them have sofas.

You have an owner’s cabin version with a dedicated large area for the owner without giving up that fourth cabin. Do the kids have the space they need?

The 500 came in a three cabin model which has a dedicated owner hull, a four cabin version which is what we ended up with, and a five cabin which had a smaller master, and they added bunk beds.

We wanted the four cabin because we wanted the big master, so we have a four cabin model. Two of my kids share. One of them is at university. Only two kids are on board now. They have dedicated cabins, and a guest cabin it’ll be the sleepover boat.

Do you have any other critiques of the Lagoon 500?

Maybe her transoms are dated. There are the older style transoms that don’t have a big beach in the back or a big landing area.

What I do particularly like about that boat seems to have decent bones. You see lots of people. It’s an active community especially on the 440 because there’s so many more of those doing modifications and adding to the boats and modifying their transoms and re-putting different stuff inside.

The boat wasn’t built as a kind of throwaway. The second we could see more and more of that, we’re like okay this is perfect. So this boat has a community associated with it. People are investing money to keep it so you talk to many of the 500 or 440 owners rather than buying a new 450 or a new 52.

They would put money into their existing boat to upgrade it competitively or comparably to the new 52s, probably a little bit better.

Are there any projects that you see yourself doing on your Lagoon 500?

We upgraded all of the electrical systems to lithium, so we have a full lithium battery system on board now. We got rid of all the propane so we’re a single fuel boat. We only run diesel. All our cooking is electric. We have solar panels.

Our big upgrade since buying the boat was the lithium battery system and all the electric cooking that went along with it and then our large bimini which really increased our quality of life.

I would like to kind of make some changes to carry a larger dinghy in the back. We’re a very active family, and we like being the boat where everybody gets to so that was the home we grew up with.

All the kids were always at us, so on our boat we carry dive equipment for six people. All my daughters are are certified. We have a dive compressor on board. We carry two sailing dinghy, so we have two 12-foot sailing dinghy with us. When we’re at anchor, we splash the sailing dinghies and the paddle boards and everything else. The 500 just swallows all of that stuff up.

I can sail it as effectively as I could the Catana 47 that I was on for many years. I love that boat, but I would never give up my 500 for it.

If you would swap her for any other boat is there anything else out there that you’d swap her for?

People always keep looking for the next boat, so I keep going through that. I really like the Garcia Explocat 52s. I wonder if they could build a 500 version in aluminum, so you could go to the south pole and check out all the icebergs and stuff.

I don’t know that i would ever sail in those areas i just like the idea of it.

My next upgrade would be more than likely just comfort of living. We want to change out its refrigeration. Put modern fridges in it. We’re still in the original 10 year old fridges that are in there which are fine, and we will probably switch to very high efficient home units that are built today. They’re more efficient than what we have.

We’re fully air conditioned and heated. There’s very little that’s missing on our boat. I don’t have boat envy which is rare.

That’s awesome. That seems like a really great place to wrap up, and I really appreciate hearing about your Lagoon 500.

• Tags Catamaran Interviews , Catamaran Reviews

By Diane Selkirk

I love to travel and have spent the past seven years sailing with my family aboard our 40 Woods Meander catamaran - traveling from B.C.'s north coast, to the west coast of the US, Mexico, the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, across the Indian Ocean to South Africa and on to St Helena, South America, the Caribbean and Central America.

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In 2024, Lagoon wants to celebrate its 40th anniversary with you. Throughout the year, there are numerous events waiting to be discovered.

Catamarans to live your dreams

At Lagoon, we do everything we can to make your sailing to the ends of the earth as enjoyable as possible, but when it comes to choosing your model, it's up to you!

YOUR DREAM DESTINATION

At Lagoon, we infuse our love of the sea and our admiration for nature into the construction of our boats. For you, we always aim for excellence.

Lagoon's sustainable commitments

Lagoon's history is intimately linked to its marine environment and we are committed to preserving it every day. Over the last few years, we have taken a major step forward in terms of sustainability.

The Club Lagoon

Are you a Lagoon catamaran owner, or do you dream of becoming one? Our club is for you. By joining, you'll benefit from exclusive offers and privileged access to our partner marinas around the world.

A unique catamaran design  The world's best-selling model

Continue your navigation

Our Partners

Owners' testimonials

Lange family and “spirit of ponta preta”.

There was a time when my whole being turned into a trance as soon as the leaves were moving in the trees, as I was thinking about the potential windsurf session that I was missing.

PRESS REVIEW