Leopard 42: Has Anyone Heard if Leopard Will Reintroduce a 42 or 43 ?

[maytrix]

Hi Steve,

I felt it sailed well with enough wind. Moving under 3 knots, handling wasn't so great - lots of adjustments. Over 3 knots it was better and the few times we were at 6-8 knots it sailed great. It motored well too at about 7 knots. With 10-15 knots of wind, we moved along fairly well at 6 knots or so. We had one day where it was mostly between 12 and 15 knots and it kicked up a little bringing it closer to 15-18 and we moved along great at 8 knots.

I recall with the 4700, we hit 10 knots, but I know we also had some higher winds during that trip - it was over 20 knots wind a few times.

Overall, if I was buying today I'd pick the 46 over the 47.

[Ozbullwinkle]

Thanks Matt, looks like I'll have to plan on chartering a 46 as well and put it through a good shaakedown like in my video of the 47 which is attached above.

I just have a distinct dislike of the trend which is happening in catamarans of flybridges and raised helm stations which is being driven by the charter industry. I have done many years skippering game fishing boats and flybridges on them are a necessity but I do not like them on cats at all which push up the height of the boom and create more windage and take away the otherwise clean lines of the boat. The helm of the 47 was certainly high enough for me and gave me good overall vision from the helm. But as I said I'll have to get myself onto a 46 to form my own opinion.

Many thanks for your information
Steve

[maytrix]

I thought the helm on the 47 was good as well, but after this trip, I really do like the helm on the 46. It's a little harder to see the port stern, but not too bad. What I really like is the hard bimini and how it comes even with the rest of the boat - with the 47, it was raised about a foot.

I think the entire area under the bimini is very well protected and the helm is equally protected as well.

Hope you get out to see it soon!

[paulrack]

Leopard are introducing a Sunsail 444 (It is actually 43ft long). I am chartering one for two weeks in the Med next year.

[Southern Star]

The new Sunsail 444 is indeed an 'interesting' design, if these drawings are accurate. SMJ is right about the number of berths - are those actually additional single berths in front of the forward doubles????? How would you access/ventilate them? What happened to forward collision bulkheads?

Furthermore, it seems that there is a forward cockpit without ahelm (where there is excellent visibility) and without direct access to the mast/halyards. In essence, you lose the main advantages to a forward cockpit ( as in the Gunboats/Chris White designs), while keeping the main negative - a hugely wet area forward that seems more likely to be flooded than an aft cockpit in bad conditions. Worse still, they have moved the bridgedeck forward (increasing the risk of pounding) and, by covering it, they have created a virtual aerodynamic 'brake'.

Yikes!

Brad

[paulrack]

The forward berths are normally accessed from the front double bunk. My cat has that configuration on the port side and it works well. I still have a double collision bulkhead so it is easily possible.

Your comment on the front area is right, for where I normally sail I prefer a nice sleek front that cannot catch any big waves. For chartering in a nice cruising spot it might work well. I will report back on my views once I have sailed it. as far as the bridge deck goes I don't think I will be able to test it properly where I will be sailing in Turkey.

Cheers
Paul

[Southern Star]

Paul, I have little doubt that it would work well for chartering in relatively protected waters - and I hope that you don't get to test out the bridgedeck pounding/potential flooding of the forward cockpit on your charter vacation! Anyway, look forward to hearing your thoughts after you have sailed one.

Cheers!

Brad

[Peter Richardso]

Everbody is praising the 47 and 46, how does the 43 compare against these for strength and sailing ability given that it is a smaller boat?