Leopard 40 turnover...

[capn_billl]

Several 40's I've looked at the seller specifically stated they were trading up to a 44, or bigger.

Note to self, buy 44.

[theBigKahuna]

Ohhh!!!! And no rancor taken... Ive sailed since
I was 12 (47 yrs) and my wifes sailed most of her life. The 'condo cat' was a consious decision to continue what we loved... Not everyone's cup of tea. But bettern"n a condo on the hard!!!

[TA Adventures]

We looked very seriously at the 45 but did not like the forward seating area. We like the flat open area to the right and left of the walk out. Once you take the seating area out you have a 40. We also did not want a 70 foot mast that would rule out the ICW. The 40 has plenty of room for 2 and she handles.
Was out on Dec 2 in 20 to 25 gusting to 30. We reefed the main and took 2 reefs in the head sail- sailing 120 apparent down wind in 40 footer starboard quarter aft — we hit 9.7 and steady in the upper 8’s. Turned to work our way back up with and averaged 7.4 sailing 50 degrees apparent both tacks. She did slow down as i pushed up to 40 degrees apparent seems 45 to 50 is the limit. Funny that is just about where my 41 foot mono-hull started to be unhappy. So far we love the 40.

[theBigKahuna]

TA... you're making us jealous!!! We're hunkering down for winter up here in Chicago! This time of year the wind is NOT your friend!!

[aqfishing]

Originally Posted by Jebtrois

Forgive the double entendre clickbait. We are writing with a truly first world problem. Like most people here, we have researched ourselves to death on what we think is the boat for us. At this point we really like the new design Leopard 40. We have gone to see about 5 over the past year. All of them have been model year 2017 or 2018 boats. Being onboard has validated, for us, that we want one. However, we were discussing making an offer yesterday and were struck by the following: every one of these boats was less than 18 months old and we would have been the second and/or third owner.

The transaction costs of buying and selling boats at the +/-$500k price point are not inconsequential. So we are interested to know from those who have been around boats for a while if there is anything we are missing in this phenomenon? Is there a latent issue with the Leopard 40 in particular? Is this common among Cats of this size...ie do people ‘think’ it will be enough and it just isn’t? The common story among them all is the whole “bought a boat, tried it and significant other didn’t like it...or change of life plans yada yada”. Basically the last half dozen, otherwise new boats, that have come to market have sold more than once and this seems odd. Does anyone have insight? Thanks, JEB

Was just wondering did you ever get your Leopard 40?

We had the 44, loved it. We now have a 2020 40, owners version, love it too! Will never own a yacht without the front door, it’s a must in the tropics. We love the saloon layout with forward galley, but we also miss the front seating area of our 44. Some more diesel and more outside storage in the cockpit would be nice. But we have plans to sort this out once she comes out of charter and we cruise.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

There was a thread here recently in which a long time member, an avid sailor, really didn't like this boat. He said he thought the cockpit up front made the boat a very poor performer. Apparently the wind got caught in there and made the boat twitchy.

That post you referenced was a rationalization by someone who lacked understanding of what he experienced, IMHO.
I bought a 2017 L40 owners version earlier this year and have since put about 2000 nm on her. This is my first cat. I’m a licensed captain and have owned various monohull and multihull sailboats since 1980. My last 3 boats since 2001 were Dragonfly 920, 1000, and 1200 tris. Only saying this to establish that I have some experience, but I’m always learning.
I’ve chartered quite a few other cats in the past, various makes. After 20 years of trimaran ownership I believe nothing sails better than a tri. However, there are many things to be appreciated about the better examples in each class of boat. They all have design compromises. The L40 is among the better examples in small cruising cats.
As to the L40 — It sails surprisingly well considering the boxy design imposed by the emphasis on interior accommodations. At 50-degrees AWA or lower it will sail at 7+ knots in 12 knots apparent wind speed, 6 knots in 10 knots of apparent wind. In flat water it will top out around 9 knots boat speed. We’ve hit 11 or 12 knots surfing but that’s out of the normal desired flat water operating range.
It is not “twitchy” as someone had claimed. The steering is somewhat delayed in response compared to a higher performing boat that’s more nimble, and an inexperienced helmsman is likely to oversteer - causing the boat to veer too much…. then that helmsman will try to overcompensate causing a similar reaction in the opposite direction. Perhaps that’s what prompted the “twitchy” comment, but it’s actually the helmsman who’s not in tune. I’ve had to direct guests to use smaller steering inputs and wait until they see the boat react. Once they get the feel of it everything is fine. The autopilot also has no issues with it, and steers the boat quite well on track.
There’s enough underdeck clearance so wave slapping is not generally an issue.
Would the boat be faster to windward if the cabin was lower and had an angled windshield? I’m quite sure it would, but that’s not the only performance limitation and I don’t think it makes much difference to a cruiser on a reach. It would also be faster if it had narrower hulls, no fixed keels but instead had daggerboards, and narrower sheeting angles, and barberhaulers, and CF stick with synthetic rigging, and smaller water/fuel tanks, no generator or AC, and lighter materials throughout. But then it would be something else.
One other thing: Even though the air draft is 63’10” that doesn’t include the appendages at the top. Those who want to use it for ICW need to consider that there are some fixed bridges that are rarely above 64’ and there is a need navigate accordingly. (We brought it up the east coast and used the ICW for major portions of the trip, going outside when favorable. That’s another topic.)
Overall, my wife and I are very happy with this boat and it suits our current needs.

[SailFastTri]

As for the forward door? It's awesome!