Leopard 46: Leopard 46

[Multitalent]

everyone always think the Sea is snottiest in their local waters. How many circumnavigations would it take to convince you that a particular model is safe - 5 ?,10? 50? How about a season cruising Cape Horn ?, no only passing by vancouver island ? come off it.

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by Multitalent

How about a season cruising Cape Horn ?,

Sounds like a great test with there rogue waves.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to own (without payments) one of these Leopard 46 or 47 ft cats as a liveaboard. I think there great crusing boats although I would want the front facing door and windows to be able to withstand a rogue wave ( couple thousand gal of water ) that would be as high as the vent windows without breaking , That's all. I'm sure the Gulf Stream sailing south to the Bahamas right now would be a good test too.

[Jim Woodall]

I don't know if there are many Leopards cruising around Cape Horn or the west coast of North America, but I'm pretty sure a substantial number have made their way around the Cape of Good Hope. I think more rogue waves have been encountered to the southeast of the Cape of Good Hope in the Indian Ocean than anywhere else in the world. I would submit that the conditions there are more extreme, on average, than those encountered on the west coast, including the seas near Vancouver Island or Humbolt.

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

I do not have personal experience on a Leopard 46 but have chartered a 47 and was very impressed with its performance during our charter where we spent a lot of time sailing it in winds of 30 knots & over, So I would not discount a 47 from your "list of possibles".

Here is a video which may be of interest to you if you have not already seen it.

All the best in your boat hunting,
Steve

Almost all the well known large cruising cats will sail great in winds 25-35 knots. The true measure of performance for a cruising cat is winds between 5-12 knots and I would bet a reasonable sum of money that the Leopard 46/47 is a big dog in light winds, like most cruising cats that size. Some of these big cats point much better than others so that is another area where I would pay attention if I was a prospective buyer; sailing is more fun than motoring

I really like a lot of design qualities about the Leopard 46 but the balsa core below the waterline and marginal quality interior finishes bothers me about it.

[drunknsailor]

Leopard 46(moorings configuration) will do about half windspeed in 10-12 knots true. 6-7 knots on a reach, 4-6 knots beating(40 deg app) and 4 knots downwind. Moorings boats have cheap sails, dirty bottoms and 2 massive 3 bladed props. An owner's boat with improvements in those areas and perhaps a light air reacher will do a lot better.

I sail the 4600 regularly and love the boat!

She sails really well in 15 true.

[Tim Schaaf]

The 45/47 does at least as well as the 46, as any of the professional crews or delivery skippers who have sailed both will confirm, and is more solidly built. You might want to crack off a few degrees from 40 apparent when close hauled as you will get there faster. The 45/47 has sailed the Atlantic, the Pacific and generally all over, including the West Coast, and does just fine. They do slam, some, but the better you sail her, the less you slam. Pretty decent in light air, too. Don't judge a boat by one freak occurrence for which the details are obscure. I am sure the 46 can handle what you throw at her, too. By the way, I sailed the west coast and SF bay for years, so I do know what you are talking about. But, waves are waves, anywhere, and the west coast shows nothing that you can't meet anywhere else. By the way, full transparency here, I have owned a 45 for seven years, run her in the crewed charter trade, and sail her about 150 days a year, and live aboard. So, I am biased, but my bias is based upon lots of L45 miles, coastal and ocean.

[drunknsailor]

What AWA do you target when beating? The vmg curves suggest 52-55 true for best upwind. Am I doing my math wrong?

[Tim Schaaf]

Depends somewhat on wind speed and wave conditions, but somewhere between 42 and 47AWA seems to do it best.

cheers,
Tim

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by Keegan

Almost all the well known large cruising cats will sail great in winds 25-35 knots. The true measure of performance for a cruising cat is winds between 5-12 knots and I would bet a reasonable sum of money that the Leopard 46/47 is a big dog in light winds, like most cruising cats that size. Some of these big cats point much better than others so that is another area where I would pay attention if I was a prospective buyer; sailing is more fun than motoring

I really like a lot of design qualities about the Leopard 46 but the balsa core below the waterline and marginal quality interior finishes bothers me about it.

On that particular charter 12 - 15 knots was about the minimum wind we encountered and I was happy with the overall performance of the boat in these winds and the heaqvier conditions. Admittedly performance in 5 knots may not be brilliant but I would not expect much with 5 knots of wind.

In response to your earlier post yes that is a Seawind 1000 that I pass. I agree with your comment about the dingy I would have loved to have got it out of the water but this was not possible as there were no davits on this vessel so towing it was my only option and as you can see it is doing a few acrobatics.

[impi]

Originally Posted by Keegan

Almost all the well known large cruising cats will sail great in winds 25-35 knots. The true measure of performance for a cruising cat is winds between 5-12 knots and I would bet a reasonable sum of money that the Leopard 46/47 is a big dog in light winds, like most cruising cats that size. Some of these big cats point much better than others so that is another area where I would pay attention if I was a prospective buyer; sailing is more fun than motoring

I really like a lot of design qualities about the Leopard 46 but the balsa core below the waterline and marginal quality interior finishes bothers me about it.

I own a lagoon 440 and sail it in the cape waters alongside a few friends who own leopard 46 sailing cats. There is nothing wrong with the leopard 46 .... They are very nice cats and I for one would have purchased a 46 but liked certain features on the lagoon that fitted some personal preferences I had. My friends and I agree the boats are on a par and it really comes down to personal choice at the end of the day. There are plenty of Leopards sailing in rough waters off Cape Town ..... And they are not dogs in light winds. The quality of build is very similar and both my friends with Leopards and me with the lagoon have had to put in some work to get the standard to where we want it to be. For example:
I have a washing /drying machine outside which I find handy(had to remove the entire cabinet in the rear cockpit and rebuild it to gain 1 inch in height - looks far better than what was originally there - we used a highly skilled Swiss cabinet maker and an Italian fibreglass moulder to do the work. We also changed cosmetics like the installation of a new carbon fibre dashboard as I didn't like the one my boat came out with. I also went through the boat and fitted better quality screws to the furniture, stopped squeaks in the wood by removing certain wooden panels and had rubber fitted neatly in between etc. etc. However, I also recall an American guy called Greg who purchased a Leopard here and was unhappy with the way the screws were used to assemble furniture etc.etc - he ended up removing every screw in the boat and refitted it himself.
I think Lagoon could have gone up a size in the wiring circuit - I have spent quite a bit of money with top notch electricians getting her to spec. The manuals that come with the lagoon are lacking MASSIVELY in information so we have had extensive surveys done on the boat and come up with our own. Leopard has very detailed manuals with exceptionally detailed wiring and plumbing diagrams. Despite South Africa being seen to be an 'outback' country, the local authorities are VERY strict about safety and certification.

[Tropical Home]

I bought a new Leopard 46 in 2009 and the first sail from Hk to Okinawa Japan we sailed it through a Typhoon. I can personally vouch that this boat can handle massive breaking waves that covered our entire boat for 24 hours while we were sailing 18 knots. Wind speed was only 40-45 knots but the waves were so high that we had to stick our head out of the mini to see the top of them. The boat is like the ultimate 4wd. The only damage on the exterior was we melted the plastic on the jib roller from so much friction, and tore the winch right off the mast. The spindle only remaining.

Also I sail about 6 knots in 8 knots of wind on a beam maybe 6 pointing in 10 knots. 12-15 knots always over 8 knots. The average always seems to be about 9 knots. Not fast by any means but my boat has every toy possible on in including 300 ft of chain, RIB with 25 HP motor etc. I had the boat detailed and worked on by the best company here in Okinawa and they said the quality is very good for a production boat much better fibre glass and gelcoat that any others they work on.

Think the boat offers good value, and to have a better built boat it would cost about $300,000 more without the extra toys included.

Light winds

Leopard 46 Catamaran - YouTube

About 10 knots

Okinawa Japan sailing - YouTube

Leopard 46 Okinawa Sailing Catamaran March 30th 2011 - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDmdk..._order&list=UL

[vida nueva]

[QUOTE=danielamartindm;726482]I test sailed a leopard 46 at last years's Annapolis show. It sailed like a dream. Great visibility, comfortable, over 3 feet of bridgedeck clearance, easy to sail, great layout, a real work of art. It pointed as you'd expect a cat to point, and dampened Chesapeake chop very well. Consider electric main halyard. I want one.[/Q

Over three feet of bridgedeck clearance. That's much more than the 30" I've seen from other sources. Are you sure?

Anyone know what the bridgedeck clearance is for the new Leopard 48?

[bvimatelot]

Webejammin: All Leopards in "the protected waters" of BVI, get there on their own bottoms from South Africa. Not a bad "test sail" eh? Tony

[SkyMaverick]

My wife and I just purchased a 2007 Leopard 46. I am very interested to read more about what other owners and/or charterers think about it.

We have never sailed one before our sea trial. She really does sail beautifully but we have yet to get her in any high seas/wind...

[meatservo]

Can anyone recommend the best years for a Leopard 46?

Also considering a Seawind 1160...

Thanks.

meatservo