Lagoon 450 vs older 500

[capn blood]

Does anyone have first hand experience on both the 450 and 500 models?

I would have a minimum of 6 family members plus dog on board, plus lots of bulky "water toys" on board.

Seems I've read somewhere that the actual living space in the 450 is equal to the 500. True? I would likely be interested in a 3 cabin 450 vs a 4 cabin 500.

From the SA/D comparison, the 450 looks competitive, but what does the additional LWL add on the 500?

Load capacity comparison before too much performance loss?

Cockpit in the 450 looks like a much better "hangout" with more useable space. Access to scoops also looks better on the 450.

We plan on looking first hand toward the end of this year, but I wanted to see if anyone has any input first. We would likely be looking to purchase in late 2018 with a budget of $400K-$500K, so both the 450 and 500 fit.

Thanks.

[capn blood]

Really? Nobody?

[rallyman1122]

I also was hoping for replies as this thought had crossed my mind. I recently looked at a 450 S and while it was quite nice, and ticked all the boxes, I didn't feel a connection to the boat.

Now maybe that was because we never got off the dock but I was hoping to have a passion for the boat I didn't feel. I thought maybe the 500 would be an interesting alternative.

[dcareri]

I chartered an owners version 500, I think it was as 2012 or 2013, for two weeks in spring 2016. I've chartered 450's a number of times and was really disappointed with the 500.

From a sailing perspective I thought it sailed well and was as fast as could be expected. In fact it sailed better than I expected.

For a boat as big as this was it was the living space that didn't work for us:

-the owners suite was big with lots of space which was the only good thing
-the cockpit was very cramped. it's completely enclosed and was way smaller than on the 450. I was tough for 5 people to eat dinner in the cockpit.
-to get from the flybridge to the cockpit you had to walk all the way around to the back of the cockpit. Not something you'd want to do regularly in touch conditions
-the salon was ok but seems to be laid out pretty inefficiently. We thought "why'd they do that?" more than once.
-the forward port cabin had a circular, revolving door shower which was bit bizarre
-overall there was a lot of wasted or unusable space for a boat that size which I attributed to the older design of the boat

I'm admittedly biased since I purchased a 2015 450 last fall and I'm far happier than I would have ever been on the 500.

Hope this helps,

Denny

[capn blood]

Thanks Denny.

You confirmed a couple of the questions I had...mainly the cockpit issue. I'm just not crazy about the look of the 500 cockpit. Seems like it's very "closed off" from the scoops/water and from the helm/flybridge.

I imagine at anchor, the kids would be constantly back and forth from water to cockpit and the 450 seems a bit more conducive to that. The trade off being maybe a bit more built in safety while sailing in the more closed off cockpit of the 500.

One of the things I'm still very interested in is the load carrying capacity comparison. With 4 kids, I can see having a big dink, paddle boards/kayaks, stuff, etc. starting to add up in weight. Does the extra LWL give a substantial advantage there? Or does the 450 come close enough to make that a non issue.

Thanks again for your input! I knew there had to be someone out there.

[dcareri]

I don't think I can help on the load carrying of the 450, we always sail with a small crew and a limited amount of stuff.

I forget what the overall weight was but the 500 is big and heavy to start with. The one I sailed had a large center steering dinghy with a 40HP engine, two kayaks, 3 fridges, 2 freezers, dishwasher and 6 adults and not even sure that moved the needle on the overall boat weight.

[Catapault]

We had a good look at the 500 when boat shopping, but really didn't like it.
It didn't 'feel right' at all, compared with the 450 F we eventually bought.

Note: I have not sailed a 500. But Just the interior nor exterior grabbed us at all, where as the 450 really did. Kitchen, Salon and Cockpit were one aspect, Cabins were another that just didn't tick boxes. ( And certainly not for the price difference.)

IMO many boats 'bare' are also a bit 'meh', but we could clearly see how it could be when all setup. So far it hasn't disapointed, but as per other posts, we are very early in our journey on setup and cruising.


We went with a 450 F Owners, currently getting some work done to her where will post up when complete.

Regards

Mark

[Bean Counter]

Either would be a good comfortable cruiser. Things to note:

L500 would be an older boat for the same money. So some major refit issues may apply earlier for the L500 (eg replacement standing rigging)
L500 is 10% bigger and therefore most operational things are bigger and more expensive to maintain and repair, sails, rig, bottom paint, haul out, marina fees etc.
L500 is a faster boat (look at race handicaps for example).
L500 likely to be more comfortable in a rough ocean due to longer waterline
L500 seems to have more room in saloon, but less in cockpit.
L500 beam is 28ft L450 26ft so may fit a longer tender.

In my own world we settled on a L450 for its livability and its more contemporary design, however when ever our friends on the L500 pass us I wish we had bought an Outremer. (so that would be 5 days in the year)

[Ulstue]

Depending on the area, the L 450 with just under 8M width is still to haul out - for over 8 M in some areas it is very difficult to find a crane. In my opinion, the size of the living space is very similar on both, because of the different design. But indeed - the L500 is a larger boat.