Leopard 46 fiberglass question

[fly2kite]

We are interested in buying a late year model (e.g. 2009) Leopard 46 to cruise around the Meds and later on sail to the Caribbean and so forth. Would you guys recommend this vessel over a 2014 L44 for such trips?

Also, quick question for the experts here: Is that fiber glass water damage on the right side of this picture of the Leopard 46?


Thanks in advance!

[Tin Tin]

Possibly something wet kept against the wall eg a sail or snorkel gear, or may be a stanchion leaking from above. I would prefer the 46 to the 44. The 46 seems to have higher bridge deck, has longer waterline and probably faster as a result. The things to look for in a Lep 46 are rear bulkheads, and you want one with with cockpit stairs to helm. I have never owned either, just relaying what my research told me when I was looking for a mid 40ft cat.

[JohnT]

The L46 was a very good sailing boat that was well designed and had a good, strong Starcraft rig. The L44 was a poorly designed boat that had a Z-Spar crap rig. The photo shows a stain from storing a damp sail in it. That is the forward storage space or crew cabin - seldom used as a cabin for sleeping in. The mattress shown is original that came with the boat out the factory. I delivered quite a few of those over the years. As Tin Tin states, only look at the models that have the helm access stairs from the cockpit. Also, these were the models designed by Gino Moreli and not Simonis. They, together with the old L40’s, were also the first with saildrives replacing the shaft drives of the old Simonis designs. They were well constructed boats that sailed well.

[MikeFergie]

As a Leopard owner I personally think the Leopard 46 was the best leopard built to date !
It’s the right size in terms of length and with to give good water sailing">blue water sailing. It’s the right weight without being a dog. Light cats are great for light weather sailing but in big seas some decent weight helps.

I would not buy a 44 as John T said the rigging has been an issue with many of them

[Kadie214]

We are also in the market for a late model Leopard 46. Can anyone tell me what issues to look out for on these boats? We are willing to do some work / upgrades, but are there any notoriously bad items that need to be fixed, replaced, etc? (fuel tanks, holding tanks, water heaters, windows, etc)


Thank you in advance for your help!

[contrail]

Having sailed head to head against both boats, the L46 more or less keeps up with us and the 44 is nowhere close. Done it enough times to be pretty sure the 46 is significantly faster , if that matters. Some of the early ones had cockpit drainage issues such that water drained forward and accumulated, rather than aft. Sometimes these have a wooden grate-type floor added, sitting on the real floor to deal with this, Some early ones also had a vent in the hard bimini at the forward end of the cockpit. This turned out to catch considerable spray. Make sure your pick has the beefy re-inforced davits.

[schiehser]

Lots of trash talk about the Leopard 44. I'm about to purchase a 2016 L44 and all the reviews I've read seem like it's a decent boat. If there are issues, can someone share some links explaining what they are?

[MikeFergie]

Join the leopard owners forum on Facebook and Leopardcatamaranowners@groups.io

Piles of leopard info on these groups