Our sailboat, “Ipanema”, is a 2007 Lagoon 440 Catamaran.
Lagoons are serial made Catamarans most popular in the world. They are widely tested and used by charter companies all around the world. They are safe, comfortable, reliable and perfect for our purpose.
Why did we get a Catamaran?
There are many discussion between Monohull vs. Catamaran, but we have chosen a Catamaran instead of a Monohull for a series of reasons which are particularly important to us:
- Low draft: It has lower draft so it can get quite close to shallower waters. Therefore it navigates easier through longer stretch of corals areas such as the Tuamotus, San Blas
, Bahamas, etc; - Comfort: It rocks a lot less then a monohull, mainly for our downwind route. So it is a lot more comfortable to living in and doing basic things like reading, typing, cooking, etc;
- Safety: It does not have a lead keel (so it has better buoyancy). It also has six separate chambers and therefore is almost unsinkable;
- Living space: It has a much broader living space than a monohull. A 45 feet Catamaran probably has a similar leaving space of a 60 feet monohull;
- Speed: Since is does not have a huge keel is also does not drag as much water as a monohull. So it tends to perform faster then a monohull of the same size, mainly on downwind routes.
Why did we get a Lagoon?
Amongst the Catamaran we have chosen Lagoon for a series of reasons that are particularly interesting for us:
- Value for money: Lagoon is the most sold Catamaran brand in the world. They are also part of the Beneteau group who are also the main global producer of Monohulls. This means that they can benefit from economies of scale when negotiating with suppliers and producing their vessels. We believe they share some of these benefits to consumers and so we are getting the best value for our money;
- Broad network: Since they are the most sold brand, we believe it is easier to find spare parts, people around the world who knows how to fix them and discussion forums about the boat;
- Living space: Even within the Catamarans, Lagoon has really cracked how to maximise internal space. We have been to a series of Catamarans of similar sizes from different brands and others certainly do not seem to have the same internal space as Lagoons and since we carry a lot of gear and equipment this is very important to us.
Why did we get a 440?
Amongst the Lagoons, we chose the 440 mainly because it has a kick ass super cool fly bridge, it can comfortably receive six guests and fits all then equipment and toys that we need.
The boat layout and its cabins
Ipanema has four en-suite cabins, one main saloon with dining table and kitchen, a cockpit in the stern where we eat most of our meals, a room and resting net in the bow, a fly bridge on top to navigate the vessel and two cabins in the front used mainly to store a good portion of our toys.
The boat under sail
