Of all the tweaks and changes in the ­design and layout of large cruising catamarans, ­surely the most innovative has been the addition of the flybridge steering station and “upstairs” lounging space. To be perfectly honest, the feature took a while to grow on me. At first, it was a matter of aesthetics: What in the name of Herreshoff was that mainsail ­gooseneck doing a story or two up in the sky? 

But as I sailed a few flybridge-­equipped cats, ­particularly the Lagoon 620—the predecessor to the brand’s latest rangy cat, the Sixty 5—it dawned on me that my issue was a matter of perspective. The beauty of the flybridge isn’t obvious when you’re ­looking at it. The brilliance becomes clear when you’re experiencing the wide-open waters and 360-degree views of the horizon while perched upon it. 

The 67-plus-foot Sixty 5 has a wide, well-reasoned ­platform high above the seas. Its commanding panoramas are just the beginning. Twin helms with comfy, upholstered bench seating, as well as the ­engine controls and chart plotters, flank a quartet of ­Harken ­winches, all of which are ­canopied by a solid ­overhead Bimini. The ­traditional mainsail is trimmed with the aid of a continuous-­line traveler, also led to the Harkens. Unfortunately, our test sail was ­conducted in middling breeze, but we still made a solid 5 knots under the code-zero headsail in just 7 knots of wind. 

Happily, there were ­other attractions to hold our ­attention, especially the “topside ­galley” with a fridge, a sink, an ice maker, a Kenyon grill, and enough seating to open your own waterborne cafe. As for steering, there’s a second indoor station in the saloon controlled by the B&G autopilot, negating the need to venture aloft for course adjustments.  

Back at sea level, owners have many choices and options. There can be four, five or six staterooms; the ­galley can be up in the saloon or down in the hull; and there are numerous styles of Alpi wood finishes and upholstery—all of which you’d expect on a ­vessel with a price tag north of $3 million. The owner’s ­staterooms, in particular, are sumptuous. 

Construction, as with the entire nine-model Lagoon line from 40 to 78 feet length overall, is straightforward: a balsa-­cored laminate in both the hull and deck, with polyester and vinylester incorporated into the layup. The teak decks are a classy touch that you don’t usually encounter on a catamaran. There’s a pair of gensets, one of which addresses the ­overall house needs and a second ­dedicated to the ­individual air-­conditioning units ­scattered hither and yon. A pair of 150 hp Yanmars is standard, though our test boat had been upgraded to twin 195 hp diesels ­coupled with Flexofold props.

The cat’s profile is striking, with a straight stem on the bow to maximize waterline length and the coach roof’s familiar turret-style brow—a signature Lagoon feature. There’s a cool forward cockpit for lounging and reading, offset by an aft cockpit with seating and a dining area. The integrated bowsprit is another sweet touch, allowing for a triple-headsail arrangement for easily shifting gears depending on wind strength and direction. 

Lagoon is presently building about 20 boats a year. All have gone to private owners, not charter companies, though many owners are offering their boats with full crews from five to 10 weeks a year, to offset expenses. It’s a business model that’s tried-and-true with the superyacht set. The ­Sixty 5 is a lot of boat to handle, and nearly all owners will employ a hired captain, and chef and mate, who have their own ­dedicated quarters aboard. 

But let’s return to that flybridge. I’ve always wanted to experience what it feels like to have the conn on a big ­freighter or cruise ship, with the long scans and endless ocean vistas. Since sailing the Lagoon Sixty 5, I think I know.  

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large.

The post Sailboat Review: Lagoon Sixty 5 appeared first on Cruising World.

In February, French boat builder Lagoon brought Hull No. 2 of its 55-foot luxury catamaran to the Miami International Boat Show. I can easily see this long-legged bluewater cruiser finding a niche among its siblings that range in length from 40 to 77 feet.

The 55, designed by VPLP, has an interior by Nauta and exterior styling by Patrick le Quément. Given its size and systems, the 55 will likely be a boat that many private ­owners will staff with a captain and mate, though it’s well-laid-out for a shorthanded crew, and certainly would be suitable for an owner-skipper who is up for the job of maintenance. 

And in charter, where ­Lagoons have long been popular? Well, let’s count the ways the 55 could be enjoyed.

First, there’s the flybridge, where the helm is located. Steps to either side ensure a good flow of traffic. The wheel is offset to starboard. Just forward of it, close at hand, three electric winches handle all the sail-control lines except for the traveler; that’s adjusted using an electric continuous-line winch whose push-button controls are mounted ­nearby. Abaft the helm, there’s a sink and fridge alongside a U-shaped seating area that surrounds a low cocktail ­table—a lovely place to sit.

Below, in the cockpit, are two more tables to starboard with tops that unfold to seat a crowd. There are also multiple cushioned lounges, all facing aft to take in the view astern. When raised, the swim platform/tender storage area provides a balcony over the water. Lowered, it’s a place to sit and hang feet in the water.

Directly forward of the cabin house, there’s another U-shaped seating area, and the center window in the saloon opens so refreshments can be passed out to anyone sitting there. The 55 has a self-tacking jib, with a sheet that’s led to a track on the coachroof just ahead of the mast, keeping lines out of the way on the foredeck. There is also a sprit with an electric furler for a code zero. During the show, the boat was rigged with a cloth sunshade over the forward ­seating area, held aloft by a pair of ­removable carbon-fiber poles. 

The boat in Miami carried a price tag of $2.2 million. That included options such as teak soles on the flybridge, in the cockpit and on the transoms; air conditioning; extra refrigeration; a washer and dryer ­amidships in the port hull; a pair of upgraded 115 hp Nanni engines with saildrives (80 hp diesels are standard); and a suite of B&G electronics.

Lagoon offers a number of interior layouts. This boat had four staterooms. The ­owner’s en suite stateroom was aft in the starboard hull, with a smaller guest stateroom forward. On the port side, two additional guest staterooms sat fore and aft, with a crew cabin (with its own head and shower) in the forepeak. The interior volume in the hulls ­allowed all the guest berths to be laid out athwartships. 

Five- and six-stateroom ­layouts are also available, and an owner can choose to have the galley up or down. All told, the 55 could have berths for 16 people.

Throughout the interior, ports and hatches abound, ­letting in lots of light and providing views of the world ­outside. In my notes, I jotted down “elegant” to describe the boat’s look and feel. 

Under power at a cruising rpm of 2,000, we saw readings of about 9 knots on the GPS. The steering seemed a bit sluggish both motoring and under sail, but the boat had arrived just prior to the show, and I’d suspected that it just needed an adjustment. 

The breeze barely broke 10 knots on our sea trial, and we weren’t able to fly the code-­zero sail due to missing gear, but with the self-tacker set, we moved along closehauled at about 6 knots, and gained ­another knot and a half by bearing off to a beam reach.

It was a comfortable ride. Sailing along, it didn’t take me long to find my sweet spot on the 55: the seat ­incorporated ­into the far forward ­lifeline stanchion, where I hung one arm over the wire and sat watching the bows slice through the waves. Believe me when I say that I could have stayed there all day.

Mark Pillsbury is a CW ­editor-at-large.

The post The Lagoon 55: Built for the Long Haul appeared first on Cruising World.

Are they really all-around cruising sailboats, or are they luxurious and large party platforms that are best-suited for crewed charter vacations in tropical settings? That was once a fair, probing question to ask of the builders knocking off long, tall, beamy vessels balanced on a pair of cabin-filled hulls. But no longer. Despite their respective girths and displacements, not to mention a wide variety of windspeeds and sea states, this quartet of full-size cats performed admirably across the board in this year’s BOTY sea trials. Yes, they now truck along like good, honest sailboats. All that room is icing on the cake. At the end of the day, however, it’s how that space is utilized that separates the king and the contenders. 

Destined almost exclusively for the charter trade, the judges believed the Voyage 590 would truly excel in that role, so much so that they ultimately recognized it with a special award as the year’s Best Charter Boat. But that didn’t mean they did not consider it an innovative, exciting vessel on its total merits. “It’s a ‘techie’ boat, and they’re doing a lot of cool things with lithium batteries and 24-volt systems,” judge Ed Sherman said. “In terms of systems integration, they’re using high-end inverters to help out with things like variable-speed air-conditioning systems so they won’t have to run generators for extended periods of times. It’s pretty cool stuff. And under power, it’s one of the quietest boats we tested. High marks all around!”

Lagoon Catamarans, as most multihull sailors know, was one of the era’s true pioneers in the evolving world of cruising cats. Their new Lagoon Sixty 5 is another vessel that, not unlike the Voyage 590, will find plenty of duty in the serious business of having fun: in other words, the charter business. And it would be hard to find a better vessel for doing precisely that. The focal point of the boat, on multiple levels, is the epic flybridge, a feature that Lagoon first explored on a big cat with the firm’s 620 but which they have fully realized on this massive 67-footer. It utilizes a pair of steering stations, which are handy indeed given the beam of the yacht. The overhead Bimini sports a glass window for trimming the mainsail, a welcome and innovative addition. Sofas, wet bar, grill, fridge: all combined, they ask an important question, one that strikes to the heart of the boat’s clear purpose. Why would you ever go below?

In many respects, Fountaine Pajot was unquestionably another pioneer in the realm of production cruising cats, and it’s been fascinating to watch the company evolve. Tim Murphy has had a ringside seat for much of that decades-long evolution. “It’s been interesting to watch their trajectory over the years,” he said. “They started out as a very performance-oriented manufacturer. So, a lot of their thinking is about keeping weight out of their boats and creating cats that are going to perform well. Now they’re more in a market that’s moved in the direction of accommodation, and we’ve watched them transition in that direction. But speed and elegance remain important, as shown here.” A key selling point in the Samana 59 is the versatility offered in the several optional interior layouts. A pair of Maestro versions incorporate a roomy, stellar owner’s suite. But for full-on chartering, who could resist the six (!) double cabins with, of course, a half-dozen accompanying heads.

When all was said and done, though, the judges couldn’t help but honor the efforts behind the Xquisite X5 Plus; it must be noted that, unlike its competitors in the class, chartering wasn’t part of the design brief. This is a dedicated cruising cat, through and through. And there’s much to like about this 53-foot South African-built product. For judge Tim Murphy, the important details weren’t necessarily the ones you could easily see, but rather the ones you couldn’t. “What I was most struck by on our tour of the boat was actually the service side of the whole equation,” he said. “There are 40,000 man-hours invested in this boat. And you can see it—those are solid hours of labor. One thing that was pointed out were two different marks on the heads of bolts showing they were torqued. And part of the Xquisite program is they spend two weeks with each owner, training them up with systems. All told, this is really one strong product.” 

Judge Ed Sherman agreed: “The business model here is exemplary. What they’re really doing is emulating the high-end automotive market. I think they looked at the automotive sector for high-end cars like BMW and Mercedes and said, ‘OK, this sounds good, it looks good, and we’re going to do it, too.’ And they are. So, I think that that aspect of his business plan where they’re training the owners and then doing things like loading the boat up with spare parts as part of the original purchase, I mean, hats off to them. It’s a great way to go. How can you argue against it?”

“I couldn’t find anything that was done halfway,” said Gerry Douglas. “It was done better than you’d expect it to be, just because they wanted the boat to be perfect.  And the quality of construction is excellent. It’s an infused hull but with a hand-laminated deck because there’s so many very tight corners and cavities. They didn’t think they could infuse that without adding a whole lot of weight. And I get that. So, they would hand laminate it, which makes sense when you have some of the very sharp corners that exist on that boat. It was all just perfectly done.”

Sometimes coming to a decision is hard. Sometimes it’s obvious. And when the votes were tallied, it was the Xquisite X5 Plus that was the obvious choice as Best Cruising Catamaran (Over 50’) for 2022.

The post 2022 Boat of the Year: Best Cruising Catamaran (Over 50’) appeared first on Cruising World.

At a press event during the Miami International Boat Show last winter, the Lagoon 50 was described by a company spokeswoman as being “the most open-minded catamaran on the market.” That’s a statement that could be taken in a number of ways.

First, there are the ­multiple social areas encompassed by the boat’s 48-foot-5-inch LOA and 26-foot-7-inch beam. There are dining tables indoors and out, lounge areas astern and forward. Overhead, the flybridge offers more room to gather or get away. The crew could sunbathe on cushions that store in a locker built into the Bimini, or take a seat by the wheel and help out with the sailing, though, to be ­honest, with autopilot, a self-tacking jib and electric winches at your fingertips, it’s possible to keep things simple. Then again, roll out the optional genoa and sheet it home, and things can get sporty, real quick.

We tried a little of both in some breeze after the show. With a reef in the main and the self-tending jib trimmed home, coming about required turning the wheel and adjusting the traveler using the nearby ­electric Harken line drive.

Later, with the big (­optional) headsail set, well, I was happy to have a couple of extra sets of hands to help sort out steering, blowing one sheet and trimming the other, and keeping track of the high-aspect square-top main. For the record, ­beating in about 15 knots of breeze, the speedo ranged from 5.6 to 6.2 knots; with the genoa unfurled and on a reach, the GPS read 9 knots and change.

Open-minded could also refer to the range of layouts available. The cat we sailed featured an owners suite in the starboard hull with an island-style double berth aft, a head with separate shower in the bow and a walk-in dressing room inboard and just forward of the companionway to the saloon. Portside, there were cabins fore and aft with en-suite separate head and shower. Instead of a dressing room, there was a cavernous storage space inboard. If desired, the port heads could be reconfigured to create three single-stall heads with showers, and the storage space could be transformed into another double cabin. And if an owner chose to forgo a master suite, a six-cabin, six-head layout is also available, though to me, 12 crew even on a 50-footer seems tight.

All that room for variation below translated into abundant living space above. Stepping aboard from the optional fold-down swim and tender platform, a long couch spanned the transom, with storage on the port end and a barbecue on the other that can be spun around so you can cook either from the cockpit or transom stairs. A teak table was forward to port, located nearby the L-shaped galley just inside the saloon. With both its leaves open, the table seats 12. Opposite was a cushioned couch alongside a fridge, ice maker and sink.

Entering the saloon, you step into the cook’s domain, with L-shaped Corian counters to either side of the sliding glass door. To port, there was sink, cooktop, oven and microwave; to starboard sat a fridge, freezer and storage. Ahead, an island offered yet more locker and counter space, and it served as a transition to a raised living area that was a step higher than the rest of the bridgedeck. A full-size nav station was to starboard. Forward of that, a U-shaped couch wrapped around the front of the saloon. In the center, there was a clever table arrangement: Upright, it was for dining; tipped aft and lowered on its hinged legs, it rested against the island (which also housed a retractable flat-screen TV) and became a place to set cocktails or popcorn on movie night.

There was yet more seating on the foredeck, where ­another U-shaped couch (forward-­facing this time) surrounded another small table. The builder designed the center saloon window so it lowered to let in the breeze or so crew inside and out could converse.

The 50 comes standard with a pair of 57 hp Yanmars. The boat we sailed was powered with optional 80 hp Yanmars. The option list included a number of other upgrades, including an 11 kW Onan genset, which brought the price tag to just about 1.07 million euros (roughly $1.32 million, depending on currency fluctuations).

Lagoon has bigger boats in its range, but they’re designed with a captain and crew in mind. The 50 is meant for the owner and mates who’ve outgrown their 45-footer but still want to go off voyaging on their own, and can do so thanks to a networked plotter and autopilot, a bow thruster, a self-tacking jib and power winches. When it comes down to what’s possible, it pays to keep an open mind.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

The post Lagoon 50 Catamaran Review appeared first on Cruising World.

Conditions in Miami’s Government Cut were nearly perfect for testing the new Lagoon 40’s waterproof hatches. With a stiff onshore wind blowing straight down the channel to meet a brisk outgoing current, the cat’s bows plowed repeatedly into seriously steep waves, sending green water up and over the cabin top and raised helm, soaking Lagoon’s managing director, Yann Masselot, who happened to be at the wheel. Beneath the Bimini, though, sitting at the teak cockpit dining table and enjoying the splendid view — ahead through wraparound windows and astern across the wide-open transom — the ride was thoroughly dry and comfortable, as it should be on a catamaran capable of long-range cruising.

The 40 replaces a 39-footer in the Lagoon range as well as the popular Lagoon 400, which is being phased out after a 10-year run. Like its big sister, the Lagoon 50, it bears the look of a new generation of catamarans from the French builder.

Both boats were designed by a longtime Lagoon collaborator, naval architectural firm Van Peteghem-Lauriot Prévost, with exterior styling by Patrick Le Quément and an interior by Nauta Design. They made their North American debut last winter at the Miami International Boat Show.

This latest breed of Lagoons still carries the brand’s vertical saloon windows, but its cabin roofs and Biminis have evolved and now seem to float atop the house. Larger ports are embedded in the hulls, bringing loads of light into the living space within, and the masts have been located farther aft (reflecting lessons VPLP has learned from its racing multihulls). The new sail plan translates into larger headsails and higher-aspect-­ratio square-topped mains for increased power.

Once in open water, we cut the engines and sailed first with a full main and the self-tacking jib set. The breeze wavered between 15 and 20 knots and moved us along closehauled at 7 knots through boisterous chop. On a broad reach and with the (optional) genoa unfurled, I saw 7.8 to 8 knots on the GPS, which jumped to 9 on occasion as we took off surfing. Good stuff.

I found the raised helm station on the 40 to be quite user friendly. You could reach it from both the cockpit and the side deck, and from the two-person seat, visibility was good on all four corners of the boat. An overhead canvas Bimini provided protection from the elements, but was fitted with roll-up flaps and windows so you could see the sails overhead. Winches were within reach, and with all lines led to the helm, trimming and tacking shorthanded was straightforward.

Lagoon these days infuses its balsa-cored hulls (solid fiberglass below the waterline), bridgedecks and decks with polyester resin and a layer of anti-osmotic resin to prevent blistering.

Interior furniture on the 40 is made from a walnut-colored Alpi; the dark woodwork and leather accents on things like stainless handrails contrast smartly with light-colored fabrics that cover cabin sides and ceilings.

The boat we sailed had a single owners cabin in the port hull. Its queen-size berth was aft and a head and separate shower forward, with storage spaces and a desk in between. There were cabins fore and aft in the starboard hull, each with queen-size bunks and hanging lockers. They shared a large head and separate shower amidships. The 40 also comes in a four-cabin layout, with either two or four heads.

Upstairs in the saloon, a large dining table is forward to starboard and has an L-shaped couch around it. The nav station is to port; its bench can be moved to add more seats at the table for guests. The galley, also L-shaped, is to port and aft, a convenient location when the sliding saloon door is open because the cockpit table is adjacent to it. Across the cockpit, there’s a lounging area under the helm station; another cushioned, forward-facing bench spans the bridgedeck from transom to transom.

The new design reflects a change in CE regulations that require engine rooms to have hatches that open from the safety of the cockpit. Previously, on most cats, hatches were lifted while standing on the transom or transom steps. In a following sea of any size, the benefit is obvious.

The 40 comes standard with two 29 hp Yanmar ­diesels. Delivered at the factory in France, the base price is just under $330,000. The boat we sailed had optional 45 hp Yanmars and saildrives. The power upgrade, plus a host of other options, brought the sticker price up to just over $540,000.

Forty feet is an attractive size for cruising families and charterers who want to enjoy no-heel sailing and the living space a multihull provides. The length makes the boat easy enough for a shorthanded crew to handle and maintain, but large enough for bluewater passages. The Lagoon 400 had a good 10-year run of it. As its replacement, the 40 should enjoy more of the same, but with a fresh new look.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

The post Lagoon 40 Catamaran Review appeared first on Cruising World.

For the designers and builders of cruising catamarans, the first question is often the most challenging: Where will we put the wheel? Some companies prefer mounting a single helm on a cockpit bulkhead, others choose twin steering stations outboard and well aft. Designer Chris White’s signature move is a forward wheel located right in the main cabin; in recent years, other manufacturers have opted for a raised driver’s platform utilizing a dedicated flybridge. It’s kind of confusing. The rule of thumb? There are no rules.

About six years ago, the prolific French builder of cruising cats Lagoon introduced its 450, incorporating one of those flybridges, and it was a resounding success. Thus far, it’s built more than 600 of them. But not everyone loved it. So when it began making plans for model year 2017, rather than scrap the design and start all over, it decided to tweak its 45-footer with a fresh helm station that literally split the difference between the cockpit and flybridge. The result is the 450 S, the initial standing for SporTop. (Lagoon is still building the original model, now known as the 450 F, for flybridge.)

Lagoon isn’t the first company to adopt the midlevel wheel — the one on the 450 S is stationed to starboard — but it’s done an excellent job refining the concept. Four steps up from the cockpit, the broad helmsman’s seat is an arm’s length away from everything needed to operate the vessel. The B&G instrumentation (wind and speed info, chart plotter, auto pilot) are close at hand, as are the controls for the Quick windlass and the twin Yanmar diesels.

All the running rigging, including the overlapping genoa’s sheets and traveler, are also right there, organized in conjunction with a trio of Harken electric winches and a suite of Spinlock clutches. Capping it all is the aforementioned SporTop, a hard bimini with tinted plexiglass that provides good sight lines for the sails.

Besides the aesthetics, which are largely a matter of personal taste — to my eye, the yacht’s profile is a bit cleaner without the flybridge — the position of the wheel allowed designer VPLP to lower both the mast and the boom (the sail area

of the 450 S and 450 F remains the same), which makes the mainsail easier to access and also reportedly dampens the cat’s pitching moment in a seaway. It also gave designers space for a sunbathing deck on the cabin top.

Fans of the 450 F will recognize a lot of the boat’s other features. The double-spreader fractional rig employs outboard shrouds for easy passage along the side decks. A small sprit is mounted on the forward crossbeam for off-wind sails, which are sheeted to a pair of winches in the aft cockpit. That cockpit has a U-shaped settee to starboard and a daybed to port. For lounging, there’s also a long, cozy settee forward of the coach roof, just aft of the trampolines. There are 10 opening hatches on deck and a pair of opening portlights forward on the turret windows.

The U-shaped galley to port is just inside the saloon door and adjacent window that accesses the cockpit. The nav station is just forward of the galley, with a generous L-shaped settee and dining table to starboard. We sailed the three-cabin version with the owners stateroom to starboard and a pair of double cabins to port; one could also opt for four cabins, with one in each end of the boat.

We sailed the 450 S on a light-air day on Chesapeake Bay, with the true wind hovering at around 6 knots, and the boat acquitted herself very well, making over 4 knots hard on the breeze. Tacking through 90 degrees was easy, even in the soft winds, which is not always the case with cruising cats. During motoring tests of the dual 45-horsepower Yanmars in conjunction with our Boat of the Year trials, the 450 S was one of the fleet’s quietest performers.

You can’t really call the 450 S a successor to Lagoon’s earlier version of the boat. But as a worthy sibling, she more than lives up to the title.

Herb McCormick is CW’s executive editor.

The post Lagoon 450S appeared first on Cruising World.

On February 25th, the 100th Lagoon 620 to be built left the Lagoon shipyard with great ceremony!

The Lagoon team immortalised the moment with a “family” photo celebrating the unprecedented success of the 620.

Lagoon launched the 620 in 2009 as the flagship of their range. In 2012, the firm Nauta Design redesigned the interior of the cat,to be more spacious and bright, but maintained the original hull plan..

In a little over 5 years, the 620’s success has skyrocketed. The boat can be spotted around the world.

In a few weeks, 620 number 100 will go to sea on a cargo vessel, heading for Port Kelang in Malaysia, where its new owner will sail between Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The post Lagoon Celebrates 100th 620 Catamaran appeared first on Cruising World.

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Lagoon 39 at the South Hampton Boat Show

OK, maybe it’s not quite the same as making Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, but the hull of a Lagoon 39 is still pretty good. Dave Gillespie, a Cruising World advertising representative, sent along this photo from the South Hampton Boat Show. The quote is from Herb McCormicks’ review of the Lagoon 39 that ran in our annual Catamaran issue in June.

The Lagoon 39 is just one of the 40 new sailboats profiled in our October New Sailboat Showcase, and is included in the extensive photo galleries of new boats worldwide that you’ll find at cruisingworld.com .

The post You Can Quote Me on That! appeared first on Cruising World.

As one of two Lagoons introduced earlier this year in the United States at the Strictly Sail Miami boat show, the new 52 shares many characteristics with its smaller, 39-foot sibling. (See “Little Big Boat.”) The exterior lines and features of each cat—including the sweet, elegant, “diamond-shaped” vertical bows—were sculpted and specified by the well-respected French naval architecture consortium Van Peteghem Lauriot Prévost, while the accommodations plan and interior styling were the domain of the Italian firm Nauta Design.

VPLP is known for its offshore racing cats, and the centralized mast placement in both models is an idea borrowed from the racecourse; this not only opens up visibility to the helmsman but also expands the foretriangle and provides a wider range of optional downwind sails. (The spars on each boat are stepped on an infused beam for structural integrity and load dispersion, though the 39’s is also tied to a full grid running beam to beam, while the 52’s is a single longitudinal member.)

Finally, both yachts were similarly constructed using anti-osmotic and polyester resins, with an infused balsa-core sandwich in the decks and the topsides of the hulls; below the waterline, the layup is infused solid glass.

Given the size discrepancies, however, the similarities, for the most part, end there.

Nowhere was this more obvious than when one is perched behind the articulating wheel (it can either be centered or cocked slightly to port or starboard) of the 52 on the expansive, raised flybridge. The wide, commanding view was spectacular, as was the powerful performance. With a full crew of talented sailors aboard for our test run in the open ocean off Miami (at one point, there were seven of us on the bridge, and it was most definitely not crowded), I did my best, from my second-story vantage point, to keep them hopping. Working through the headsail progressions, under genoa and full main, in about 17 knots of true wind, our closehauled speeds ranged from 8.5 to 10 knots. But when we swapped the working sail for the gargantuan code zero reacher and spun the wheel down a few degrees, the 52 really took off, making a solid 12 knots with ease.

Once I handed over the driving duties and returned to deck level, I realized that the operative word to describe the 52 is simple: big.

Everything about the boat seems spacious, but the flow from the wide aft cockpit to the roomy main saloon, and from there down into the accommodations and staterooms, is natural and intuitive. In other words, it may be a very large vessel, but it still feels accessible and inviting. There are, of course, multiple layout plans from which to choose, but the boat we sailed had a most unusual and interesting option: a vast owners suite aft, to port, with a sole entryway from the cockpit. It takes the notion of truly private quarters to a whole new level. And on a cat with many levels, it was just another pleasant surprise.

Click here to see more catamarans from Lagoon.

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