{"id":41960,"date":"2017-08-02T19:30:30","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T23:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=41960"},"modified":"2023-05-06T17:20:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T21:20:58","slug":"leopard-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/leopard-45\/","title":{"rendered":"Leopard 45"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Leopard <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n In private-owner mode, the square-top mainsail, overlapping jib and screecher provide plenty of power.<\/span>\n Billy Black<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Off on a charter vacation, friends want to party together, couples may seek out nooks of their own and families will cherish a place for the kids to romp while the folks enjoy their chill time. Some like to sunbathe, others prefer shade. The skipper could be an old salt or a recent grad of a learn-to-sail program who needs a hand pulling the strings. Some come for the sailing, others for the revelry. And no one, I repeat, no one wants to get stuck in the smallest cabin, with a shared head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s a designer to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In the case of the new Leopard 45 catamaran, which made its North American debut last fall at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, naval architect Alex Simonis carefully considered the design brief put together by the single largest buyer of sailboats on the planet \u2014 the parent company of Sunsail, The Moorings and Leopard Catamarans brands \u2014 and then he stretched the design envelope to create what CW\u2019s Boat of the Year judges named Best Charter Boat for 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s Robertson and Caine is the sole supplier of catamarans for Travelopia Marine, formerly TUI Marine. Charter versions of their boats (four heads, four cabins) are sold into The Moorings and Sunsail fleets worldwide. The remaining 45 percent of the company\u2019s annual output goes to Leopard owners, who overwhelmingly opt for a three-cabin, three-head layout, with the owners suite occupying an entire hull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The first things I noticed when I stepped aboard the 45 were the views. From the\u00a0stern, you look through\u00a0the entire boat, thanks to a wall of clear polycarbonate at the forward end of the saloon that includes a watertight doorway leading to a second cockpit on the foredeck. Overhead, you see plenty of sky through a large port in the coachroof; to either side, well, you guessed it, you\u2019re surrounded by windows. In the cabins below, long ports\u00a0in the hull and opening hatches overhead let the light \u2014 and sights \u2014 pour in too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve really opened up the structure,\u201d noted BOTY judge Tim Murphy when helping to choose a contest winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"leopard <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Visibility from the saloon is best-in-class thanks to a door that opens onto the foredeck and large windows to either side. The galley-forward layout allows the dining table to be aft, near the cockpit.<\/span>\n Billy Black<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

To do so, Simonis replaced fore and aft structural bulkheads on the bridgedeck with a latticework of fiberglass and stainless steel. This allowed him not only to replace solid panels with windows but also move the mast aft, creating a better-balanced sail plan. The payoff is improved performance and easier sailhandling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Speaking of sailing, the Leopard scooted right along in 10 knots of breeze. We saw 6.1 knots closehauled and 7.7\u00a0knots when we bore off to a reach. The helmsman steers from a raised platform to starboard in the cockpit. There\u2019s a bench there where a couple can sit comfortably,\u00a0and thanks to a series of blocks and clutches, all sail control lines are led to a pair of electric winches on the cabin top, just forward of the wheel. Working sails consist of a square-top main and a slightly overlapping genoa. The Leopard version of the 45 that we sailed also carried a screecher set on a continuous-line furler tacked down on a sprit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

All of Robertson and Caine\u2019s boats \u2014 current production also includes the Leopard 40, 48 and 58, along with related charter brands \u2014 have balsa-\u00adcored hulls and decks, with solid fiberglass anywhere hardware is mounted. The builder has begun to infuse smaller parts, so look for the use of that technology to expand. Hulls have fine entry points and are relatively narrow below the waterline for performance, then flare to provide room to roam in the cabins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

A fitted-out Leopard 45 sells for about $580,000, depending on options and toys. Ready to go, with charter kit, in The Moorings\u2019 yacht-ownership program, the price is similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Summing up his dockside visit and our sea trials, Murphy noted, \u201cThe experience really is a beautiful thing, to be able to be in that aft space on a boat and see so much of the world. I think they\u2019ve done a really nice job in 45 feet of providing different spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

I agree wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u2013 \u2013\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Mark Pillsbury is Cruising World’s Editor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sight lines from multiple living and social spaces aboard the Leopard 45 let you focus on the watery world around you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Cruising World Staff","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20170802","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"167","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"The sight lines from multiple living and social spaces aboard the Leopard 45 let you focus on the watery world around you.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Leopard 45 Catamaran Sailboat Review %%sep%% %%sitename%%","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"CNYCAH3FFZKQWTHFI5NEA4J6J4","arc_website_url":"leopard-45\/","custom_permalink":"leopard-45\/","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[323,1050,211,298,352,210,255,195],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}