MODERN MULTIHULLS

LEOPARD 46: A POWER CAT

THE NEW 46 POWER CAT FROM LEOPARD

Catamarans is the little sister to the 53 PC that came out last year, which proved popular right out the gate. Both boats are stylish in a very modern way with lots of angles, plumb bows, a spacious flying bridge and a built-in hard top. Leopard, which are built by Robertson & Caine in Cape Town, South Africa, exclusively for The Moorings, Sunsail and the Leopard private label is one of the world’s top builders of sail and now power cats. Over the years, they have built thousands of cruising cats that are now in service in charter fleets and by cruising families all over the world. There is no question that the boating world, power cruisers and some sailors, too, are embracing power cats as the next best thing in cruising. There’s a simple reason for that. Power cats deliver all of the comforts of home, of, say, a modern

by George Day WITH A PUNCHBuilt in South Africa for the world cruising market, this new 46 footer has all the space, luxury and performance a cruising family could need luxury condo in an exclusive waterfront neighborhood, with the remarkable exception that you can move your condo or cruiser from one exotic and exclusive location to the next whenever the spirit moves you. More than that, a power cat like the 46, gets you where you want to go quickly, comfortably and well protected from wind, weather, and heat or cold depending on your locale. With two 250-hp. Yanmar diesels, the 46 will cruise at 15 knots and will have a top speed of close to 20. With all of this power being generated and with the ample house battery bank, inverters and a genset, you have the

electricity aboard to drive full marine electronics, air conditioning, a watermaker, heaters, a washer-dryer, a full home entertainment center and all the computers we all carry with us everywhere. If you want to be self-sufficient for long periods, particularly with the addition of solar panels on the flybridge hard top, you can be.

The new 46 has been conceived as a boat for a family that enjoys being outside and sun bathing, swimming, water sports and al fresco meals. Starting on the flybridge, you’ll find the helm with a two-person helm seat and space for two large multifunction navigational displays. Visibility for eye-ball navigation and mooring in tight quarters is excellent from the helm. And, you could have isinglass enclosures installed for using the flybridge in the rain.

Aft of the helm, there is an L-shaped dinette with a handsome teak table that can be raised for dining or lowered for cocktails. Across is the upper galley with a fridge, sink and space for an electric grill. Aft are two wide sun beds. This is where you and your crew will spend a lot of time in fair weather, perfect for morning coffee and evening sundowners and everything in between. Access to the bridge is via a normal staircase instead of a steep ladder.

On the deck level, the cockpit has a large deck aft as well as the two transoms. These make getting aboard from a dinghy easy and will be fun swimming platforms for kids of all ages. Just forward, is a large U-shaped dinette that will sit four on the benches and two more with folding chairs. The cockpit is well protected from the elements and will be the spot for open-air, sit-down dinners.

In the saloon, the huge galley is aft and convenient to the cockpit. There are two

counters, double sinks, double fridgefreezer unit and a four-burner stove. Preparing meals will be a gourmet’s delight. Just forward is the inside steering station to starboard and an L-shaped lounge with a cocktail table to port. This is where dinner will be served on rainy nights.

There is access to the foredeck through a glass door at the front of the saloon. Three steps take you up to the lounging area on the foredeck and to the anchor windlass and large storage lockers. On sunny days, the crew will spend a lot of time here and access to the saloon will be appreciated as drinks and snacks are fetched.

The 46 comes in either a three-cabin owner’s version or a four-cabin arrangement that will work well in charter fleets or for families with multiple children. The hulls are wide enough so all the berths are island style which allows one to get in and out of bed without disturbing your partner. And, this feature eases the task of making up beds and changing sheets.

The fit and finish of the new Leopard 46 is a fine blend of elegance with practicality. The laminate surfaces in the galley, heads and bulkheads are attractive and easy to keep clean,

while the wood trim and fabric headliners add a luxurious touch. Special attention has been paid to interior lighting fixtures to avoid hots spots and glare. LED bulbs are used throughout for longevity and low energy use, while cove lights and under cabinet lights create ambi-

ence and an elegant feel. Small details like the inlay in the wood tables and faux teak decking give the 46 a nod to classic yacht styling.

Over the decades, Robertson & Caine and Leopard have built a reputation for building solid, well-designed and well-built cruising boats that will be easy and fun to use and simple to maintain. The new 46 is no exception and will serve her owners well while, at 15 knots, opening up cruising ranges and areas farther afield than you might expect. This is a cruising cat that really packs a punch.

Check out the website here.

NEEL 43

The Essence of NEEL

by George Day

THE NEW NEEL 43, DESIGNED BY FRENCH

naval architect Marc Lombard, is the smallest trimaran in the NEEL fleet. Yet, it embodies everything of what it means to be NEEL. It’s as though Eric and Barbara Bruneel and Lombard worked together to reduce, as in a French sauce, the overall qualities of the larger models to the very essence of NEEL, with nothing superfluous added.

The design has an updated look with more roundness to the shapes of the amas, swept back and very sharp bows, a slightly reversed sheer line and a low profile cabin top. The net effect is of efficiency, modernity and above all speed. On the last point, it is worth noting that NEEL designs won two of the three multihull classes in last year’s ACR rallies from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean and finished second in the third. This is no anomaly since the very first NEEL 45 won her class in the ARC in her first offshore outing.

Trimarans are known for their sailing abilities and tend to be faster and sail closer to the wind than their catamaran counterparts, even those with daggerboards. The reasons for this are many but the narrowness of the hulls and the fact that you

most often are sailing with the windward hull out of the water means you have low drag from the hulls. Low drag means more speed. Second, the 43 and her sisters carry large square-top mainsails and overlapping genoas that are powerful. Sail power, combined with low drag and lightweight hulls adds up to high average speeds in all weather conditions. As a rule of thumb, a performance tri will be the fastest cruising boat in the fleet.

As has been written many times, including by me, the design concept that Eric and Barbara Bruneel came up with for the first 45 footer, was completely innovative yet once you saw it you had a forehead slapping moment; why had no one done this before in a production cruising tri?

The “done” part is that they took the three hulls of the standard tri and instead of cramming the living spaces into the center hull below the deck, they laid the deck across all three hulls and placed the saloon on top of it, leaving the interiors of the hulls below decks for machinery, tanks and general basement space. The new 43 is a perfect example of the benefits of this innovative design feature and, in fact, takes it to a new level. The 43 is 25 feet wide and the saloon stretches across about 20 feet of that width. The side decks are wide enough for moving comfortably fore and aft, so most of the deck level area is cockpit and interior living space.

The cockpit is about 18 feet wide and has a large L-shaped dinette to port and the raised steering station to starboard. All sheets and control lines lead aft to the

helm so one person can handle the boat quite easily, whether trimming, reefing or dowsing sails. Aft, the stern of the main hull has a swim platform and the sterns of the amas have steps, too, for close access to the water or a dinghy.

The saloon is a massive space but is actually broken up into a common living are with a dinette, galley and nav station and two private cabins. The cockpit and the saloon are joined via a large sliding door to form a large common indooroutdoor living space. The galley runs along the starboard side and has double sinks, a fridge and a stove top with an oven. There is ample space here for preparing meals and washing up afterwards.

Outboard of the galley to starboard is the master stateroom with a queensize berth and an en-suite head with a separate shower stall. The cabin has large windows so the views while lying in bed are magnificent. Shades provide plenty of privacy. To port, outboard of the L-shaped dinette, is a spacious guest cabin, with a double berth and plenty of storage. This, too, has large windows for views of the harbors around you. The guest cabin does not have its own head but shares the day-head that is down a few steps in the bow of the main hull. In addition to the guest cabin, there are also bunks in the bows of all three hulls accessed via deck hatches; these will appeal to the kids or the crew who will enjoy having their own spaces.

The deck level living spaces are open and filled with natural light and provide the feel of a modern Paris apartment, only it also has a water view. This is only really possible by combining the beam of the trimaran design with the deck-level saloon and cabins.