Thoughts on a Lagoon 40

Thoughts on the Lagoon 40 after a month in the Bahamas

I was lucky enough to be invited on a 2024 Lagoon 40 to tour the Bahamas, specific goal being the Exuma Islands. The owner is a long-time boater but not a long-time sailor.  I was in invited as a friend and an advisor since I had been to the Bahamas many times previously.  The crew consisted of the Owner and his wife, and myself and my wife.  The owner’s nephew joined us in Miami to cross over to Bimini.  We stayed in Bimini for two nights and he left via the high-speed ferry to Ft. Lauderdale the last day.

My wife left the boat in Staniel Cay and was replaced by a friend of the owners who is an avid diver and fisherman.

Route

The route chosen was from Satellite Beach Fl down to Miami via the Intercoastal Waterway-(stopping in Jensen Beach and Ft Lauderdale) Cross to Bimini (43 miles)-Chubb Cay, Berry Islands(83 miles)-Highbourn Cay, Exumas (77 miles)-then wherever we made it to before having to turn back since we only had two weeks.

This incoming route worked well and we made it as far as Staniel Cay before we had to turn around and retrace our steps.  We were able to motor-sail a few times heading South since the wind was generally on our nose, or too close to allow for sailing.

The only deviation, within the Bahamas, was that we broke up the trip back by going from Highbourn to Palm Cay Marina (30 miles) on the SE side of New Providence Island (the island where Nassau is located).  We did not want to go all the way into Nassau since it is so busy and expensive.  Then continued from there around the East side of New Providence and headed back to Chubb Cay (47 miles).  We were able to sail the majority of these legs with a generally east wind (shifted from the SE) to help us downwind sail at a decent speed. 

The leg back to Bimini (83 miles) was good until while coming around the North side of Bimini we encountered several 35 knot squalls which delayed our entry since we took down all the sails and maintained a slow motor speed headed South on the West side to allow the storms to pass.

We spent two nights in Bimini on the way home, one in the marina to get fuel and the last one back on the West side of the island to facilitate our early departure.  Unfortunately, the wind all but died on the departure day (and future forecasted days) so we motored the long trip from Bimini to Ft. Pierce FL.  We utilized the Gulf Stream current push wisely and made good time on the 120 mile leg, seeing speeds as high as 12 knots.  We arrived before sundown (we left at 4 in the morning from Bimini, making it about a 13 hour trip) and we were able to get fuel upon arrival at Ft. Pierce City Marina (highly recommended location, nice staff, good accommodations).  The owner’s wife and friend departed the boat in Ft. Pierce and the owner and I continued the rest of the trip.  The next day was spent motoring up the Intercoastal back to the boats home in Satellite Beach, FL.

Weather

In general, the weather was very pleasant.  We encountered some bad weather in Ft. Lauderdale on the way down the intercoastal and spent two nights at Bahia Mar Marina waiting for it to clear.  The winds were mostly SE at 10 to 15 for the entire trip.  Due to our time limitations, and our desired destinations we were forced to motor or motor-sail the majority of the trip down to Staniel Cay.  Since the wind did shift to the East during our return trip it made for nice downwind sailing over to Bimini.

Fishing

We were able to get some fishing done as well during the longer oceanside legs.  We were lucky enough to catch a Mahi-Mahi, a Skipjack Tuna, and a Sailfish.  And of course we caught our share of Barracudas.  And yes, we released the Sailfish.

The rear scoops of the transoms on this type of catamaran makes for a good location to be able to land fish.  And while sailing at 7 knots it’s a great speed for trolling,

Performance.

The Lagoon 40 sails well, but suffers like most cruising catamarans when headed upwind.  The sailing angles and leeway are typical.  The self-tacking jib is helpful to reduce the jib angle to help the upwind performance.

All lines lead back to the helm which is very handy for those that are solo handing.  While the boat sails nicely, I think some of the running rigging for the mainsail is undersized.  We had an instance where a shackle holding a mainsheet block broke.  But we attributed it to the shackle pin being loose and it bent the shackle until it parted.  We replaced the shackle and suffered no more sail related maladies.

The use of the Autopilot was handy for the owner, since he basically handles the boat alone, while raising and lowering the mainsail, The autopilot did a good job keeping the boat headed into the wind to allow him to handle the halyard and sheet, etc.

Having a rig that is short enough (62 feet tall) for the ICW bridges is convenient for moving on the inside down the ICW.  This allowed us to get down to Miami in a few days without the worry of making it in/out of inlets at specific times due to tides/currents/daylight.

Underway.

Comfort

This is an owners’ version so one large cabin on the port side and two smaller cabins on the starboard side with a shared head.  Both cabins on starboard provided adequate space to move around.  My wife and I choose the aft cabin since it did provide a closets width more room behind the door.

The shared bathroom door is a bit close for comfort when trying to get in and close it while the shower door is closed.  I think a good solution would be to provide a way to secure the shower door “open” so that when you enter the bathroom you do not fight for that space.  The bathroom itself is a good enough size to do what’s necessary, the sliding cabinet door with the mirror is a nice touch.

The owners’ cabin is well laid out and comfortable for two people to maneuver around each other.  It has a nice desk space to allow for a laptop, etc.

Spaces

As with most Lagoon’s, the designers have created some nice spaces for relaxation.  The front cushion area by the trampolines is nice when the sun is setting and the aft part of the boat is very bright.  The front area provides good shade and a good breeze while at anchor.  There are two cushions available to lounge up front.  And as always, the trampolines are ideal for a bean bag to sit in and watch the world go by.

There is also space for the sunbathers on the coach roof with cushions.  While maybe not the best location while underway it does provide a new space while at anchor.

The aft cockpit is a nice and large area.  The table is not too big that it takes up the entire area.  The seating/cushions are nice and thick and the area is big enough that a person can lay down there if necessary or desired. 

This ties in nicely with the sport helm area and gives the helmsperson good access to the rest of the people and the boat.  One comment on the helm would be to elevate the seat about one foot so (use a thick cushion if necessary) that when sitting at the helm, the helmsman can see over the top of the coach roof to the port side to have visibility for traffic, etc.

Propulsion

The two 30 hp Yanmar engines performed nicely.  They have plenty of power to allow for maneuvering and motoring.  They are efficient on the fuel running mostly about 1 gallon per hour.  With the 50 gallons of fuel on each side, that equates to 50 hours of motoring or a range of about 350 miles at 7 knots.

I was a bit surprised with the amount of drop there is in the transoms when motoring above 2000 rpm.  The transom “squats” quite a bit but did not affect our speeds. 

The shallow draft is a good feature for moving around in some areas of the Bahamas.

Water maker

Truely an essential item on any cruising yacht of this size is a Water maker.  This yacht was equipped with a Rainman modular unit that produced roughly 30 gallons per hour.  It is a nice feeling knowing that you do not have to plan marinas every other day to get the water required.  Also, the water from the water maker is good and clean. 

Generator

For a yacht of this size and layout, a generator is essential.  The air conditioning was nice to have when at anchor at night.  Additionally, the power required to run the Water maker was great to have.  We ran the water maker almost every day, being quite liberal with our water use knowing we had it.

While there is a push in the sailing industry to have enough solar panels and/or engine alternators, and/or wind generators to supply a large bank of Lithium batteries so the air conditioning or water maker can run without the noise of the generator, this yacht was not equipped that way.  The efficiency of the generator and its cost may outweigh the cost of solar/lithium batteries/inverters/etc. required for a boat that is not full-time cruising.

Background

My background is varied and includes being a life long sailor and a Captain on a Lagoon 56 in the USVI/BVI for 4 years.  I have also been a Day Captain on Lagoons, and a Fleet Manager for a boutique charter company in Puerto Rico, Sail Caribe.