Leopard 44

discusses

The presenter says this boat has two engines: one Yanmar SD60 was replaced, the other is the factory original and fully up to date on servicing.

discusses

The presenter reports almost 2,000 watts of solar on Dragonfly lithium batteries through a Victron system. The owner replaced the air conditioning with Frigomar units so one can run overnight off the lithium bank.

warns⚙ cockpit storage

The presenter names one downside of the Leopard 44 as not much storage in the cockpit. He likes the box that was added over the stern, which overhangs it, as a good solution.

recommends

The presenter calls the Leopard 44 a game-changing design for Robertson and Caine. He prefers this earlier hull's single large table in the forward cockpit to the two small tables of later hulls, and says the forward cockpit enclosure keeps the boat much cooler.

discusses

The Leopard South Africa presenter says the Leopard 44 was the first cat from the brand to showcase the forward cockpit, entered directly from the saloon or the forward deck, and that its drainage system lets water drain directly into the sea within 45 seconds.

discusses

The presenter says the hulls are "deep and narrow", minimizing wetted area for more speed without losing interior volume, and describes the boat as designed for bluewater cruising and built by Robertson and Caine. The helm layout leads all halyards and sheets to the helm for shorthanded sailing. These are the builder's representative's claims.

repairs⚙ windlass

The owners say their windlass bolts sheared in the Abacos about a year earlier. On taking it apart they found the charter company had upgraded from a 1000 watt to a 1500 watt windlass, redrilled the hole improperly, chosen the non-manual-retrieval model, and shored it up with Starboard, which cold flows under pressure. They replaced it with a new windlass from the same family, kept the old one for spares, and had the locker fiberglassed with new holes and G10 added.

repairs⚙ standing rigging⚙ running rigging

The owners had a rigger in the Rio Dulce inspect the rigging and sew their jib, where the stitching had come out. They say they learned why their reef lines were shredding and how to re-rig them with less pressure on the lines.

discusses

After a year and a half living aboard, the owners say the salon table was too big and took up the whole seating space, so they cut it up to extend the counter and had a smaller fiberglass table made. They say the table was used mostly to pile stuff on, and that the end seats of the L-shaped seating were crushed and angled down because people only sat on the ends.

discusses

Crew vlog of a Mediterranean crossing. The presenter shows the autopilot holding the boat at about 7.7 knots over ground with 19 knots of apparent wind, just above a beam reach, and notes 7.8 knots earlier with the genoa out after the boat had been motoring in a lull.

discusses⚙ bow deck door

The presenters, shopping for a used catamaran, tour a charter Leopard 44. They like the front porch: the whole grate is a drain if a wave comes over the bow, and the door is "a big Hefty" one with a large lip.

warns⚙ helm station

On the side steering station, one of the presenters says it is set up for one person but there is "not much room for anybody else to help control the boat", which is tight for a couple who like to sail together. The other presenter says visibility is the same sitting or standing and the sails are easy to see.

warns⚙ heads

The presenters find the heads pretty Spartan: no shower door, a curtain, and the shower borrows the sink faucet. They also say there is not nearly as much bathroom storage.

discusses⚙ build quality

On build quality the presenters say the Leopard 44 felt like a really solid boat, as good as the 48, with hardware, stanchions and cabinetry holding up well after a long charter history. They give it a five and a four, the same as the 48.