Almost exactly 2 years to date, I was back on 'Traviata', a bareboat catamaran with Dream Yacht Charter in Australia. How did she handle the last 2 years?
Our annual trip to the Whitsunday Islands in North-Eastern Australia was not what you consider ordinary this time around.
We planned to catch up with some old friends for two days, then pick up another couple for the reminder of the trip. Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works and we ended up sailing by ourselves for 8 days.
It was yet again a brilliant trip. 20 to 25kts of South-Easterly breeze every day and sunny most of the time. With the added bonus (selfishly, I admit) of having the entire Whitsundays Island group to ourselves.
We covered 135nm during 8 days of fun sailing and only used diesel to charge the batteries.
‘Traviata’ performed beautifully during the entire trip. This well maintained 42′ cat is a solid built Lagoon that obviously handles it’s task of being a bareboat well.
The 421 is based on the Lagoon 420, which was launched in 2006 with 179 hulls built. The overall hull height was lowered and the sail area increased by approx 4sqm. Changes to the stern of the hulls below the waterline was to ‘improve hydro dynamic efficiency’.
The new model also spelt the end (for now) of Lagoon’s foray into all-electric drives, a short-lived experiment. It seemed the market and applied technology just wasn’t ready at the time.
UPDATE TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Since the original publication, I have received addition information from a reader relating to the electric drive debacle in the Lagoon 420s which I felt should be included here ….
Hi Nils, I spoke with Spencer at Knot10, he’s an expert and I recommend talking to him. Spencer@knot10.com. He retrofits Catamarans with electric drives.
I asked him the same question about what happened to hybrid Lagoons with electric drives. Here is his answer:
“Lagoon partnered with Solomon technologies and did about 12 cats. I know 2 owners (haven’t met the others yet). The reason they only did about 12 is because the cost was about 40% more! The original Solomon-system equipped L410s & L440s, the model prior to the L420, were almost $1M in 2004 and the conventional boats were about $600k (fully optioned). Lagoon then tried to do it themselves and halved the battery bank going from 144V to 78V, and also cut the wire gauge size to save a lot of the expenses… what happens when you put more current through smaller wires? Heat!!! And the worst part is they were doing this with charter boats!
So charter guests wanted to go faster. Meanwhile, Lagoon were trying to automate the generators kicking on and off, so relays were going bad and guests were running the boat at full throttle and depleting power faster than it can be regenerated with the generator. Which resulted in the boats being recalled and giving the hybrids a bad name.
But the Solomon boats that were done right are still around today. The technology has been increasing and owners have been upgrading and they love the systems. I work with a guy names Matt in the FL area that was a part of the Solomon installs and he has done many hybrid conversions. They make a ton of sense in any fast cruising boat, especially with lithium banks becoming more popular. Hopefully the next break in battery technology comes by the time you’re ready and we will have more options.
Torqeedo, the lovely electric outboard company, has come out with sail drives. In MoonWave, the gunboat I was referring to, they built an articulating sail drive system combines with bow thrusters and the boat can go diagonally and sidewise and can literally parallel park on a dock with less than 1’ to bow and stern if it wants to. CRAZY! And when the boat is sailing, they run the sail drives backwards and it regenerates power. They make so much power that they can run the AC units and electric cooktop while under way. Pretty awesome.”
On Facebook, you asked if the electric drives were installed only in the Lagoon 420 models? Answer: Correct. The Solomon electric drives from the factory were only installed on the Lagoon 420 for a brief period. Today, people are swapping out their Diesel engines with electric drives but it’s extremely expensive still. I wrote up a lengthy article about the pros and cons on the Lagoon forums here back in September.
I was lucky enough to go on a cruise on the new Silent 55 at the Cannes, France Yacht show. Silent Wave is a company out of Switzerland that makes an all-solar boat. (No sails) They’ve been making all solar powered blue water Catamarans with no sails that travel around the world. But they cost $1.4 million and up…
Lagoon officially launched the 421 In May 2009 and produced only 96 hulls over the next 7 years. This yacht was, again, designed for the charter market. It offers 6’ 7” of standing room in the saloon, wrap-around vertical windows as well as independent washroom with toilet and shower for each of the 4 cabins.
When it comes to storage space, opinions may differ. There are loads of areas you can hide stuff away in, some lockers are huge. But in the actual cabins, cupboard space is at a premium. But then … how many clothes do we really need when cruising?
Conveniently, all sail controls / lines lead back to the helm station although the port jib sheet and traveler sheets run through three, 90 degree rollers, causing a lot of friction. The winch setup though is pretty good and you can reef with the electric winch whilst lowering the main’s halyard. Plenty of jammers to keep it all in place.
‘Traviata’ is by no means a performance catamaran, so don’t expect great upwind performance or speeds much over 10kts. But it is a solid, sturdy, proven and comfortable boat to sail. We had short, choppy seas with 25kts on the nose and the “famous seagull shaped platform”, as Lagoon refers to it, stopped any major slamming. It kind of ‘deflects’ the waves before they hit the bridge deck.
At 12.2 ton, the 421 is a heavy boat. It feels solid and safe.
Reefing was easy throughout the power range, the sails set well and the rudders felt balanced at all times.
Retrieving the anchor is simple even in strong winds as the chain goes forward all the way to the crossbeam (versus straight down from the anchor locker on the FPs). It runs on top of the longitudinal beam, making it simple to attach the bridle, although this setup can leave a lot of mud on the deck … and pinched toes.
So, two years after our first trip on ‘Traviata’, I have to say that this cat was still in great shape. I have sailed numerous bareboat catamarans since, including my own, brand new Helia 44 ‘No Shoes’, but it was an absolute pleasure coming back to this model. Everything works smoothly, is simple and reliable.
There was some creaking under the bed in one of the rear cabins at anchor that needed investigating but that’s it.
Below are some photos of the interior and what it looks like today. Compare here with how it looked 2 years ago. Click on the images to enlarge.
After 5.5 years in the charter business I would happily buy ‘Traviata’, make a few modifications, add maybe a generator and water maker, a little extra solar and sail away into the sunset.
Plenty of people have done it, albeit most of them on an owners version, picked up from the factory.
Steve & DeAnne Tull sailed his 421 “La Mischief” around the met for 3 years, then crossed the Atlantic , followed by 3 more years in the USA and the Caribbean. They have a blog for additional information. This link takes you to some of their more technically orientated write-ups.
Marcel Dakini purchased his 421 new in 2010. He sailed from the UK to cruise the Med for the last 10 years. Marcel calls it a ‘happy liveaboard’ after upgrading with solar panels, water maker and a Mastervolt system. Very comfortable, spacious and good for tall folks due to the ‘box shape’.
Donn & Nina Preuss own SV Enjoy, a 2012 421. I am not sure if it was purchased new, but they seem to be very happy with their purchase. You can dig through their adventures here.
Finally, Jane Beagle shares some of her experience on a 420, hull #71, ‘Seas the Day’. They lived on board for 11 years full time. To me, that qualifies them to be somewhat of an authority on these boats. The following link provides some great info about the electric version, its failure and how to convert to diesels.
The holiday came to an end and it was time to head home. During our little cruise, COVID-19 hit in full force and the Australian government shut down the country. All flights out of the Whitsundays were cancelled. We had to rent a car to drive 1200km to Brisbane, the nearest city that offered a 2hr flight to Melbourne.
From there we expected another flight to connect for the final 1hr hop to Adelaide. Yet after waiting 8 hrs at an entirely empty terminal (normally Australia’s 2nd busiest airport), that flight also got cancelled as a cluster of COVID-19 infections by airport staff closed Adelaide Airport that night.
Lucky, Hertz was extremely helpful providing us with a comfortable car for the next 850km ride back to South Australia. Social distancing at its best. Further restrictions upon entering our home state then added two weeks of self-isolation. Plenty of time to recover from the journey and paint a few rooms.
Let’s hope the world returns to a more social way of life soon. In the meantime, stay safe and think of how you can support those in your community in need.
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