Cruising catamaran

Some people call these big cruising cats "seagoing condos." I'm not sure if that is meant as a compliment or not. I guess that would depend upon your needs and perspective. If you want the maximum amount of comfort for cruising and you intend to sail with a large group where the sun is always shining and the breeze is always blowing, then I think a seagoing condo could be a good thing. This new Lagoon 39 was designed by Van Peteghem Lauriot Prévost with the interior by Nauta Design. This is a big 39-footer. The beam is 22 feet 3 inches for an L/B of 1.72. The stems are dead plumb and the transom tip is almost immersed for a DWL of 37 feet 10 inches. The displacement is given as 25,732 pounds for "light displacement," and 34,792 pounds for "max loaded displacement." I know that's a lot for a catamaran but this is a big cat. I think we should split the difference and use 30,230 pounds for an average loaded condition. This gives us a D/L of 249.

I have no drawings that show the underbody but I think we can safely use our imagination on that. The draft is 4 feet, and I expect there are low-aspect-ratio integral fins. The hulls look quite beamy but I have no lines to indicate just how beamy. I see what appears to be a chine aft on some of the drawings.

But this design is all about accommodations. You can pick from four layouts: two staterooms and two heads, two staterooms and two heads with a more elaborate saloon, three staterooms and two heads and four staterooms and two heads. I don't have the space here to feature all the layouts so let's use the three-stateroom, two-head model as our choice. This layout has athwartships double berths in the aft staterooms. The port stateroom takes up the entire hull and has a larger double berth. There is a head with shower stall forward and plenty of stowage space with a small writing desk amidships. I'd call this the owner's cabin.

In the starboard hull, the head with a shower stall is amidships and the staterooms are in the ends. Three couples will sleep very comfortably in this layout. The saloon features a navigation area to port and an L-shaped dinette to starboard. If you stuck a deck chair at the end of the table you could seat six here for dinner if you didn't want to eat in the cockpit.

The really deluxe layout is the two stateroom, two head model with the elaborate saloon and this layout has one stateroom in each hull. For two couples this layout would be the ultimate.

There are two rigs for the Lagoon 39. You can have the standard rig or the premium rig. The premium rig is bigger by 74 square feet in upwind sail area. Using the premium rig sail area and our typical load displacement this gives us a SA/D of 13.43. That's certainly not going to scare anyone, and if you sail where there is plenty of breeze you will do fine. Note the location of the mast, well aft. The square-topped mainsail is on a very short boom to take some of the challenge out of jibing. That makes sense.

If it gets light you can fire up the twin 20-horsepower diesels that come standard.

Big cat cockpits have evolved into what amounts to almost a flying-bridge-type arrangement for the helmsman. In this case, the wheel is to starboard and elevated so that the helmsman pokes his head up through a gap in the bimini and looks over the top of the coachroof. It's like a powerboat steering station with the wheel bulkhead mounted and instruments arrayed ahead of it.

Sail controls lead to a single winch just to port of the wheel and within easy reach of the helmsman. On the lower level of the cockpit there is a dinette to port for outside dining. None of the drawings I have indicate what goes on aft of the dinette but I would assume there has to be some place to lay out and nap. Steps lead down to shallow swim platforms on each hull.

I'm kind of a dory-with-a-spritsail kind of guy these days. My new boat is a kayak with a window in the bottom so my granddaughter can see the fish. But I can see myself enjoying a cruise on this new Lagoon. I wouldn't expect a rocket, but I would expect to be very comfortable. I'd use a fake French name.