New or secondhand? And why not go buy under management, or how about a cat coming out of a charter fleet?

Lagrado: a Lagoon 400, always a sure bet! 

Let's go straight to the heart of the matter! Arriving at the boat show, we discover the catamaran on the boat ramp slipway, in pride of place at the show! It was a clever idea to display this catamaran like this during the show, and to allow the public to view like this! In the company of Romain Villeneau and Odon van Gaver, we carry out a detailed evaluation of every areas of the boat. Floorboards up, access to the bilges, valves, technical circuits is all possible; Followed by motors, helm linkages, tanks, interior fittings, and finally deck, cockpit, mast, rigging and anchoring gear. The second stage focuses on the exterior, the appearance of topsides, hulls, rudders and saildrives.

General overview: a nice surprise! 

The first impression is clearly positive for this 5½ year-old boat; Especially as Kiriacoulis played the game and hadn’t done a complete cleaning, and made no special preparations, which would have made no sense for this demonstration. The exterior upholstery was changed because this is a real “consumable”, very exposed to ultraviolet light, but no polishing of the hulls had been done. The non-slip surface on the decks, based on the diamond pattern from the original mold, is in good condition, as are hatches and hinges. Stainless steel pulpits, stanchions and guardwires show no rust or deformation, and the polycarbonate roof panels are impeccable (their flat surfaces are small in size and are not exposed to UV radiation). The lazy bag and helm station bimini are in excellent condition.

Hulls and appendages

The copper/epoxy antifouling applied by Kiriacoulis Point d'Amure, at Bormes-les-Mimosas, seems to have fulfilled its role perfectly, and the underwater hull shows no traces of collision or impact. As for the skeg keels, their leading edges and the grounding plates are in good condition and show no signs of wear other than some superficial scratches (from Med-style mooring groundlines, or having been set down on the hard). The rudders appear good and seem to function well, without abnormal play, some traces of superficial wear at the lower end tell of encounters with small floating objects or mooring groundlines, or even a bit of chafe on the port side; Normal for these very exposed appendages (to be dealt with, all the same!). No particular observations for the saildrives and fixed two-bladed propellers.

Hulls and topsides

A catamaran’s bows are areas which are very exposed when maneuvering in port, and absolutely not envisaged to be used like the fenders on a car: in the case of Lagrado, they seem surprisingly devoid of signs of mistreatment, much like sugar scoops. The portlights and hatches, installed in recesses, are in good condition, as are the whole of the topsides, bearing witness to careful use! The escape hatches are in good condition, as are stainless steel water and air deflectors on the outside. The underside of the nacelle is impeccable, as is ...