Leopard Catamarans

Leopard is the front-runner's front-runners. If you root for the Yankees AND Alabama Football, it's the yacht for you. 

And that's why everyone hates you.

What do we mean by that?

Leopards are built by Robertson and Caine through a close partnership with The Moorings.  So the “largest yacht maker in South Africa” produces the “#1 Selling brand of catamaran in North America” thru an exclusive agreement with the “largest sailing charter company in the world.” So if you’re the type of person who has to wear name brand underwear, Leopard is an obvious choice.

To be clear, Leopard is not a BAD choice for anyone.  Three of the first four cats we chartered were Leopards.  A 3700 in Belize, an older 4700 (also in Belize, and a 4600 in the British Virgin Islands. The 3700 was thru the moorings.  The 4700 was thru a charter company in Placencia that has been lost to time.  Each yacht was very unique due to circumstances specific to each, so it would be difficult to draw a thru line for each of them.  

The 3700 was brand new to the moorings fleet. The 4700 had just rotated out of the Moorings fleet and new to a second tier charter company. The 4600 was owned by a couple that mostly offered crewed charters.

All three of them were very solid yachts that had held up well under their lifetimes of chartering.

Getting What You Pay For

The vast majority of Leopards are available thru the Moorings.  As such, they get superior maintenance, and are generally in great condition when first encounter them at the marina. As far as I can recall, nothing ever broke while I’ve been on one – though I have only chartered them while traveling with more experienced captains than myself.  

What can I say, they are very good, solid sailing vessels. Performance is good, but not great and every seat and bunk is comparatively comfortable. And you cannot go wrong whichever model you charter.

So why am I not gushing about the entire line.  I couldn’t fully say.  I think part of it is I root for the underdog.  The Moorings is the largest charter company and Leopard is the second largest yacht builder.  And philosophically, I find that large market share and creative design tend to be on converse axis. The smaller you are the more creative you need to be.  And the larger you are, the more you need to appeal to the masses. As reference, please see McDonalds, Walmart and the previously mentioned New York Yankees.

This is a VERY long way to say…

… I don’t love the layout and design. 

You might love it – and I don’t hate it.  It’s a matter of taste.  As I said in the Fountain Pajot review, there is a small difference between good yacht design and great yacht design.  And I find the Leopards are good, but not great for those same reasons.Even on the 4700, which was Leopard’s largest at the time we chartered it, we felt like everyone was constantly on top of each other.

We have NOT been on the latest Leopard design -- which incorporates what I would describe as a plantation-style front porch. Only thing it’s missing is a screen door and rocking chairs. I think having this additional bow space would address what I saw as deficiencies in previous models.

Manufacturer's stock images.  For more, go to Leopard’s Website

We will absolutely charter a Leopard Catamaran again. In fact, the very next time the Moorings or Sunsail give his a great deal, we will happily take advantage of the market leader. Which (as mentioned on the Moorings/Sunsail page) could happen sooner than we think. They are very solid, very well maintained yachts I would feel comfortable and confident chartering any time.