Standing within the aft cockpit of the brand new Leopard 46, my gaze is directed on the Leopard 50 parked throughout the dock. “It appears nearly the identical dimension,” says Franck Bauguil, world gross sales supervisor of the South African boatbuilder. “On the 46, we packed in nearly every little thing that was on a ship 4 toes longer.”
It appears a little bit of sorcery but it surely’s true. Beginning with a clean sheet, Leopard Catamarans and Simonis Voogd Design reimagined life on 46 toes. The brand new mannequin feels a lot bigger than its specs counsel, and it’s poised to develop into a worthy successor to the favored Leopard 45 that launched 379 hulls since its introduction in 2017. Leopard embraced their system for years primarily as a result of it labored. Now they’re switching it up and taking dangers. Nearly all of the modifications are on the primary deck between the salon and cockpit, within the cabin lodging under, and with the choice for a hybrid propulsion system. Let’s take a look at every in flip and add some particulars.
Current catamaran design developments have embraced a extra direct connection between the cockpit and the salon by way of large opening doorways after which stretching inline seating alongside one facet. Leopard gave this a go. The four-panel glass door tucks neatly into the starboard casing under the helm station, creating uninterrupted motion between inside and outdoors. With quite a lot of desk choices for eating and stress-free, the lengthy sofa flows alongside the port facet because the cockpit turns into the salon and vice versa.
Photograph courtesy of Leopard Catamarans
Throughout from the cockpit dinette, a chaise longue is the coveted spot aboard. Loosen up and look aft over the elective electrical platform which extends the cockpit deck when the tender is launched. This platform is totally different from others of its type. To assist with loading and launching of the tender, it strikes down and out, away from the swim steps the place there’s extra room to drift the dinghy on earlier than hoisting.
To starboard, steps lead from the cockpit to the helm, which was raised a number of inches for higher visibility ahead. Two electrical winches are customary, and one other may be optioned so managing giant sail hundreds turns into a push-button affair. With C-shaped seating and a sunpad on the adjoining bimini, the skipper by no means wants to face watch alone. These “fly deck” lounges have gained recognition as a result of they add area with out elevating the middle of gravity as a lot as a full flybridge. Additionally they enhance the sightlines to the aft corners while you duck under the bimini, so docking is less complicated than from a flybridge helm that requires a backup digital camera.
Photograph courtesy of Leopard Catamarans
Leopard caught to their knitting within the salon with their typical ahead galley providing a view over the foredeck that can take the ache out of washing dishes. My two favourite options are nonetheless right here together with Leopard’s signature entrance door that results in the roomy ahead cockpit. This door is the quickest technique to get to the foredeck and the easiest way to chill down inside on a sizzling day. I’m additionally a fan of the port facet ahead going through navigation station with its huge comfy seat that you possibly can truly spend time on as you stand watch from inside. Even on constitution, the nav desk is the nerve middle of the boat, so kudos to Leopard for refusing to attenuate its significance.
By peeling away the constraints of a standard cabin structure, Leopard packed in numerous residing area. Three to 5 staterooms can be found, all with en suite heads. The proprietor’s cabin is within the aft part of the starboard hull with its personal entry steps. “You don’t really want the entire hull for a very good master bedroom,” says Bauguil. “We discovered that two thirds of the size is a lot and it allow us to match in additional options all through.”
A type of options is the utility room within the port ahead hull the place you possibly can retailer a great deal of gear or use it as an workplace, laundry room, or workshop. For cruising, it is going to be indispensable, and for constitution you can also make it into one other visitor cabin. As much as 5 staterooms may be fitted by truncating the grasp and including an over/beneath bunk cabin amidships with its personal moist head for youths or crew.
Photograph courtesy of Leopard Catamarans
“We lastly eradicated the bow skipper cabins,” provides Bauguil. “The crews simply refused to make use of them so now they are often contained in the boat, which is extra civilized.”
The Leopard 46 is powered by 45-hp or 57-hp Yanmar diesels, however hull No. 1 one debuted on U.S. shores with an elective hybrid drive propulsion system. In easiest phrases, two 25kW electrical pods mix with a 24kW range-extending generator and two 27kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery banks. The banks are similar however separate for redundancy ought to one facet fail. Energy regeneration is achieved by way of shore energy, the combustion engine generator, 1,600 watts of glass photo voltaic panels on the bimini, and hydrogeneration by way of the 2 18-inch propellers spinning when beneath sail. Though regeneration begins at speeds as little as 5 knots, you’ll must sail 8 knots or extra to generate 1.5-1.8kW per hour per hull. At anchor, two 6kW inverters draw on the batteries to energy home hundreds for a full day with only one hour of generator charging time.
It’s a formidable system designed in partnership with the La Rochelle-based Alternate options Energies. The brains of this 400-volt DC system is named OneBox and though extremely refined, particulars are offered on intuitive and layman-friendly display screen interfaces. Vital automation additionally makes this advanced system operate seamlessly with out the necessity for a lot human decision-making. “The generator mechanically begins when the batteries discharge to 40%,” says Jeremy Benichou of Alternate options Energies. “It ensures you’re by no means out of juice and often arrive on the anchorage topped up.”
A well-optioned diesel model of the Leopard 46 is priced at $1 million and you may count on so as to add upwards of one other $140,000 for a similar choices plus the hybrid system and its huge lithium energy storage. That’s not nothing, but it surely pays greater than lip service to greener cruising.
Photograph courtesy of Leopard Catamarans
We took the brand new design out for a spin. Underneath batteries alone we made good 7.4 knots, and when the genset kicked in we reached 9.1 knots at full throttle. The sooner you go beneath electrical alone, the shorter the vary, in fact, however relying on sea state, you possibly can count on to motor as much as 4 hours at 6 knots on a full cost. That’s greater than sufficient for brief hops between anchorages or maneuvering across the marina. One disadvantage to the hybrid regen system is that it necessitates using fastened propellers, which induce drag of a minimum of 1 knot beneath sail. With twin Yanmar diesels (eliminating the regen possibility) folding propellers may be fitted.
After all, the Leopard 46 is a sailboat first, so we ventured out onto Chesapeake Bay and hoisted the upgraded aramid fiber laminated square-top foremost by Ullman Sails. Upwind sail space with the genoa is 1,512 sq. toes and you may add a code zero for downwind work. The mast is 3 toes taller now for higher efficiency, and we sailed constant low 7-knot speeds in 14 knots of true wind on a beam attain. We hardened as much as 60 levels obvious wind angle and slipped alongside steadily at 6-6.5 knots. Sadly, we didn’t have the massive downwind sail to play with however with practically 900 sq. toes flying, I’d count on double digit speeds in the appropriate circumstances. One factor I totally embraced throughout our sail was standing on the bimini to achieve the sail bag and handle the canvas and contours with out numerous climbing.
Leopard sells boats to personal house owners and into constitution with The Moorings/Sunsail. Historically, this has cut up 50/50 however the pandemic skewed the numbers when non-public house owners flooded the market. Immediately, that ratio is shifting again towards constitution. “For the primary 50 models, 70% is slated for constitution resulting from sturdy demand as fleets refresh,” says Bauguil. “Then it’ll shift again to 50/50. Hybrid propulsion shouldn’t be focused at constitution.”
Leopard loosened its grip on the system that made them profitable for years and ventured into new instructions when it comes to livability and sustainability. The ensuing recent concepts are more likely to proliferate by way of their future designs. Bauguil relaxes within the cockpit as we sail alongside. “We couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.”
Leopard Catamarans
LOA/LWL 47’6”/44’0”
Beam 24’1”
Draft 5’5”
Air Draft 75’2”
Bridgedeck Clearance 3’4″
Displacement 38,925 lbs (gentle)
Upwind Sail Space 1,512 sq ft
Engines 2×45-57hp Yanmar or electrical
Designer Simonis Voogd Design
Builder Leopard Catamarans, leopardcatamarans.com
Value $789,000 base, $999,000 well-optioned diesel model
April 2025
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