40' searunner tri or 38' leapard cat

[askari]

hi. I just joined your forum. looking to see what others think. I have a 40' searunner tri. my boyfriend has a 38' leopard cat. we want to sail the pacific, cross oceans, visit the watery parts of the planet. not sure which boat. my experience includes sailing Naga, a 38' Newick tri around the Caribbean, across the pacific, and around southeast asia and yes 2 people can very comfortably cruise on a Newick. the searunner is no newick, but to me she seems spacious and safe, a bit old, launched in 1982, solid and strong but very simple electronics and a 2 person boat, I am not able to sail her alone. going forward on the bow is required to change sails, no roller furling, only self tailing winches are on the genoa/jib sheets, working now on installing a linear drive autopilot but cant really put in a whole lot of money into her at this time. I don't have any experience on catamarans but the leopard is mostly run from the cockpit except for hoisting the main and reefing the main. what I don't like about the leopard are just things that I THINK might not be so good, she is rather narrow for a multihull, she has a low bridge clearance, her boom seems kinda high. but its relatively new with 2 engines, modern electronics, lots of space down below. 

I don't want a discussion on trimarans verses catamarans, I want a discussion on what makes for a safe ocean going multihull. we are sailing the tri to panama next month and perhaps sail the cat to panama on the same route around Christmas time to see which boat is more to our liking but I would love to hear from you multihull enthusiasts, what do you think?

 

[Veeger]

Both boats can do the job.  Sail the one you prefer.  Practically, I'd say sell the one that puts the most money into the cruising kitty (including after prepping the other one).    However, boyfriends come and go,  it would be sad to have lost your boat too.....

 

[jdazey]

If this is the Searunner 40 "Askari", I know the builders. At the time launch she was a nicely done boat.

Searunners have a good reputation for seaworthiness, and many have made significant voyages. I'm no Searunner fanboy, but of these two, I'd pick the Searunner and make sure it had a good autopilot.

 

[ProaSailor]

Your choices so far - Dick Newick and Jim Brown - have been excellent.  Trust your instinct.

Which boat sails better?  Which one is cheaper to operate?  The Leopard 38 is extremely heavy (Displacement (light ship) 19,790 lb. (8,955 kg.)).

Cheers

 

[Corley_]

Just a thought why don't you go sailing together on the Searunner and put the Leopard 38 into management with a charter company.  Not wanting to nix your chances of a successful relationship with your boyfriend but if you break up he can go back and get his boat and you can both get on with your life if the worst comes to worst.  That way ongoing payments to the cruising kitty from the Leopard 38 while it's in charter as well. 

 

[eastern motors]

Both boats can do the job.  Sail the one you prefer.  Practically, I'd say sell the one that puts the most money into the cruising kitty (including after prepping the other one).    However, boyfriends come and go,  it would be sad to have lost your boat too.....

Why do you think the Leopard 38 is up to crossing oceans?  I have never been on one myself.  Looks like a nice ride for island hopping, but do you really want to be 1000 miles from land?

Adding roller furling to the Seawind should be easy.  Do you have a cutter rig? 

 

[Veeger]

Didn't say it would be the best, but lesser boats have cruised just fine.  Why do you think the 38 is so bad?  Distance cruising is 98% sitting at anchor.  Even rafts can sail downwind.  It's personal preference.  I'd go with the Searunner but I'm not the one who has to make the decision....

 

[askari]

The searunner is cutter rigged. The leapard is sloop rigged. Thanks for the input so far. I personally like the tri because it's what I know and have sailed. My boyfriend prefers the cat because it's newer, easier to sail and it's what he knows and has sailed. Is roller furling a better choice for a cruising boat? Now as a hank on system there is the choice between genoa alone, jib alone, jib and staysail. Yankee and staysail, storm jib and staysail, storm jib and storm staysail, or staysail alone. Not sure I really want to trade the versatility of all that for a roller furling heads ail but again... I don't have experience with furling headsails. 

 

[jdazey]

Hanked on sails are a bit less convenient but much more  versatile especially with the cutter rig. Askari's electronics can always be upgraded as you go along. You can add roller furling if that's what you want. It may be harder to make the Leopard sail as well as the Searunner.

Going back to an earlier post, the Leopard is probably worth more on the market and would add more to your cruising kitty and provide funds for upgrading Askari.

 

[Morello]

Hi Askari, I would pick your boat, sails better, has plenty of room for two, is simple and can be upgraded as you go. As far as the roller furling, we have it on our tri and find it difficult to switch gears especially when in light air and then squally conditions. A partially rolled up jib is ugly! I really hate to subject my sails to such conditions and am considering ditching the furler. Stop by H dock in Green Cay and dicuss further. 

Cheers, Morello

 

[askari]

Thanks morello but I am currently in St kitts hauled out doing a bottom job. Don't expect to return to St croix with the boat. Thank you all for your input and advice, I will share all this with the boyfriend and hopefully he will see that my boat isn't the one to sell. 

 

[Morello]

Askari, What could be better than sailing a Jim Brown Searunner in the Pacific? 

Cheers, Morello

 

[teamvmg]

Which one would you rather ride out a storm on in the open ocean? Have they both got fixed keels?

 

[askari]

The searunner has a draft of 4.5 feet and a center board that swings down another 4 or 5 feet.

The leapard has no daggerboards. Draft is 3 feet I think. 

In the newick I sailed, we never stopped sailing, even in 60+ knot winds we sailed under staysail alone, I don't want to experience that ever again but I would think the searunner would be better able to take on those conditions, she has 3 reefs and a storm trisail as well as storm jib and storm staysail, also 2 droughs that I don't know how to deploy. Evidently this boat was equipped to handle bad weather. The leapard was in the charter world and has 2 reef points in the main and that's it, so I I think a third reef and a storm jib would have to be added, however I think that the searunner is a better boat for heavy weather. 

In a discussion with my boyfriend, he wants to know why most of you think the searunner is better. As I know nothing about catamarans I can only tell him what I THINK not what I know or have experienced. 

The cruising kitty isn't a problem as I still work, I can earn $$ anywhere there are sailboats, and he is comfortably retired. 

 

[askari]

This is an update to the topic,

My boyfriend's leopard catamaran was damaged in hurricane Irma and he sold it. The decision was made for us by powers greater than ourselves. 

Now we are living and sailing aboard my Searunner 40, I am perfectly happy and loving it. Plans to go thru the canal and sail around the west coast of panama this spring or summer. Perhaps sail to french polynesia next season. We just put a new diesel engine in her, bought some chart chips and trying our best to make this old boat a little more comfortable and safe.

 

[Speng]

Hope this relationship goes better than the previous... Can we have a cool log like Naga's?