Cracked Bulkhead Modules?!?! | Leopard Catamarans New Warranty System & Travelsketch Statement

• by: @faircompetition1203
• 5 months ago

I suspect the flaw relates to the style of boat given so many different brands are having these issues . These are BIG and heavy , they are not a small flexible Polynesian cat . They need to be stiff so doors open and close and cabinets don't rip off . . That is the flaw , it is more fundamental than just bad build quality . .

A 50 foot boat with a beam 30 feet or so can end up with one end of one hull on one wave and the other end of the other hull on a different wave twisting the whole boat . It is a HUGE 60 foot + lever . Add in the load of the rig with all the sails up . Then on top they load the boats up with all the luxury gear adding more weight to lift . This wave twisting them can happen over and over again .

You would never lift these boats on lift out on one end of the hull and the other end of the other hull or even set it down like that and not expect it to break .

The lever of being on different waves is why wooden monohulls have a maximum length before the are just unseaworthy . I think the style of boat is going to need a rethink as to design or they are just good as costal party platforms for charter and then gotten rid of after a few years

• by: @faircompetition1203
• 5 months ago

You know as I see more and more of these new boats falling apart way too early I wonder if it might be better to get an old proven design and spend 100k fixing it up instead of spending 500k on junk . Tougher to do with a cat but certainly a good idea with a monohull .

Friend has a Beneteau that is fairly new , the interior is cheap laminates but looks pretty, the hull to deck joint is weak , the bulkheads are not all glassed and so on . My 40 year old boat the interior is teak , the floors , teak and Holly , pretty much as big down below too as they are both aft cabin . I can not believe how things like fridges , lights and transmissions are going on the Beneteau .

If I was to put in a fraction of what he spent buying the boat , not including his repairs and upgrades money it would be a much better boat and that is basically what I am doing right now . One of the things I am doing is keeping the old good stuff and refurbishing it . I was on a buddies Lagoon this year and was surprised all the catches were falling apart and corroding for example, I will keep my old ones .

• by: @Christian_Tango_Christ
• 5 months ago

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEOS. I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING A LEOPARD BUT STOPPED A WEEK AGO AFTER FINDING YOUR VIDEOS❗️💯🙏✝️😇
You saved me years and over a million dollar mistake👍💯🏝🧜‍♂️🇺🇲⛵️🌎🍾🌞

• by: @sstevenson638
• 5 months ago

I can't believe I just discovered your channel. Your experience with a new boat is even worse than ours was in 2021, by a lot. We only lasted 9 months before selling. We bought a new Nautitech open 40. Right off the bat we discovered one of our 3 chart plotters didn't work properly. The hatch latches didn't latch and were at the limits of their adjustability. The list goes on and on and on. We stayed near our dealer in the BVI's for two months going on 2-3 day outings. Every week we came back to the dealer with a new list of broken things. What they didn't tell us was that the warranty for all accessories (non-hull items like electronics) covered parts but not labor. Forget about the cost to stay in a marina waiting for repairs, or the cost to haul out, etc, etc. We were told by a local captain that a significant part of charter company revenues and profits were based on maintenance and repair work. So there was a perverse incentive to build charter boats that break and generate more revenue. When you sail away from your dealer then you are pretty much on your own. The time, energy, and expense to get something fixed under warranty usually was more than we could afford so we learned how to do most repairs ourselves and paid out of pocket. Fortunately we didn't have the major hull issues that you had. We did have banging in the mast that we never figured out before selling the boat. Something inside was loose.

Your have guts to talk so openly about this topic. Most folks are afraid to bad mouth their boats because it could affect the resale value. What I learned from our experience is that it's better to be the second owner of a boat. Let the first guy get it sorted out. Hopefully they are honest like you and fix things correctly and don't just pass on their boat load of problems to the next owner. As frustrating as our experience was, we learned a lot and would like to do it again. Next time we will have much more realistic expectations. The rule of thumb that maintenance cost are 10-15%/year of hull value are not far off, even (especially) for new boats under warranty.

• by: @Coleen-Love
• 5 months ago

Interesting! — QUESTION — We watched the bulkhead review by youtubers "Sailing Sisu" who have a Leopard 45 and their one seemed so so nice and no cracks anywhere. She did a video of every bulkhead etc on the boat. In fact, we were really impressed and were thinking Leopard is the way to go. But after watching this it is like night and day. What's going on here? Any idea why such a huge difference in quality?

• by: @thomasbrasse3145
• 5 months ago

I too was headed to Annapolis this fall to look at these, specifically the 45 and 50. Faults happen. How they are handled says everything. Missed items from punch happen, but no excuse for how this is being handled. They should have a deal with a few boatyards around the world to handle and expedite these fixes that take you off the water. If you cannot get to them, they should have a clear and quick process to reimburse repairs to get you sailing again. Why would I pay 1.2M for this? I'll buy an existing boat and refit it before I would deal with this.

• by: @mikevenezia5781
• 5 months ago

If I didn't stop to watch multiple videos of this story I wouldn't have believed it. 100% criminal boat builder !

• by:
• 5 months ago

We saw the same Leopard 45 at St Vincent Grenadines, where the stay attachment to the hull was bulging. In other words, the hull started to deform!

• by: @alejandrovanags4948
• 5 months ago

First the lagoons 450 bulkhead mess now this with Leopards. The executive compensation in the short term probably goes against admitting and mistake and taking responsibility for it.

• by: @MrCharleskerr
• 5 months ago

Bad show from R&C. Arrogence has caused them to lose millions in lost sales. One would have thought that the management would have cracked some whips and gotten their teams to sort out their issues. Would have been a totally diffent message going out here that this comany goes the extra mile and would have generated confidence in the brand and their product. I think it goes to show that the issues at the company start at the top and filter down.

• by: @rayman1611
• 5 months ago

I was seriously looking at a Leopard but no way now. They have destroyed any semblance of honor or credibility.