The Boat

As I sit writing this on April 30, 2015 we're in the throes of buying our boat still...nothing, absolutely nothing in the world moves more slowly than the purchase of a boat in a foreign country owned by a nationals of a different foreign country.  It's a long story that I'll share in a blog post soon so check back for it.

SV Maple is expected to be a Leopard 384 catamaran.  These boats are also known as Sunsail 384 catamarans as they were mainly built for charter market.

Leopard catamarans are build in South Africa by Robertson & Caine boat builders.  This model was designed by Morelli and Melvin - a very well regarded design firm.  The Leopard 384 was introduced in 2010 and in 2011was awarded "Import Boat of the Year" & "Best Multihull Cruiser" by Cruising World Magazine, as well as the "SAIL Best Boats" MUltihull Cruiser award from SAIL Magazine.

The 384 is, as you can imagine 38 feet long, the boat we're in the process of purchasing has the charter layout of 4 cabins, 2 heads.  It's a smart looking boat, that is well regarded as being able to cross oceans - and until recently all of the Leopard cats made in South Africa were still delivered on their own hulls, meaning they had to cross oceans just to get to where they are (mostly the caribbean).

Here are the builders specs - I'll update these with the figures specific to our boat once we close the deal.

LOA 37' 6" (11.43 m.)
LWL 36' 0" (10.97 m.)
Beam 19' 9" (6.02 m.)
Draft 3' 5" (1.04 m.)
Sail Area (100%) 765 sq. ft.
(71.1 sq. m.)
Displacement (light ship) 19,790 lb. (8,955 kg.)
D/L 175
SA/D 17.6
Water 206 gal. (780 l.)
Fuel 92 gal. (348 l.)
Holding 29 gal. (110 l.)
Mast Height 62' 0" (18.9 m.)
Engines Two 21-hp. Yanmars
Designer Morrelli & Melvin