Catamarans are becoming increasingly popular. Of course - the space on two hulls is many times greater. The children or guests have their own hull and not just a cabin, the owners have their peace and quiet. The Leopard Catamaran shipyard belongs to The Moorings and Sun Sail, which are among the largest charter companies in the Mediterranean, for example. At the time, they worked together with other shipyards to charter out their boats. However, in order to improve and individualise their own fleet, the demands became ever higher. As a shipyard cannot, of course, convert an entire boat for individual companies, an alternative had to be found - the starting signal for Leopard catamarans. Today, around 70 per cent of the boats are still built for charter. The shipyard builds around 220 boats per year. 130 of these are sailing cats, the other 90 are power cats.
A lot of emphasis was placed on storage space in the Leopard 40
Let's start with the hulls. They often differ little or not at all in terms of the room layout. The Leopard is different. The port hull is a pure guest hull with a cabin in the bow and one in the stern. Both are equipped with plenty of storage space, a ceiling height of 1.94 metres and a double bed. The bed in the aft cabin is slightly wider - 1.67 metres compared to 1.45 metres in the bow. Daylight enters the interior through the hull window and a skylight. Here, too, the aft cabin is somewhat more privileged and even has four windows. Small windows in the hull can be opened to provide fresh sea air. Otherwise, the abundance of daylight ensures a pleasantly bright feeling of space. The light-coloured fabric-covered ceilings and walls complete the look. The guest cabin has, how could it be otherwise, a toilet and shower. These are separate from each other.
A lot of emphasis was placed on storage space when designing the boat. "This was important to the boat's designers," Pierre-Yves Chanau, Marketing Manager for Europe, tells us. As the Leopard catamarans are used almost exclusively in the charter business, a lot of emphasis is placed on this. The charter concept is also reflected in the electrical control panels, the toilet and many other places where small instructions have been written on how something works or what to look out for. But back to the port hull. The cabins can be closed off individually with a door, so privacy is not neglected. When you climb the three-step staircase and enter the starboard hull, you immediately realise that this is the owner's hull. Let's start at the back: The bed in the stern is the same size as the one on the backboard, but the toilet is not in the centre, but in the bow of the hull. The shower is huge, about 1.90 metres x 1.20 metres. There is also an electric toilet and a large mirror. A hull window can be opened for ventilation.
Drawers and cupboards provide sufficient storage space throughout the owner's area. There is even space for a dressing table. If you want to ensure privacy here, the hull can be completely closed off. To do this, simply slide a bulkhead in front of the stairs. All in all, the two hulls are very spacious and well finished.
In the centre: galley, cockpit and seating
But of course you don't stay in the hulls on a boat like this, but in between. On the large platform you will find everything your heart desires. From a large and well-equipped galley with side-by-side refrigerator and double sink to sufficient storage space for food or cooking utensils, there is room for everything. Towards the bow there is an L-shaped sofa and a single armchair. The first helm station has also found its place here on the starboard side. It is equipped with a Raymarine plotter, a cosy driver's seat and, of course, a throttle and steering wheel. Various functions are controlled via the touch display of the plotter. A VHF radio and the controls for the Fusion system and the engine are also located here. The second control station is located on the large flybridge. But more on that later. The South African has a large passageway in the aft deck, which can be closed off with glass doors. On the aft deck there is the obligatory table made of real teak and a sofa. Both are also of high quality.
Some running surface has been left behind the seat. This makes it easier to lower the dinghy into the water. It also makes it easier to bring the shopping from the shore leave on board. Incidentally, the Davids are moved electrically. Simple but well-functioning technology with a winch in the roof allows the dinghy to move up and down effortlessly. The controls are attached to the roof overhang and a child safety lock is also integrated in this way. Smaller children are simply too small. A shore power connection is available on both sides, which makes mooring on the long side of the boat easier and safer. Of course, a cable laid across the deck always harbours the risk of tripping over it.
The home of the two Yanmar engines also looks tidy and technician-friendly - important; nobody wants to have a bad-tempered yacht technician on board just because one screw seems out of reach. Here, too, everything important is labelled in the form of signs. Together, the boat, which is around 12 metres long, has 500 hp.
The anchor hangs between the hulls
If you want to make yourself comfortable in the bow, you can go forward via the 50 centimetre wide side decks. There is plenty of space here. The sunbathing area measures 1.80 x 3.10 metres with an additional cover for the small companionway. They are well made and not too hard. The Leopard's anchor is operated electrically via a winch. When deployed, the anchor is then held by a kind of triangle made of lines. This is attached to the hulls and ensures that the anchor is always centred between the hulls. In this way, the force is distributed to both sides and contact with the hulls in the event of a drift is prevented. To get back into the cabin, a small companionway with a door was also installed in the bow. The companionway is self-draining - otherwise you would quickly have your own pool in rainy weather or higher waves. The drain must therefore also be cleaned and flushed over time.
But now to the place that is probably used the most when travelling by boat, the flybridge. In addition to the second steering position and a galley, there are numerous seating options. Up to 15 people can be comfortably accommodated here. The sides can be completely closed with a canopy. Solar panels are mounted on the roof of the Fly. It was cloudy during our test. Despite this, the modules delivered 9.2 amps and 122 watts. Under optimal conditions, the output should rise to 1600 watts. You could easily power the fridge with that.
The Leopard 40 shows good driving characteristics
If we're already up here, we want to leave from here too. Casting off is no problem with a wind force of around three and the hulls slowly push out of the harbour of Port Ginesta. The Balearic Sea surprises us with only small, long waves. Perfect conditions for the consumption and speed tests. Once the engines have warmed up, we slowly accelerate the boat to ten knots. The plotter shows a fuel consumption of around 27 litres. As we push the levers further forwards, the Cat begins to glide and we quickly reach the indicated cruising speed of 17 knots. The boat consumes around 74 litres of diesel with both engines combined. The engine speed climbs to 3000 revolutions per minute.
The boat makes tight circles and changes of direction unimpressed. Of course, it cannot be compared with a monohull and the boat does not lean into the bend as much, but it is not supposed to. It just does what you expect and demand of it. When we put the lever fully on the table, we reached approx. 23.4 knots during our test. The shipyard states a maximum speed of 22 knots.
Conclusion on the Leopard 40
Anyone looking for a catamaran with easy handling has found a good boat in the Leopard. The workmanship leaves nothing to be desired, neither in the interior nor in the exterior. The handling characteristics are impressive, as is the range.
The test of the Leopard 40 in the video
Technical data Leopard 40
- CE category: A/ 8 persons
- Length over everything: 12,19 m
- Width: 6,61 m
- Displacement: 13 829 kg
- Depth: 1,1 m
- Clearance height: 5,61 m
- Fuel tank: 1400 l
- Sleeping places: 6
- Test motorisation: 2x 250 hp
Measurement results Leopard 40
