Does anyone have any experience with the Robertson & Caine Leopard 45'
catamaran (also know as a Moorings 4500)? We are considering purchasing
one for long distance cruising and would appreciate any advice the group
can offer about either this particular catamaran or dealing with "The
Moorings" brokerage when purchasing one.

Please do not respond to this thread if you wish to discuss the general
nature of catamarans, their overall sea worthiness as a class of vessel
unrelated to Leopards, general cruising in catamarans issues unrelated
specifically to catamarans around 45' in length, or your beliefs about
the efficacy of CO2 based refrigerants. I believe prior threads on
these topic have been sufficiently exhausted.

AMPowers wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Robertson & Caine Leopard 45'
catamaran (also know as a Moorings 4500)? We are considering purchasing
one for long distance cruising and would appreciate any advice the group
can offer about either this particular catamaran or dealing with "The
Moorings" brokerage when purchasing one.

Please do not respond to this thread if you wish to discuss the general
nature of catamarans, their overall sea worthiness as a class of vessel
unrelated to Leopards, general cruising in catamarans issues unrelated
specifically to catamarans around 45' in length, or your beliefs about
the efficacy of CO2 based refrigerants. I believe prior threads on
these topic have been sufficiently exhausted.

Check (and actually measure) the bridgedeck clearance. The ones
designed by Morelli & Melvin are pretty good, but the South African
designers like Simonis seem to really want to keep the bridgedeck low
and this leads to pounding upwind. For a 45' boat, you want at least
2' FULLY LOADED, and closer to 2.5' would be better.

Charter boats usually have clapped out sails and engines with a lot of
hours and abuse of them. If the engines are Volvos, prepare yourself
for a gasp when you find out about the cost of spares. Boatbuilders
like them because they are cheaper at first than Yanmars, but owners
hate them for the high parts costs. If I was buying ex-charter I
would assume I would have to replace both engines and sails.

Evan Gatehouse