Author: Gideon

To celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, Lagoon is going big on parties and events! An that includes the 2024 Lagoon World Escapade, where Lagoon owners meet up over a 3 day event to sail, eat, drink and share stories.

What are the Lagoon Escapades?

Already enjoyed by many Lagoon owners, the Lagoon Escapades have become an unmissable party every year with three days of navigation, socialising and festivities.

To mark Lagoon’s 40th anniversary, owners and future owners are invited to take part in the biggest Escapade yet, spread out over multiple countries and sailing grounds.

This year, a series of World Escapades will take place all over the world at the same time. it’s going to be a global party!

When Is It?

The festivities will take place from the from 17 through 19 May 2024.

How to Get Involved

Just register via your Lagoon dealer. by filling out the form HERE.

Vaan Yachts, the aluminium eco catamaran manufacturer from the Netherlands, has recently presented the first Vaan yacht fininshed in ‘Vivid Alu’ finish.

To get the look, the aluminium hull was sanded to a smooth matte finish, giving it a raw and tough look. Along with the chique and soft cork decking, the large windows and the clean white painted cockpit, it enhances the catamaran’s luxury finish.

As well as looking great, there are functional benefits too as the Vaan Vivid Alu finish does not have to be repainted. You maintain the look with cleaning, and any scratches are re-sanded. What’s more, the Vivid Alu is 100kg lighter than a painted hull.

As well as a stunning finish, the Vaan Vivid Alu is also more eco-friendly. As there is no paint or fairing, the amount of chemicals used and emissions produced in the manufacture of the hull is reduced. It also makes recycling more efficient.

Lagoon have released the first images of their new model, the Lagoon 43.

New for 2024, the Lagoon 43 pulls in design elements of the 55, 51 and 60 into a new forty-three footer sailing catamaran. Read our Lagoon 43 Review for more details on this sailing catamaran.
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More details: on “Club Lagoon“. She’ll be shown at the Cannes Yachting Festival 2024.

Lagoon will be sharing more details at the 2024 International Multihull Show.

With the International Multihull Show, La Grande Motte approaching fast, we thought we would take a look at this French seaside town close to Montpellier and what makes it such an interesting place to visit.

La Grande Motte is a picturesque seaside town nestled on the Mediterranean coast of southern France that boasts a rich history, interesting architecture and plenty for visitors to enjoy. Formerly marshland, it has been transformed into a modern holiday destination and is popular with the sailing community.

It’s the home base for Outremer and Gunboat, and offers something for every traveller, whether it’s admiring its unique buildings, relaxing over lunch of moules, or simply taking in the Mediterranean sun.

History and Location

Located in the Occitania region, La Grande Motte lies between Montpellier and Nîmes, making it a handy stop for travellers exploring the south of France. Despite its modern appearance, the area has an interesting history dating back to ancient times when it was primarily marshland.

In the 1960s, the French architect Jean Balladur helped to transform the area into a modern resort town. His vision came to fruition, and La Grande Motte is now a famous example of avant-garde architecture and urban planning.

The Weather in April, What to Wear

April in La Grande Motte, when the Catamaran Show takes place, brings milder temperatures and blossoming flora. With an average temperature ranging from 11°C to 19°C (52°F to 66°F), April offers pleasant weather for outdoor activities.

You can expect sunny days with occasional showers, so it’s advisable to pack layers and waterproof attire for the boat show. But pack some shorts and t-shirts as well! It can be warm in the sun during the day. Make sure you have something warmer for the evenings.

Top Things to Do

Explore the Architecture
One of the most interesting aspects of La Grande Motte is its distinctive architecture made famous by its futuristic buildings and geometric shapes: the pyramids. Take a stroll along the promenade or rent a bicycle to soak in the works of Jean Balladur, including the iconic pyramids and sail-like shapes. This is a working town, the home base of Outremer and Gunboat, so there is plenty going on.

Relax on the Beaches
With its long sandy beaches lapped by the Mediterranean Sea, La Grande Motte is a great spot for sunbathing if the weather is playing ball, swimming, or enjoying water sports such as sailing and windsurfing. You might need a wetsuit in April though, unless it’s a quick dip. Plage du Couchant and Plage du Ponant are popular for sun-seekers and water sports enthusiasts alike.

Visit the Port
This is where you’ll spend most of your time at the show, and a walk around the extended port to check out the yachts is worth the effort. You’ll see a lot of Outremers here of course, and if you are lucky a Gunboat or two. And there are always plenty of Lagoons, Fountaine-Pajots and Catanas tied up. The pace of life is less hectic in April, but there are still plenty of shops and waterfront restaurants to explore.

Discover the Area’s Natural Beauty
It’s also worth exploring beyond the town to discover the natural beauty of the Camargue region. There are some good walks and horseback riding trips through the salt marshes and lagoons to the south-east of La Grande Motte. The area is home to diverse flora and fauna including flamingos and wild horses.

Aigues-Mortes
Not far from La Grande-Motte in the heart of the Camargue, is Aigues-Mortes, a medieval city. The town has a long history linked to the crusades and templars and in the 17th century it was the most powerful port on the Mediterranean coast.

Developed under Louis IX to develop maritime trade, the city protected the kingdom of France from invaders from the East. Walk to the Constance tower, visit the Notre-Dame-des-Sablons church, explore the Place Saint-Louis or check out the chapel of the brotherhood of the Pénitents Gris.

Where to Eat

For a no-frills, delicious lunch or dinner in La Grande Motte, order the local mussels at “Le Roi de la Moule” or Chez Tetel. Near the marina, this restaurant specializes in fresh seafood dishes, with moules marinières (mussels in white wine sauce) being the signature dish. Pair your meal with a crisp glass of local white wine and enjoy the flavours of the Mediterranean.

In addition to “Le Rio de Moules,” other great restaurants in La Grande Motte include:

– Le Marin’Sol. Close to the port, this is the most popular restaurant with the Yacht Show crowd (it’s pretty close to the Outremer yard), so book early. Good pizza and lamb and a buzzy atmosphere, especially on show days.
343 Avenue Robert Fages, 34280 La Grande-Motte, FR. Reservations: 04 99 62 76 32

– Le Flow – lounge bar to chill out in that serves tapas an delicious desserts

– Le Bistrot du Port: A cozy bistro located in the heart of the marina, known for its seafood stews, fresh salads, and desserts.

Summary

La Grande Motte is not a well-known destination to travellers, but that’s all part of the appeal. With the pyramids, the flamingos and its natural beauty, this French town offers visitors a unique coastal experience with history, culture, and good food. Get off the beaten track and have an explore while you are at the boat show!

We spent some time recently at the Lagoon shipyard in Bordeaux, where they build their bigger catamarans (over 50 feet). It was great to hear some of the history behind the yard and meet some of the team behind this successful multihull manufacturer.

Here are some snippets from the day. With thanks to Thomas Gailly, LAGOON Brand Director, Clément Himily, CEO and Quentin Beraut, Lagoon Product Manager.

Celebrating 40 Years

2024 is going to be a big year for Lagoon Catamarans. This year they celebrate their fortieth anniversary and they’ve decided not to celebrate once but to celebrate all year long.

Two weeks ago in Miami, at the boat show they had a big party, had a great time and are now holding another one here in Bordeaux at their HQ.

Lagoon is the biggest catamaran producer in the world. For the first time, they are presenting the full range from 40 to 78 feet with the entire team. It’s a big challenge. They have been organising different boats at boat shows for 40 years, but doing it during the week in the shipyard with hundreds of clients visiting: that’s something different. They have people coming from all around the world Mexico, Norway, Thailand, Sweden, France, everywhere.

Lagoon Cares

One of the drivers for the company is a desire for responsible growth under the banner “Lagoon Cares“. Lagoon is on a mission to prove it cares about the environment, and it cares about the ways its boats are built and used.

In addition to a focus on using ever more sustainable materials, they have entered into a long-term partnership with Coral Guardian, a French NGO that aims to protect and restore coral reefs globally through the empowerment of local communities. They replant corals everywhere in the world. Lagoon is financing this NGO together with many of its clients.

Lagoon has more than 400 clients coming to see the new 60 and the whole range in Bordeaux. Some of them are Lagoon owners, some of them have their boat in build and some of them have a project of buying a boat. They want to have them talk together and get the alchemy working.

Boris Diaw, the NBA Connection

One of their SEVENTY 7 customers is Boris Diaw who won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Boris is a great ambassador because he’s a real Lagoon user with his SEVENTY 7. Right now the boat is in Auckland NZ.
He’s flying there in one or two weeks joining the boat to do the crossing to Tahiti.

Production & History

Clément Himily, CEO of Lagoon, then shared some fascinating history behind Lagoon and the shipyard.

“We have three shipyards, all in France. Two of them are in Vendee which are specialised in the production of the Lagoon 40 to 46.

Here in Bordeaux, we are focused on the production of Lagoon Catamrans above 50 feet, from the 51 to the Lagoon 78.”

“This shipyard is unique in the world for the production of catamarans of this size.”

A Strong Legacy

“There is more than 150 years of naval history here”.

“The shipyard specialised in the construction of Cruisers and tankers, but this ceased in 1985.”

“Two years after, two guys, Dieter Gust and Olivier Lafourcade, founded CNB which was initially specialised in the production of large aluminium monohulls. This led to the creation of 46 unique one-off yachts building the reputation of the site including the Mari-Cha II in 1989 (Philip Briand custom), and the 117’ Hamilton II.”

Photo Credit Nicolas Claris

“These boats were built here in Bordeaux with many of the team that is here today. That helped build the expertise of this site in the design and manufacture of large sailing yachts.”

JTA
“In the meantime, in Vendee, there was a department called JTA ( Jeanneau Technologies Avancees) a legendary workshop for the development of high-tech sailing yachts. Lagoon Catamarans were quickly recognised for their single-hull and multihull off-shore racing boats.”

“JTA was specialised in racing boats, and multihulls, building very famous ones with VPLP at the design helm.
Because this team was becoming very famous in the production of multihulls, Lagoon became involved in the Waterworld movie. Lagoon built the boat for the movie production team. The guy behind the wheel in the movie is not Kevin Costner!”

The First Lagoon 55

“Following our Hollywood and Hawaii episode, a lady came to us one day, a lady from Bordeaux. She wanted a one-off yacht, but not a racing boat, a cruising Multihull. She wanted to do some chartering on a big catamaran for cruising- 55 feet and in 1984 55 feet was a big catamaran.”

“We looked for a good architect, so naturally asked VPLP. Maybe they could also design a Cruising boat? This was how Lagoon built its first cruising Catamaran. The boat was a success, in charter as well and the lady decided to build another one.”

Napkin Contract
“So, we thought, maybe we can develop a brand, we can start a nice story? But we needed a name. One name came out on top of the others, and it was the name that the lady gave to her first boat: “Lagoon”. We came to an agreement on the corner of the table in a restaurant, a kind of small contract on a napkin to provide some royalties if we sell a few more of them.”

“Luckily, we make a limit on that. We said that after 10 years we stop. So, that was the history!”

“Today, years later, Lagoon is a world leader with dealers everywhere and seven thousand Lagoon yachts sailing worldwide. And that’s starting from our very passionate team.”

Windelo Catamaran and Just Catamarans have announced a Partnership for USA Sales & Services.

Windelo Catamaran, based in Canet-en-Rousillon in France, build advanced eco performance catamarans. They have teamed up with Just Catamarans who are based in the US, primarily at their Fort Lauderdale hub.

The Windelo designs are proving popular in the North American market, and Just Catamarans will help the French manufacturer to drive growth of Windelo Catamaran in the US market through their experience in the performance cruising segment.

The new partnership will be officially launched at the International Miami Boat Show with the New Windelo 50 premiering in the US and building on the successful development of the brand in Europe.

Designed in collaboration with the architects Christophe Barreau and Frédéric Neuman and designer Charlotte Schiffer, the New Windelo 50 is a performance blue-water ECO cruising catamaran with an electric propulsion system and a pioneering hull construction method that uses volcanic basalt laminates, a more sustainable alternative to traditional fiberglass matting.

Feedback from the New Partners

Thoughts from Just Catamarans:
“Our entire team looks forward to working with Windelo,” says Thomas Chambers, President of Just Catamarans Sales. “Representing a bespoke brand of performance multihulls that focuses more on sustainability and introducing electric-hybrid propulsion in this market is exciting for us and our clients.”

Thoughts from Windelo:
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Just Catamarans aboard the Windelo family, » said Gautier Kauffmann, Windelo’s Founder.

“The reputation of Just Catamarans in the US and their expertise in developing and supporting high-end-performance cruising multihulls will be an undeniable strength for the development of Windelo in the US market.”

“Just Catamarans will be a key partner to the service footprint for all our clients visiting the US & Bahamas with a Windelo”.

“Whilst Just Catamarans will boost the visibility and service of our brand in the territory, we understand how important it is for our customers to maintain direct contact with the shipyard throughout the lifecycle of their boat. This is why, together with Thomas’ team, we have set up a partnership that adds up our teams in a joint approach to Sales & Servicing of our owners’ catamarans.”

One of the areas in which Excess Catamarans is working hard to stand out from the crowd is their desire to connect and build relationships with owners and prospective buyers.

This approach seems to be paying dividends – it’s helping them develop their boats with direct feedback from customers and helping people to navigate through the complex process of buying and kitting out a new catamaran.

The end result? Skilful sailors with new friends having fun out on the water.

Excess Campus 2023

Just recently, the team ran the first Excess Campus of 2023. This event, organised by Excess Catamarans, a brand of the Beneteau Group took place in Canet-en-Rousillion near Perpignan in France, and was a series of workshops and seminars that aim to help customers learn more about topics such as predicting the weather, navigation, boat maintenance, safety, and lifestyle on board.

There were 21 owners involved (a mix of English & French speakers) for 3 days of theory and practice to learn all about maintaining an Excess and the must-have tips for sailing.

And of course, the event had a substantial social side, enabling owners and buyers to mingle with other enthusiasts from around the world.

The event is all about learning, sharing, and having fun, a course for experts and novices alike who want to discover the joys of sailing and living on a catamaran.

Topics

Some of the topics covered were:

• Navigation: how to plan your route, use the instruments, read the weather, and handle the sails and engines.
• Boat maintenance: how to check the systems, perform routine tasks, and troubleshoot common issues.
• Safety: how to prepare for emergencies, use the equipment, and communicate with the authorities. This includes a session with SNSM: Les Sauveteurs en Mer, whose raison d’être is saving lives at sea around the French coast, including the overseas départments and territories.
• Lifestyle: how to organise the space, store the supplies, cook the meals, and enjoy yourself on board.
• Boat Handling – this is probably the most popular part of the course – hands-on training on an Excess catamaran perfecting skills such as docking, anchoring, picking up a mooring buoy, raising and trimming the sails and more.

Following the success of the 2023 edition, Excess is already planning the 2024 edition of the Campus, so stay tuned!

Excess Campus 2023 Video

Here’s the summary of the event!

Lagoon has been designing and building catamarans for almost forty years. They will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2024. We met up with the management team to talk about Lagoon and their plans for the future. Their mission is to remain the world leader, building boats for their customers that are safe, reliable, comfortable and that can travel the world with a respect for the environment.

Lagoon shared some remarkable numbers at the Cannes International Yachting Festival.

First of all, with the 51 and 55, the last two new models, they have reached a milestone in September 2023 of 250 units sold. Both boats are built in Bordeaux, where they are increasing production capacity. And in August they delivered the 500th Lagoon 46 to Australian clients.

What is the Top Seller Ever in the Sailing Catamaran Market?

It used to be the Lagoon 380 which was later overtaken by the 450. Now the best-seller, the world champion is the Lagoon 42. In October 2023 they will deliver the 1000th Lagoon 42 to French owners who joined them for the party on Friday night in Cannes.

And more than forty-two Lagoon SEVENTY are sailing worldwide with orders to come, a much bigger number than Lagoon was expecting in their initial business plan for this luxury market segment.

Every year, Lagoon shows a SIXTY & SEVENTY at the Cannes Yachting Festival and every year the boat is different: these are fully customised yachts. They have a dedicated team for this luxury market segment, working closely with the captains and crew to continuously optimise the boat.

The luxury charter segment has been very successful, with these yachts commanding a one-week charter price of between $70k to $80k in high season.

7000 Lagoons Sailing

In the coming month, Lagoon expects to hit another milestone: seven thousand Lagoons sailing worldwide. Their ambitious goal is to be in touch with all of these owners through the Club Lagoon with a lot of services for all clients. This is a key service they want to develop over the coming years.

With the SIXTY and SEVENTY, each boat has a dedicated after-sales team, a point of contact, direct with the factory and owners can follow the construction of their boat online.

1) Customers have direct contact with Lagoon’s SIXTY 5, SIXTY 7, SEVENTY 7, SEVENTY 8 Specialists: a Premium Service
2) They follow their boat in production
3) Customers have a dedicated after-sales team

Lagoon Furling Boom

One of the latest innovations to be offered on Lagoon catamarans (46′ and 51′) is the mainsail furling boom. This has been developed by the Lagoon team with Incidence Sails and Groupe Wichard.

One of the main advantages of the Lagoon system is its simplicity: the furling spindle is not enclosed in a housing, so it is easy to monitor and control hoisting, reefing and furling manoeuvres. And it’s lighter than a standard set-up.

To use it, the main sheet must be eased, the topping lift employed, you must be headed into the wind (or at least a 30-degree TWA), and you must keep a fair tension on the luff while adjusting the sail. The system has been thoroughly tested over 2 years and has proven to be very reliable. On the 46 and 51 which have the flybridge, this system makes a lot of sense with their higher booms. This will help owners to use their sails more often.

This is an exclusive system, installed by Lagoon and covered by their warranty.

Reducing their Footprint: Lagoon – Awarded ISO 14001

What Is ISO 14001? ISO 14001 is a set of standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

It aims is to define the best practices for organizations that wish to reduce their environmental footprint by adopting an effective environmental management system (EMS). They have also been awarded ISO 50001, a standard intended to help organizations develop and implement an energy management system.

What does this mean in practice? The resin used on Lagoons is becoming more and more bio-sourced, the kitemark looks at the raw materials that Lagoon uses, with a target to use 100% recycled materials on the upholstery and work on using recycled materials for the sails continues.

Hemp fibre is replacing fibreglass in many panels on the boats. They are replacing teak with a new type of wood from sustainable forests. A water purification system will be installed on all Lagoons, helping people to move away from water in plastic bottles as you can drink the water from the tank.

Lagoon delivers with every boat launch a pack of eco-friendly cleaning equipment, to help educate clients on the best eco-friendly products that are available in the market.

Other areas they are working on include black water treatment, solar panel efficiency, wind turbines, hydro-generators, and more efficient A/C.

They continue to test electric power and hybrid power extensively to develop a system that is very reliable and safe.

The Future is Bright

So, the future is bright for this market-leading French catamaran manufacturer and they continue to grow responsibly across many different market segments.

We are looking forward to seeing the new Lagoon 60 on the water in 2024, the year that they celebrate their 40th anniversary. The next target? 8000 yachts on the water, all active members of the Lagoon Club!

One of the big announcements at the 2023 Cannes Yachting Festival was from Excess Catamarans who announced a new addition to their range of sailing yachts. The new model will slot in between the Excess 11 and Excess 14.

Helping them on the next stage of development of this increasingly popular brand will be Lombard (MLYDG) – in charge of the naval architecture and Jean Marc Piaton who will design the interiors. Following the Excess Catamarans philosophy, this will be a collaborative process involving the Excess team and the “Tribe”: their owners, clients, dealers and industry experts. We are looking forward to seeing the design in more detail in early 2024!

Building on the Success of the Excess 14, shown below:

The Next Generation

These two experienced design teams will evolve the design from the Excess 11 and 14 which were created with VPLP design and Patrick Le Quément for the first generation of Excess catamarans.

The brief for the designers is to build on the brand’s strengths by creating a catamaran that’s fun to sail and comfortable to live aboard. It’s this balance and a growing reputation for after-sales and relationship building that has defined the essence of Excess so far.

Marc Lombard Yacht Design Group

A word from Eric Levet, Marc Lombard Design

“For the Lombard team, integrating the Excess Catamarans brand with this new project is a challenge we’ve been delighted to take on!”

“In partnership with the Excess design office, we were keen to develop the design of this new catamaran to reinforce the brand’s strengths.”

“The brief was simple yet ambitious: to create a catamaran that’s evolving and balanced, solid, and offering great sensations, all combined with the comfort and interior volume that has made Excess such a success.”

“The form of the hulls, the weight, the composite structure, the layout, the ergonomics, the efficiency of the sail plan, everything about this new Excess is designed around the pleasure of easy sailing and comfortable living on board.”

“Following several months of design and rewarding exchanges with the Excess team and Jean Marc Piaton, we’re taking the time to refine the design in detail and in manufacturing optimization. We can’t wait to see the boat sail!”

Jean-Marc Piaton

A word from Jean-Marc.

“We heard from around thirty people who spoke to us about the brand (in-house people, dealers, owners, and charter companies, among others), and what emerged was a very positive and, above all, highly identifiable perception.”

“This is both very rare for such a young brand, and very interesting when considering its design.

Hervé Piveteau, Product Manager at Excess, had high expectations of lightness, both real and perceived, and wanted this new model to fit in well with existing models, without creating too strong a break.”

A New Model in 2024

We’ll keep you posted with the latest news on this new model.

In January 2024, at the Düsseldorf boat show, Excess will be revealing the name and the first 3D images of
the new yacht.