Boating USA — February 2018

lower helm station, and a spacious L-shaped
galley with counter space measured in acres.
Galley gear includes a three-burner gas cooktop
with gas oven, and a two-drawer fridge.
The Sea Ray has a doublewide helm station, a
pair of facing couches, and a galley aimed more at
dining ashore, with limited counter space, a two-
burner electric cooktop, microwave and fridge.
While the Leopard salon excels in sheer
space (there is room to dance in the salon), it
also has one popular feature: a front door. Both
boats have sliding doors aft into the cockpit, of
course, but the Leopard has an off set door that
opens to the foredeck for anchoring or sunning.

Our take:The salon winner is the Leopard
catamaran.

CABIN I said “so it should seem” about a wider
beam on the Leopard equating to more space,
which was true for the salon, but not so much for
the staterooms. The Sea Ray has a conventional
monohull layout for this length, with the master
stateroom forward and a midship cabin under
the salon with two berths that can slide together
to become a double. The Sea Ray master cabin
has a walk-around island queen-size berth,
while the midship cabin has limited headroom,
but a couch and a separate head are optional.
The Leopard, on the other hand, off ers either
a four-cabin or a three-cabin owner’s layout.
The four-cabin is popular with chartering,
placing two cabins in each hull, with a head and
stall shower between, while the owner’s version
fi lls the starboard hull with the berth aft and the
bow becomes a large head with stall shower.
The shortcomings of the catamaran are the
narrow hulls, which limit the width of the cabins.
The berths literally fi ll each cabin, hullside
to hullside, making these into less graceful

crawl-in berths, and each cabin has limited fl oor

space and stowage.

Our take: We’ll call this even, depending on

whether you want more smaller cabins or fewer

but more-spacious cabins.

FLYBRIDGE Once again, sheer beam is the

determining factor in fl ybridges. The Leopard

has a wraparound dinette, doublewide helm

seat, and outdoor galley with barbecue grill and

Having a

20-something-

foot-wide

living room is

something you

don’t fi nd on

monohulls until

you pass the 100-

foot length, and

this is exactly why

catamarans are

proving popular

with liveaboard

owners.

PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) COURTESY LEOPARD CATAMARANS, COURTESY SEA RAY BOATS (2), COURTESY LEOPARD CATAMARANS

96 | BOATINGMAG.COM | FEBRUARY 2018