http://www.MultihullsQuarterly.com 35acceleration can often be muted
or subtle. That wasn’t the case with
the Leopard 50. The big mainsail
and 125-percent genoa with a total
area of 1,750 square feet, packed
plenty of power to get the cat mov-
ing smartly. The wind was blowing at
about 12 knots and we were making
7.5 to 8 sailing up wind at an appar-
ent angler of about 50 degrees. We
threw the big cat through a few
tacks and determined that it would
easily tack inside 100 degrees and
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degrees. But, a big cat like this is
happier sailing at about 50 degrees
AWA instead of being pinched.
Calvyn was happy to let me
run the boat so I took the helm and
ran through a series of tacks and
jibes without assistance from the
crew. The boat can easily be singe-
handed if the autopilot is working
properly and the electric winches
are functioning. Once you get the
lay of the land, all lines and sheets
are where they should be so even
jibing in the rising breeze was not a
huge challenge on my own.
Off the wind the 50 was more
in her element and at 110 degrees
apparent it really showed the per-
formance built into the design and
sail plan. The breeze was building
and the dark clouds of the advanc-
ing squall were rising over the west-
ern horizon but we carried on and
tried to get the boat to maintain 10
knots while accelerating to over 11
in the puffs.
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dark clouds gathered and the radar
images on our phones showed an
alarming number of dark red thun-
der head patches. We raced back
into the inlet and quickly dowsed
the sails. The mainsail fell neatly into
the stack-pack sail cover and the
genoa rolled away with the press of
a button.
With the throttles down, we hightailed it back to
the marina and managed to get the big boat into its
marina slip in a piping crosswind just in time to beat
the rain, thunder and lightning. The Leopard 50 was
a pleasure to handle under power and showed a
good turn of speed at over 8 knots when we were in
a hurry. Under sail it performed above average for
a modern production cat intended for the charter
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ant cruising speed and the 50 can do that in the right
conditions. Plus, the boat is set up so it can be single-
handed, which is a requirement for couples cruising
on their own.