With a displacement of 61,730 lb and a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 20, it’s a heavy-volume cruiser rather than a featherweight racer. Even so, published test speeds show that it can cover ground when the breeze cooperates.
Design and Construction
The hulls are vacuum-bagged, balsa-cored fiberglass, a construction method intended to keep voids down and control resin content closely. The keels are filled with closed-cell foam to add buoyancy and slow moisture migration.
The bridgedeck occupies roughly 80 percent of the lateral deck area, creating a vast central volume. The trade-off is a half-load bridgedeck clearance of only 3ft 3in, favoring accommodation over open-ocean bridgedeck clearance.
Empty, the boat sits just over 53,000 lb. With a near-20,000 lb payload, that rises to about 73,000 lb, confirming its brief as a long-term liveaboard or charter platform. The masthead stands 96 feet above the water, and the boom is 20 feet high. The spars are good old-fashioned aluminum rather than exotic materials.
Rig, Sailing Performance, and Handling
The standard sail plan is a fractional sloop carrying 2,010 sq ft of sail. An optional sprit and screecher are advised for anyone looking for more pace off the wind.
All control lines—including the single sheet for the self-tending jib—lead to three electric Lewmar winches beside the helm. That arrangement makes short-handed maneuvering plausible despite the boat’s size.
The hydraulic helm provides little tactile connection to the wetted surface three stories below. Testers therefore counsel keeping a close eye on the wind instruments and rudder-angle indicator.
In 20 knots apparent, the boat made 9 knots at a 60-degree angle and 7 knots close-hauled at 40 degrees in flat water. On a broad reach in more than 15 knots, however, speed fell below 5.5 knots at 120 degrees—a typical catamaran profile in which deep angles aren’t its forte.
Power and Electrical Systems
Standard power comes from a pair of 75 hp Yanmar diesels on saildrives, turning three-blade fixed propellers. At the maximum 2,800 rpm, testers recorded 8.9 knots. At a cruising speed of 2,000 rpm, both engines still delivered just over 7 knots.
Owners report that the most efficient arrangement under power is to run a single propeller at 2,000 rpm. In testing, that produced 5.7 knots and is said to burn just over one gallon per hour.
House power comes from 6 x 210 AH batteries, with 2 x 100 AH engine-start batteries. It’s a bank sized for the boat’s considerable hotel loads.
Accommodations and Deck Layout
The galley and saloon together span 750 square feet, an extraordinary footprint finished with cherry-laminate bulkheads and Austrian walnut cabin soles. Headroom is a generous 6ft 6in throughout.
The forward berths measure 4ft 9in by 6ft 6in, while the aft berths are 5ft 1in by 6ft 6in. A further 4ft 9in by 6ft 6in berth sits on the bridgedeck, providing multiple double bunks across the layout.
An enormous flybridge, sheltered by a targa top that stretches across nearly half the boat’s length, creates an upper social deck. A hydraulically controlled aft platform lowers into the water for tender storage and swimming.
The Verdict
The Leopard 58 is a thoroughly modern volume catamaran: heavily built, enormously accommodating, and engineered for owner or charter life rather than raw performance. Its bridgedeck and tankage numbers mark it as a long-range liveaboard, while the helm-side winch layout keeps handling manageable. The price of that scale is a falloff in speed on a broad reach and detached hydraulic steering.
Pros
- Vast 750 sq ft saloon and galley, with 6ft 6in headroom
- All control lines led to electric winches beside the helm
- Vacuum-bagged, balsa-cored hulls and foam-filled keels
- Reported efficient single-engine motoring at about 1 gal/hr
- Hydraulic aft platform for tender storage and swimming access
Cons
- Only 3ft 3in of bridgedeck clearance at half load
- Broad-reach speed falls below 5.5 knots in a moderate breeze
- Hydraulic helm provides little rudder feel
