I. From Lagoon’s website:

The Lagoon 380; a new era for catamaran design

The Lagoon 380 represents a turning point in the layout of Lagoon catamarans. Hull number one was produced in 1998. Since that time, well over five hundred 380’s have been manufactured and are now spread around the globe.

Lagoon manufacturing has been around for over two decades and was founded in 1984 as a natural offshoot from Jeanneau’s racing division (Jeanneau Techniques Avancées). That division had already made its mark in the world circuits of racing as to both monohulls and multihulls. In fact, according to Lagoon’s website, Jeanneau’s racers Pierre Ier and Fleury Michon still hold winning records that remain unbeaten to this day.

Lagoon’s catamaran expertise is well-known. For example, Lagoon was retained to construct the extraordinary trimarans for the movie Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner.

Today, Lagoon is part of the CNB division of Groupe Bénéteau (world leader in sailing yachts manufacturing), and offers a complete and comprehensive range of cruising catamarans designed by renowned architects Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost (VPLP), whose achievements on the racing multihull scene are second to none.

The first generation of Lagoon catamarans was launched from 1987 to 1996 with the Lagoons 55, 47, 57 and 67: all ocean cruising private yachts.

Also, Lagoons 37 and 42 were designed for the charter market. The production was limited at first to establish strong guidelines by which the brand could be recognized, with emphasis on high-quality construction and design expertise with better than average performance. These are still Lagoon’s fundamental values, according to their literature.

You can read all of this and much more about Lagoon at their website. Click here for the Lagoon home page: http://www.cata-lagoon.com/index_uk.php

Things progressed, and in 1998, Lagoon launched a new generation of catamarans that instantly dominated the market.

Lagoon attributes its success to these basic design principles: maximum protection in the sun, maximum use of space available (hence the vertical salon windows, now a Lagoon trademark), more comfort, and paying careful attention to trends and feedback from its customers.

Fast forward: in 2003 Lagoon grew to become the world leader in cruising catamarans due to its continued dedication to innovative design and quality production. Today, Lagoon has a distribution network of more than sixty dealers worldwide.

So where does the Lagoon 380 fit into this fantastic legacy? Well, it’s no surprise that the 380’s original design represents a major turning point for Lagoon in 1998.

The 380 was a brand new layout that resulted from the culmination of all prior experience since Lagoon’s inception in 1984 and the new model incorporated major changes and a departure from the design of the popular Lagoon 410 that preceded the 380.

In short, the 380 represented Lagoon’s best research, and it marked a change in overall design that was very well planned: access to engines from the transoms instead of engines under the bunks; larger cockpits with table and bench seat; electric windlass, a rigid walkway over the trampoline; wider side decks and many other features that are now the “standard of the industry’ and still present in brand new Lagoon models being introduced to this day in 2010.

The 380 was visionary and the product of renowned architects, Van Peteghem and Lauriot-Prevost.

As such, in light of that, it is no surprise that the Lagoon 380 was an instant "smash-hit" and still serves as arguably the best laid-out production catamaran ever made in its class and price range.

And although the original deck and layout design of the Lagoon 380 has remained virtually unchanged over the years, many improvements and options have been offered on newer and newer 380 models, eventually ushering in the 380 S2 that includes significant upgrades in fit and finish, and some interior design changes as well.

Some of these new design changes are more attractive to weekend boaters and charter applications, however, and not necessarily advantageous to those cruising full-time and doing lots of offshore work.

Luckily, Indigo Moon is the perfect generation 380 for our needs as a full-time cruiser. She is hull number 66 and she is “old” enough in the production run to have had all the new-model-production-bugs worked out, but “young” enough not to have been changed too much toward a weekender and charter vessel.

Let’s take a closer look at Indigo Moon in particular.

II. Indigo Moon’s life to date:

She is hull number 66, with serial number FR-CNB38066L001.

The “FR-CNB” part of the serial number means she was manufactured at the Lagoon factory in France, utilizing all of the cutting-edge methods for creating very strong fiberglass vessels that are still lightweight enough to provide superior performance.

The “38066” designates the vessel as Lagoon 380, hull number 66.

The “L001” indicates that the vessel was completed in December (A = January, through L = December) and the year of completion was 2001.

As such, Indigo Moon was born in December of 2001.

We are the second owners. The vessel was originally ordered by a couple from West Palm Beach, Florida, and when the construction was complete, they had the vessel delivered on its own bottom across the Atlantic to South Florida in early 2002.

Her original name was “Karianne” in honor of the owner’s wife.

After the vessel arrived in perfect shape in Ft. Lauderdale, the owner soon contracted with various yacht service companies to professionally install a generator, air conditioning, and he also added equipment such as the life raft and EPIRB.

Unfortunately for the new owners, however, their personal plans changed quickly and the vessel was put up for sale. The boat was never put into use and was virtually in brand-new condition when we purchased it.

On July 10, 2003, when I surveyed and sea trialed the vessel during the sale negotiations, the port engine had 325 hours and the starboard engine had 311 hours, and the generator had 43 hours.

We bought Karianne in August, 2003 and I set out to continue the process of adding equipment necessary for cruising and outfitting the boat to suit our tastes.

While the boat was still in Ft. Lauderdale, I had the new VHF radio and RAM mic installed, along with the Furuno 24 Mile Radar and Combination GPS plotter with the custom mount at the helm. I had displays installed at both the helm and navigation station. I also had DOYLE sails build a custom solid-purple spinnaker for the boat.

Soon after completing those tasks, I hired a captain knowledgeable in Lagoon catamarans to sail with me and a friend to deliver the boat to New Orleans where it would then live for a year and a half while we prepared to cruise.

Upon arriving in New Orleans, I had the boat hauled and had the saildrives removed and rebuilt with all new seals, including brand new diaphragm boots that seal the saildrive and the hull, making sure we were in good shape to go ocean sailing.

For the next year and a half, the boat was very lightly used on weekends in the equipment-kindly brackish waters of Lake Pontchartrain, during which time we also performed the superstitiously very-necessary ceremony at sea to pay homage to the Gods and with good luck rename Karianne to the new name of Indigo Moon.

We invented the new name “out of thin air” and are the very first to ever document a vessel under that name, but since that time, a few “copy cats” have emerged. Nonetheless, there is only one original Indigo Moon and she is our Lagoon 380 now known far and wide around the world via the very popular Indigo Moon website.

Indigo Moon has been prominently featured in Lagoon’s new owner’s magazine LAGOON(S) that is distributed worldwide. For a look at that magazine and the Indigo Moon article, click here: Escape

Back to her history . . .

I began to upgrade and add equipment while in New Orleans: a bigger faster dinghy, high output water maker, and other major equipment.

On January 1, 2005, we departed New Orleans and never looked back, covering over 17,000 miles in the last five years and all the while continuing to add systems and equipment as we cruised. I made decisions carefully. Equipment was added, based upon hands-on experience while underway.

This has resulted in what Indigo Moon is today: a culmination of pride of ownership and continual refinement. She is now what we consider to be a finished “work of art” lacking not one single thing we needed to have the catamaran of our dreams.

I could write a book on all the things I have done to bring Indigo Moon into the form she is today, and a full recitation is beyond the scope of what can be produced here. But the bottom line is that we have been smart and meticulous in our efforts.

Some used boats have been modified severely, such as cutting large openings in load-bearing bulkheads, or being completely altering the original layout, etc. to the point of being somewhat of a “hatchet job” in some cases.

We have been very cautious in adding features, equipment, and effecting customizations in such a way that Indigo Moon retained her full structural integrity and layout, all so as to both make her great and concurrently protect her personality as an authentic and beautiful 2001 Lagoon 380 Owner’s Version.

III. Advantages of Indigo Moon’s age in the production run of Lagoon 380’s

At hull number 66, Indigo Moon represents a specific era in the development of the 380. It was manufactured prior to the introduction of the “new and improved” Lagoon 380 S2 model, yet was far enough along in the production learning curve to be free of the niggling little problems that always beset a brand new model of any product.

As far as I am concerned, the new Lagoon 380 S2 is, although beautiful indeed, not as well-suited for ocean work and live aboard cruising.

For one thing, in Indigo Moon's generation 380, the bulkheads have more surface area and the doorways are smaller, making it a stiffer structure. Doorways on my 380 have raised thresholds and floor panels are smaller and better contained. On the 380 S2 the doorways through bulkheads have been made significantly wider and the cabin soles are now uninterrupted. This makes for a more “open” spacious feel in the hulls and cabins, but it makes for at least the appearance of less rigidity in the overall matrix of the vessel.

Also, large picture windows were added in the sides of the hulls on the new 380 S2. While these are nice at anchor on a charter boat, or a weekender in a marina, the thought of those components creating large holes in the hulls just plain unnerves me. I am sure that Lagoon has tested the windows and that they are probably rated to take the seas, but still it is a complication in the design nonetheless: a possible catastrophic failure point that was not there before. As such, that means a less-durable less-solid hull in my mind.

In Melissa's opinion, the cabin is meant for sleep and not for taking in the view. There is a small port in Indigo Moon's cabin if you want to see what's going on outside. Otherwise, come upstairs for a big view!

And my biggest “pet peeve” of all: the huge forward storage locker in the starboard hull of my generation 380 was invaded and reduced significantly for the mere purpose of enlarging the owner’s shower to a shower so huge that you will have trouble not flying around in it while offshore in big seas . . . literally. It’s just plain too big.

The separate, full-size stand alone shower with seat and door on Indigo Moon is already huge by yachting standards and there was no benefit at all to doubling its size for the mere purpose of impressing weekend sailors at the boat show.

On the contrary, the best use of that extra space is demonstrated Indigo Moon by allowing a workshop with workbench, and room for a sizable watermaker in the starboard forward locker, not to mention ample room for fishing rod storage and other uses. When I looked into the small forward locker on a 380 S2 I almost cried to see such a valuable space invaded and ruined for no truly legitimate gain in interior comfort within the shower.

And there is one more thing that I saw as a step in the wrong direction with the 380 S2 and that is the aft engine compartments. On Indigo Moon, the engine lockers are huge and unobstructed. On the new 380 S2, when you open the hatch, you see a continuous wooden deck built over the engine. The deck has removable center panels that allow access, but the remaining, fixed areas of the deck greatly reduced access to the engines.

The new design adds storage space on top of the engine. And, it provides more sound- deadening of engine noise as an aside.

But, those “advantages” are not worth the original rewards that were lost. Basically, the engines are now under a bunk again! Access is greatly diminished. And if you use the storage areas, you have to then move things out of the way to get to the engines. And, you don’t need that extra storage space anyway. I cannot overstate the sheer joy of having unfettered engine access on my generation of Lagoon 380.

Of course, some of the changes in the 380 S2 were smart and beneficial to cruisers, but all things considered, I am very happy we wound up with hull number 66! It has been a solid, confidence-inspiring performer offshore, and the space is laid out perfectly for our application and full time cruising style.

IV. Summary

Serious buyers are certainly invited to spend an entire day examining Indigo Moon with me to understand and appreciate its original attributes and new improvements that have come together to make it a winner for us.

Who knows, it may just be exactly what you are looking for!