You want a catamaran you can leave the dock with on a Friday evening, just the two of you, and still put ten people around a table on Saturday afternoon. That is a narrow target, and it is exactly where the Lagoon 38 lands — 43'1" overall on a 21'10" beam, with a sail plan built so a couple never has to call for help, and an interior Lagoon designed around gathering rather than around a spec sheet.
She arrived carrying real recognition, too: best-new-sailboat and multihull-of-the-year honours across the British, American and French marine press in 2025 and 2026.
Who the Lagoon 38 Is For
She is built for owner-operators. If you cruise shorthanded most of the season and load the boat with family or friends for a few weeks a year, the 38 is aimed squarely at you. Lagoon rates her berths at six to ten, and her CE certification runs A:8 / B:12 / C:16 / D:20 — ocean category A for eight people aboard, which tells you what she was engineered to take.
The 3'10" draft matters more than most buyers expect. It opens up thin water — the Bahamas banks, the back side of the Keys, shoal Mediterranean anchorages — where deeper monohulls have to stand off and take the dinghy in.
Layout and Accommodation
The 38 is offered in three- and four-cabin versions, with two to four heads depending on how she is specified. The three-cabin arrangement gives you a proper owner's layout: a large forward berth with an en suite head and a separate shower compartment aft, which is the arrangement you want when two people are living aboard for weeks rather than nights. The four-cabin version trades that privacy for capacity and suits larger families or a charter-minded program.
Nauta Design handled the interior, and it shows in the way the saloon is organized around light and sightlines rather than around cramming in another locker. Lagoon also offers two saloon table configurations — one large table or a two-table setup — so you can specify the boat for how you actually entertain.
Deck and Living Spaces
The centerpiece is the sliding glass door between the saloon and the cockpit. Open it and the two spaces become one continuous living area that Lagoon rates for up to ten people dining together. This is the feature that makes a 43-footer feel like a much larger boat, and it is the reason the cook is never exiled below while everyone else is outside.
The extended transoms are the other quiet win. They are shaped for genuinely easy boarding — from the dinghy, from the dock, from the water after a swim — and on a cruising catamaran that gets used a dozen times a day, every day.
Patrick le Quément drew the exterior, and the flybridge helm sits high enough to give you a real view of your sail plan and your anchorage.
Under Sail and Under Power
VPLP Design drew the hulls, and the sail plan is honest about its job. Upwind sail area is 77.7 m² (836 sq ft), carried on a full-batten mainsail with roach at 50 m² (540 sq ft) and a self-tacking jib at 23 m² (237 sq ft). That self-tacking jib is the single most important item on the boat for a shorthanded crew — tacking becomes one motion at the wheel with nothing to grind and nothing to trip over.
If you want more power, the square-top mainsail is optional at 56 m² (599 sq ft) and a Code 0 at 59 m² (581 sq ft) fills in the light-air gap. Air draft is 19.78 m (64'11"), which is worth measuring against the fixed bridges on your intended cruising route before you order.
Under power she carries twin Yanmars at 2 x 29 HP, with a maximum of 8 knots (under power) and 6-7 knots (under sail/power) as the cruising number.
Systems and Build
Fuel capacity is 106 gal (400 L) and standard fresh water is 79 gal (300 L), with an optional additional tank of 200 L (53 US Gal) — order it. Lagoon backs the boat with a 7-year structural warranty, a 5-year engine warranty on the Yanmars, and a 3-year general warranty, all with exclusions that your dealer should walk you through line by line.
Specifications
| Specification | Lagoon 38 |
|---|---|
| Overall Length | 43'1" (13.12 m) |
| Beam | 21'10" (6.65 m) |
| Draft | 3'10" (1.17 m) |
| Displacement (Unladen) | 22,579 lbs (10,200 kg) |
| Engines | Twin Yanmar (2 x 29 HP) |
| Max Speed | 8 knots (under power) |
| Cruise Speed | 6-7 knots (under sail/power) |
| Fuel Capacity | 106 gal (400 L) |
| Water Capacity | 79 gal (300 L) |
| Cabins / Heads | 3-4 Cabins / 2-4 Heads |
| Hull Type | Sailing Catamaran |
Honest Trade-Offs
The 21'10" beam is modest for a modern cruising catamaran, and that cuts both ways. It makes her far easier to place in a marina than her 25-foot-beam sisters, and it means less bridgedeck square footage than a Lagoon 43 gives you. Decide which of those you will feel more often.
Standard water capacity of 79 gal (300 L) is the real constraint on a boat rated for ten. The optional tank and a watermaker turn a weekend boat into a cruising boat.
Twin 29 HP engines are sized for efficiency rather than authority. In a strong crosswind at the fuel dock you will use them thoughtfully rather than casually. And the sail plan is drawn for stability and easy handling — if your ambition is to pass other boats, look at a performance multihull instead.
Living With Her
The reason to buy a 38 rather than something larger is that she does not require anyone but you. No crew, no professional captain, no third person needed to get the mainsail up. The self-tacking jib, the flybridge helm and the twin engines mean a couple can dock her, sail her and anchor her without raised voices.
Her dockage footprint — 43'1" by 21'10" — fits a standard catamaran slip in far more marinas than a wider boat will, which is a practical freedom on a busy coast in season. Engine access under the aft berths is the routine maintenance chore you will do most often, so open both hatches on your sea trial and see how you feel about reaching the filters.
Buy her because you want to spend more days on the water with fewer moving parts between you and the anchorage. That is what she is for.