Lagoon 38

The Lagoon 38 is a sailing catamaran of 43'1" (13.12 m) overall on a 21'10" (6.65 m) beam, drawing 3'10" (1.17 m) and displacing 22,579 lbs (10,200 kg) unladen. She is built in three- and four-cabin versions with two to four heads, so the same hull can be specified as an owner's boat for a couple or as a full-house family layout. Tankage is 106 gal (400 L) of fuel and 79 gal (300 L) of fresh water as standard, with an optional additional tank of 200 L (53 US Gal) that most cruising owners will want on the order form.

She is engineered around owner-operated cruising rather than around a spec sheet. VPLP Design drew the hull, Patrick le Quément the exterior and Nauta Design the interior, and the whole package is sized so that two people can leave, sail and return without a third pair of hands. The 3'10" (1.17 m) draft is the quiet enabler here — it opens up thin water, from the Bahamas banks to shoal Mediterranean anchorages, that deeper boats have to stand off from.

Under power the 38 carries Twin Yanmar (2 x 29 HP), for a maximum of 8 knots (under power) and 6-7 knots (under sail/power) as the cruising figure. Those engines are sized for efficiency rather than authority, so close-quarters work in a strong crosswind is done thoughtfully; set wide on the 21'10" (6.65 m) beam, though, they still let you steer her into a slip on the throttles alone.

Under sail she carries 77.7 m² (836 sq ft) upwind — a full-batten mainsail with roach at 50 m² (540 sq ft) and a self-tacking jib at 23 m² (237 sq ft). That jib is the single most important item aboard for a shorthanded crew: tacking becomes one motion at the wheel, with nothing to grind and no one sent forward. A square-top mainsail at 56 m² (599 sq ft) and a Code 0 at 59 m² (581 sq ft) are the options that fill in light air. Air draft is 19.78 m (64'11"), worth measuring against the fixed bridges on your intended route before you order.

The 38 is offered in three- and four-cabin versions. The three-cabin arrangement is the owner's layout: a large forward berth with an en suite head and a separate shower compartment aft, which is what makes weeks aboard feel civilized rather than like camping. The four-cabin version trades that privacy for capacity and suits larger families or a charter-minded program. Nauta Design handled the interior, and the saloon is organized around light and sightlines; Lagoon offers two saloon table configurations — one large table, or a two-table setup — so you can specify her for the way you actually entertain.

The centerpiece is the sliding glass door between saloon and cockpit. Open it and the two become one continuous living space that Lagoon rates for up to ten people dining together, which is why a 43-footer eats like a much larger boat and why the cook is never exiled below. Extended, specially adapted transoms make stepping aboard from a dinghy, a dock or the water genuinely easy, and the flybridge helm sits high enough to give you a working view of both your sail plan and your anchorage.

The 38 is the entry point to Lagoon's sailing catamaran range, sitting below the four-cabin 42 Millenium and the 45'5" 43. What separates her from both is beam: at 21'10" (6.65 m) she is markedly narrower than her 25-foot-beam sisters, which means less bridgedeck square footage but a footprint that fits a standard catamaran slip in far more marinas. Against the cross-brand field — the Fountaine Pajot Isla 40, Bali 4.0 and Leopard 40 — she competes on shorthanded handling and shoal draft rather than on sail-away performance, and like all of them she is a boat for owner-operators, not a size that requires crew.

Buy the 38 if you sail mostly as a couple, want to reach anchorages that deeper boats skip, and would rather have a slip you can always get than bridgedeck you use twice a year. The self-tacking jib and twin engines mean you will actually go out on a Wednesday evening, which is the whole argument for her. Buy the Lagoon 43 instead if you cruise long and far with a full boat: her 166 gal (630 L) of fresh water against the 38's standard 79 gal (300 L) is the spec that decides how long you can stay away, and standard water is genuinely tight here for a boat that seats ten. And if your ambition is to pass other boats, look at a performance multihull — the 38 is drawn for stability and easy handling, and she is honest about it.