Leopard catamarans warranty: Actions speak louder ...

Part 2 of the repairs to warranty items that we handled after our Atlantic crossing. Raymarine navigation equipment and Flir camera failure. Flir warranty & Raymarine warranty support have been non existent.
It has been difficult dealing with Leopards warranty, we have spent the last month trying to get them to look at and understand the small remaining approvals thereafter they need to shed more bureaucracy and action the repairs and refund. The biggest issue has been the lack of communication.
These issues can be experienced on a Leopard 42, Leopard 45 as well. In fact potentially they could happen on a Lagoon catamaran or Bali catamaran or any yacht. So, if you are planning to go to an upcoming boat show. Especially to see a Leopard catamaran please speak to your yacht broker because most of theses are known issues, so we hope this info will be helpful to you in order to avoid drama and disaster during your ocean passages.

[@vdubtravels]

The amount of potential sales they will lose with this unbelievable fiasco, surely the MD / CEO of Leopard should be all over this and doing their upmost to deliver what you paid for.

[@tombobtail7706]

This looks like a dream compared to travel sketch in Trinidad.

[@stephenmccarthy4807]

As a potential catamaran buyer I am watching this with total disbelief on how the leopard management can be so indifferent to the owners of their product. Surely they are reading these comments and must understand the huge brand damage they are doing to themselves. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Totally unfair that these owners instead of enjoying their sailing they are dealing with the enormous stress of trying to fix their new boat your patience and determination is admirable.

[@trentspencer7991]

👏👏👏

[@liongod1000]

*_ Sadly the "Old Team" have all left and clearly the "New Management" seem to be Profit-orientated only! _*

[@leudast1215]

It's fashionable now adays to go out of business; the owner gets away with money laundering and everyone else pays for it in the end.

[@walkerimagery]

same. lost my business.

[@jeffulery5582]

@@trentspencer7991

[@juergenzenner4219]

Not a surprise. Never a LEOPARD. The cases of warranty violations are looooong. Good luck. 🍀 I press all thumbs or wait till you must sign a non disclosure contract to sign. Otherwise you won’t get anything.

[@ctoman5740]

Really sorry for your troubles. Looks like all leopard owners experiencing these problems should get together and start a big legal action against this company. I am sure the emotional problems are even worse than the physical problems you are all going through. Truly heartbreaking and unnecessary. I hope you can get sorted soon.

[@andrewr171]

Good grief.....people spend $1M and get DREADFUL/NON EXISTENT customer service.....What the hell are Leopard thinking..... Eveyone needs to stop buying Leopard anything until the company learns customer service 101......

[@liamsteel2926]

Have you seen Travel Sketch? Seems they may have gotten their Leopard around the same time, they have had terrible experiences 🙈

[@gdiup9241]

💯

[@howardbeer5214]

There is one solution !!!! DO NOT BUY A LEOPARD CAT EVER !

[@diskettencharly]

That problem with the port block is known for many years. Wondering why builders don't learn from known issues and fix them in later boats?

[@seanmitchell504]

The South African Marine Safety Authority (SAMSA) should be informed and investigate.

[@sv_endless6340]

I am NOT even speechless at this. South Africa is going downhill and companies is just out for getting money and then the honeymoon is over

[@SuperRubikC]

Whilst being in the market for a large catamaran and after visiting Leopard you can be assured that one catamaran I SHALL NOT BE BUYING is a Leopard. Reading many responses from Leopard owners and the problems they have experienced and are still experiencing I can only surmise that the products they produce are below standards one would expect from in a supposed luxury product. As far as I am concerned they aren't worth gambling my time or effort or even my money on.

[@Gladtobeleaving]

Given construction problems, life-raft boxes falling out of the bottom of their boats, and this experience, why would anyone buy a Leopard?

[@Captain-Paul]

Absolutely shocking - perhaps manufacturers will start to realise the gravity & consequences of their appalling build standards when people stop buying from them

[@MrLet0]

I watched your boat tour on the Barefoot Doctors channel. I remember all the great ideas you had, your enthusiasm when you gave your boat tour, we were really amazed as it really seemed like the perfect boat. It's a shame what's happened to you and your family, but at least you're all safe and nothing serious has happened to you personally. I really hope that you will look back on this incident as a bad memory and gain valuable experience that will enable you, in the near future, to build the perfect boat you have always dreamed of. Greetings from Algiers. Bon vent et bonne chance!!!

[@richardlevieux6491]

Leopard boats have to be the worst built of any, and it seems to be a common issue that R & C couldn't care less once you've paid yer money 😢

[@justwayne4785]

These’re always going to be problems, but it’s the companies response to those problems that can break a company. I’m astonished Leopard are selling catamarans these days, unless those buying them don’t watch KZbin. QC must be nonexistent for some of the boats I see coming out there.

[@user-gn3pf5op6j]

I live in Cape Town and I am surprised that Leopard/Robertson and Caine is still in business.

[@richardlevieux6491]

They are crooks

[@gdiup9241]

Charter companies keeping them in business.

[@dc1544]

That roller needs to be vertical not horizontal. That would raise it high enough to not hit side and put proper tension on it. Also a different type of roller is needed so the line goes on top and is held in place.

[@berndog3]

I've seen too many videos lately of persistent problems on catamarans with poor or no support from the builder or accessory suppliers. Also, the volume builders seem to be the biggest offenders. With the number of boats they produce, they should have their design and construction process down to a science. Maybe they can't keep up with the demand. Solution: more expensive boat from a lower volume producer who's very concerned about their reputation. No new cat is inexpensive but the old saying might be true here: you get what you pay for. Not meant to be in any way derogatory about this channel. We all bemoan their plight and wish them every success.

[@thomasbrasse3145]

This series of videos is good information, but mainly speaks to how the company stands behind their product. Something this complicated will have issues, it is how they are addressed that is key.

[@Skippernick1957]

Don’t touch a leopard cat. Check out the one that De laminated in Trinidad. Shocking.

[@Antipodean33]

There's another one in Australia that a fella just bought and during the survey they found many problems, including delamination. All that on a 6 year old boat

[@nortonmolly]

Thanks for putting this video together 👍👍

[@Jeremy-mu1tj]

BEWARE of Robertson and Caine.

[@horsesense6439]

Seems senior leadership must be unaware of these issues as one would imagine the real owners of Leopard & RC would be scrambling to rectify the situation...simply incredulous...where a responsible party abdicates responsibility. As said "actions speak louder" and even if Leopard does finally remedy the situation nothing can be done about the frustration, time lost due to "inaction", and consequential damage to the brand. A classic "own goal" by Leopard.

[@DaveAdams308]

Glad i found your channel, keep the videos coming and i hope you eventually get it all sorted.

[@MayonaiseSailor]

there are horrible stories with leopard being documented in other channels ... these guys have gone completely down

[@ssmith4045]

Maybe we should look at a class action against Raymarine, I'm in?

[@marktaylor484]

So sorry to hear of your continued struggles', the Marine Industry gets away with incredibly shoddy behaviour and the QC at Leopard is truly shocking.

[@stevenfogerty2110]

Wow, seriously disappointing. I was quite the Leopard fan. So that's Lagoon and Leopard off the list.

[@justwayne4785]

I’d say Lagoon have learned just how damaging bad publicity and poor response are.

[@simonpickering2665]

So what’s left on the list ?

[@stevenfogerty2110]

@@simonpickering2665 Mumbie. Nautitec. Perhaps Sunreef

[@redbovine]

I’d take the Neels off the list too. HH looks good but would like to see more of them.

[@JoeKyser]

Ah Leopard doesnt know math thats all. I would think they would use something like solid works.

[@jonathanponsford]

Unfortunately Leopard is owned by Travelopia which is owned unfortunately byKKR global investment

[@Sonnell]

Aside that Lepoard is truly not doing it should have done, what I do not get is, when you explain to us, right at the beginning, what would be the best solution, why do you let them make a bad repair? Tell them the first time exactly how they shall place that roller, and do not leave until it is done perfectly. This is very strange to me.

[@ianchristie2352]

I would have thought that the manufacturers would have sent a team from the factory to assess the problems,after all you have spent a lot of money on your boat.not only that anybody who is considering the purchase of one would now be reconsidering an alternative.

[@southernfriedkiwi7726]

Researching companies is key. Leopard are just building overpriced "RVs" for the charter market. Their QC is obviously sub par, to say the least. Also, don't buy any catamaran made in South Africa, in South Africa. They have no "lemon Laws" there, which is why their post sale warranty service is so unbelievably poor. They can just string people along with little to no consequences.

[@kokoon2530]

Thank you for sharing these info. It's inferior quality due to manufacturers fault. Quality control guys must have been sleeping on their work

[@leudast1215]

there are no "quality control guys"

[@kenbeiser4443]

Sold my Leopard 42 sail cat and bought a double-ender monohull Baba 40 that’s 20 years OLDER. She is solid tho.

[@MayonaiseSailor]

@5:30 is that a stress crack forming??? under the block ... leopards are stress cracking due to bad fiber works left and right from the looks of it

[@tombobtail7706]

They should have you in a 5 star hotel while your time is wasted.

[@-Bigjordan]

100% should ad that to the contract of sale

[@Chris.Tustain]

there are many examples of Leopard cats sailing with no / little issues, "sisu", "happy together" (before upgrading to performance cat) are two that come to mind as they have YT channel. It appears that these QC issues are a more recent affair with RC / Leopard; has anything changed at the factory in past few years (management / cost savings etc) ??

[@paulgilliland2992]

All of these issues are difficult on interpersonal relationships. No amount of remuneration can solve those problems. I’m curious how long did you run the boat before leaving and would any of this been resolved before you left.

[@anthonyrstrawbridge]

I do so wish the Ray Marine Flir system would just reboot reconfigure and display a clear upgraded image. I remember seeing grainy images like this decades ago when image sensors couldn't replace an iris but today the image sensor and lens should resemble better than 700 lines of resolution or even higher definition quality. Very distasteful image indeed.

[@MrJohnBos]

I'll never buy a Leopard catamaran nor will I buy any marine product related to Robertson and Caine, ever. Your problems with Raymarine is surprising. I have old Raymarine units now, I'll have to think twice when I get replacements.

[@traceysmallwood7489]

There are a lot of videos of Leopard not doing anything with warranty that tells me do not buy leopard

[@ianjackson6744]

take them to court, i have many stories for you if you want , i did QC work for them a while ago...

[@soldozer]

The block needs to go lower, not higher

[@colemj]

That cabin block was installed in the correct place, as evident by its riser being part of the cabin mold and the nonskid trimmed around it. The problem was the standup block on the deck was installed too far forward. If you had just simply moved that block more aft, everything would have lined up perfectly. While installing the standup block in the wrong position on your boat is Leopard's problem, it likely explains why they have never seen your issue before.

[@ooweesaler]

Some of those design issues are not confined to Leopard. How often do we see poorly thought out design on our own boats. A common saying on our monohull is the person that designed this never used it.

[@jus4funtim]

Well if I were in the market for a boat right now, I think I'd pass on a Leonard

[@keithdyar7122]

I'm the owner of a Leopard. I'm not sure what's going on with that turning block. It's not an issue on any other Leopard I've ever see. I'd say there must be something wrong with how this guy had it rigged. It's most definitely evident to anyone who knows what they are looking at, that the standoff is molded into the coach roof. There is a smooth surround and nonskid that surrounds it. There are numerous issues that this guy has that are aftermarket issues and should not be attributed to Robertson and Caine/Leopard.

[@faircompetition1203]

Clearly there is a lot wrong with that boat and it is so new as to still be under warrantee . Immagine what more they will find as it ages . Thank god I bought an old boat for a fraction of this amount .

[@dgrant2467]

I think you, the Travel Sketch folks (www.youtube.com/@travelsketch), and all of the other new Leopard owners you both know of with multiple warranty issues, have a good case for a class action lawsuit. All the best!

[@dune_tech]

Looking at all the issues objectively, I`d say a lot of issues came from after market works such as FLIR camera, diesel heater etc. having built many offroad 4x4s, a key lesson is "keep it simple stupid". the more after-market components, the more likely for things to go wrong. Shame you have to go through the trouble even though you have opted to pay the premium to let Leopard do the work.

[@Leosarebetter]

Frightening when you think of all the Leopards that have dangerous issues, imagine picking up your brand new Leopard intending to sail it back to wherever and being in the middle of the ocean, with your family on board, at night and one of their "special" Fups decides let go....

[@Jeremy-mu1tj]

Electrical system and windows a huge mess too

[@hartoz]

I'm sure you're aware that you're not the only one having issues with Leopard. After seeing all the issues, from leaks, bad GRP, fitting issues, I would rather buy a used boat from any other manufacturer than buy a new boat from Leopard.

[@Peo_Sahlin]

So, Lagoon and Leopard are no go brands.

[@johnq.public2621]

Apparently so......☹

[@christiane2869]

No, Leopard is not bad! I used to own leopard, 48. I sailed Mediterranean sea 3 years as a leaving on boat full time . I loved my boat. It is comfortable and reliable boat. Most important thing is it is easy to maintain because everything is really easily accessible not like lagoons! My boat didn’t have factory warranty anymore so don’t know how to deal with them. These stuff what you saw on the video is very regular things every single boat just because Leopard!

[@berndog3]

Maybe add FP to that list

[@Mechone11]

To me it looks like the block should have gone closer to the edge eliminating the chafe guard

[@allanjfotos]

Is Leopard going into receivership?

[@Jeremy-mu1tj]

I spent 200 k on factory failures un covered

[@GlosterSA]

Have a look at www.youtube.com/@travelsketch at what they are going through with their New Leopard 45 Catamaran Purchased in Cape Town they have been on the hardstand now for nearly 2 years with Warranty repairs Mast issues leaks faulty Instruments voids in the hull fiberglass to name a few. Same issues as you have with no response from Leopard and only empty promises verbally but nothing in writing.

[@rickpyne]

Leopard the IKEA of boats......

[@moonhand8311]

IKEA are great. It's clear what you get and at a commensurate price. Totally NOT like Leopard. Plus, IKEA do the best vegan meatballs and mash potato :-)

[@DaveAdams308]

It's such a shame leopard / R&C are so slack and I'm starting to suspect, devious. We are in the market for a boat and we love the design of the modern leopards but the build quality is utter crap. After watching travel sketch and their woes, and now your channel. We're getting very long fingers with regard to buying leopard. What owners of new boats have to go through after dropping big loot on a boat is disgusting.

[@br5927]

if you were not yutubers i wonder if leopard would have responded possitively and raymarine is crap avoid that brand

[@robertfontaine3650]

Looks like Leopard has gone with lowest cost on their assembly and little to no QA. Electrical, Mechanical, Build Quality, Seals. While there are always gremlins with a new boat it's a shame but not surprising that the lack of support matches the lack of QA in their product. I hope they passed their savings on to you. It's a kit boat.

[@alanparlane8493]

I have removed any leopard vessel from my consideration … your situation as a leopard owner appears not be isolated … I fell for your frustration

[@albertofourie3294]

What a nightmare of a sailboat! How could you ever again trust your lives with a shoddy built yacht as your Leopard?? If I was you, I'd demand R&C to return my $1 million or I'll see them in court.

[@leudast1215]

All the broken parts look very cheap and designed to fail... the bad RJ45 connectors make me feel embarrassed as an IT professional.

[@williambromley5451]

Get a match and collect the insurance…😡

[@markblake2699]

Sell it and buy nautitech. No biased but we have had very few issues with our boat.....I am sorry for your position and travel sketch crew also. Really a disgraceful way to run a business...

[@Lana_Warwick]

@4:25 Terrible, like someone with little knowledge/experience designed it all. @12:20 Weird how a 'hard working' tradesman has fingernails like that. Empathy to you 💜

[@DaveAdams308]

When was your boat manufactured? I was hoping most of this poor quality workmanship was limited to covid boats but it seems leopards build quality is still just a shit show.

[@travelsketch]

Covid had very little to do with it, dig a little deeper.

[@user-gq4ch1pd4c]

After seeing all this crap I've decided against Leopard.... Couldn't see myself paying a $million+ to get screwed over.

[@Antipodean33]

I'd love to know why you didn't go for a Balance cat, also a SA builder and from what I've seen their boats are well designed, well built and I've never seen or heard of any Balance owners who have any gripes about their purchase. Their cats also look good and have been proven ocean crossers. The fella trevor who sailed that gorgeous 60 foot Balance cat all over the world showed how great these boats are, he even did a single hand passage in somewhat challenging conditions. If you do a little research Leopard rate poorly in all areas, bad build quality, bad after sale service/communications and brand new boats literally falling apart from day one. It's also an expensive boat, it really is a terrible state of affairs, I'm unsure how I'd react to spending a small fortune only to receive an unsafe terribly built boat, I think if i was treated like many Leopard owners I'd be confronting them face to face and it would get ugly. To sell boats of that shodiness is an insult, it's a real F you type of deal

[@paulstephens5229]

I’m very sorry and I don’t mean to insult you but from what I’ve seen only a real fool buys a leopard at the moment, it’s a brand that has fallen way below industry standards, with a customer service dept that doesn’t exist, or is the worse on this planet.

[@ystebadvonschlegel3295]

Shockly bad customer service. Sadly it seems like this is more and more common in today’s world. Always an excuse. Leopard already has a sketchy reputation, sadly this is another nail in their coffin.

[@J_sLaXx]

telling you there has never been a problem when that block base was clearly molded into the deck is akin to flat out lying to your face. i remember seeing your enthusiasm for this cat and its disparaging seeing that enthusiasm completely void now... by a dumpster fire of a "high-end catamaran" and disgraceful customer service.

[@moonhand8311]

Why don't you post the social media contacts of the company that built your cat so other users of this site can post to them and ask questions? Ditto for all multihull magazines. Other sailing users will help you eradicate this utterly crap boat building, design and customer service.

[@travelsketch]

Robertson and Caine are making these boats, type it in a search engine. Links get the comment blocked.

[@leos8720]

I will never buy a leopard cat... Jesus 😮

[@sentenced2sail]

Lolz🤣😂

[@martinaston8044]

You should have done a bit more research before committing to a Leopard 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎

[@bermyFairn]

bad engineering.

[@scottgenius9189]

It looks like you got the Bad Lemon in the Basket keep Naming and Shaming Leopard are on their way out They are a inferior Boat building company Compared to to Balance , Nexus and bad Quality Control a Back yard job .Cats are over priced I will take a decently built 58 foot Bruce Roberts any day a

[@carlnelson4413]

My Leopard 50 is three years old and it has had fewer problems than any of the 4 other 50' + cruising boats I've owned. And I know at least another dozen L50 owners. They all love the boat. Either you've been incredibly unlucky or you're going about this the wrong way. That's not to say there aren't constant repairs. That's true of any cruising sailboat. A cruising sailboat is not like a luxury car that you drive out of the dealership and expect to go 3 years with no problems. As they say - "Cruising is boat repair in exotic locations". Yes, Leopard's warranty system is not great but it's better than their two major competitors. And it's taken care of me just fine in my three warranty issues. Life is too short to get twisted up over who should pay for a flaky paddlewheel sensor. Just stick in a new one and see if the problem goes away (I carry two spares for the paddlewheel sensor. Every cat builder uses the same brand. They have never been very reliable). Good luck with your 50. It's a wonderful boat. But if it gets too frustrating, just sell it. You're likely to get what you paid for it. They are in great demand.

[@travelsketch]

"why do a lot of paperwork, calls, aggravation and waiting around for a $500 repair" Oh Carl you love this game of shooting your mouth don't you. Unfortunately here you can't delete people. So essentially, new buyers don't have a reasonable warranty, they have system that processes them though "a lot of paperwork, calls, aggravation and waiting around" you are totally right Carl. Why EVER buy one of these boats new, when even the happiest buyers like yourself admit that they have to deal with systemic BS behaviour from the shipbuilder for the absolute smallest of issues. Wait until the claims exceed 100K and see how much fun they are to deal with. 🤩🤩🤩

[@carlnelson4413]

​@@travelsketch I don't disagree all that much with you. I've never known a boatbuilder with great warranty administration. It's not really a Leopard problem but a production boat builder problem. If you talk to Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot owners, Leopard looks great. I also think Leopard builds a much higher quality boat than either of those builders. If I was willing to spend an extra $1M for a performance cat I might get more warrranty support - or I might not. A much worse outcome that I've experienced with a previous monohull is to have your boatbuilder go out of business. Then there's no warranty, technical support, or spare parts. It's awful.

[@PondoSinatra680]

Yes it would be horrible if Leopard went out of business. What would Utopia and Sketch do without all that wonderful warranty support?

[@simonhantler8062]

it is partly your fault, do didnt have to buy a leopard. if you did your homework thoroughly you would have learnt theres a lot better options out there for not much more money.

[@normanboyes4983]

Victim blaming.

[@simonhantler8062]

If you read my post correctly which you obviously haven’t it says PARTLY Of course leopard make a pile of shit and have no integrity and the other big 4 aren’t any better. The answer is to not get yourself into this predicament by doing your research in the first place. It’s a lot of money so homework is crucial and worth paying more for.

[@danielprinsloo2917]

DO YOU WANT SOME CHEESE WITH THAT WHINE - Clearly you bought a Leopard cat with the budget of a Hobie Cat 14 with a jib Stop moaning , you sound like my ex wife . great channel - thanks

[@darrenford8988]

So you pay over a million dollars and get a pile of shit..what a bargain not.