New Yacht Handover Help for Owners

Going through the handover process is a huge step in yacht ownership. We went through it with our Leopard 45 Catamaran, and with that experience and the warranty saga that ensured, we learned a lot about what to look for.

This blog contains a compilation of some of the resources we've created based on our research and experience, to help you along the way. It’s not meant to alarm anyone, but instead is rooted in our belief that sharing information openly is the key to helping one another make informed decisions, and find ways to mitigate problems before they compound.

Catamaran handover checklist

This new catamaran handover check list was developed based on issues we noticed were being shared frequently by owners of Leopard 45 and Leopard 50 models. It's not an exhaustive list of what you should test, check and examine aboard during the handover period, but it gives you a good place to start.

• Excel

• PDF

• Open Source

While it was primarily written for Leopard Catamarans, we've uploaded the handover checklist in multiple formats so that you can download and edit it to include your own notes or information. If you're buying a catamaran built by another production yacht manufacturer, such as Seawind, Fountaine Pajot (FP), Nautitech, Lagoon, Xquisite or Bali, there may be issues specific to that brand to check, like bulkheads or front-of-hull joins.

For anyone who’d like to share their handover advice or checklists, feel free to reach out as we’re happy to publish information that’s helpful to others on the Travel Sketch website.

Tap testing the hull

As mentioned in our handover check list and the video above, we think it's worth tap testing the hull when handing over a fiberglass boat. It is an affordable and accessible way to perform a quick check for discrepancies in the hull, which could be a void, delamination or dry fiberglass. If something sounds odd you can ask then go down the road of asking for an expert opinion, or doing further non-invasive testing, like an ultra-sonic scan. The final step is invasive testing, i.e. ripping the hull open with a grinder, as we had to do after hull scans detected issues in our bridge deck.

We go into more detail on how to tap test in this video, including showing what kinds of sounds you're listening for, what type of hammer to use and what else tap testing can be useful for.

Implications of yacht brokers on warranty

After the unbelievable saga we went through dealing with warranty issues on our Leopard Catamaran, we did a series of three videos expressing our thoughts on the new yacht warranty and the implication your choice of broker can have. Looking in the background, you can see evidence of the warranty works going on around us, as the windows are missing.

Part 1 started with an update on our situation at that time, followed by an explanation of our feelings in the moment towards Robertson & Caine as the boat builder and Leopard Catamarans as a yacht broker. We discussed opinions on some things we thought were going wrong, what had been done right and how they may be able to improve moving forward.

In Part 2, we discuss the implications of which broker or entity you choose to buy a new yacht or catamaran from. We encouraged future yacht buyers to ask the right questions, for example:

1. Who will pay for my warranty repairs if they exceed X amount? 

2. Where will the money be coming from?

3. How much capital does the yacht broker need to have to support issues that may arise?

4. If you need to litigate to get paid for warranty rectification by the chosen broker, are they likely to pay out or close, declare bankruptcy and reopen?

Part 3 is more specific to Leopard Catamarans that are still under warranty, but may also be of interest to people considering which catamaran to buy and from which broker.

Shortly after arriving in Trinidad, we also made a video that detailed what our Robertson & Caine warranty was worth financially, and our experience of going through the process up to that point.