Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 3) Ship Gallery | OceanShooter

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Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 3). Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship images wallpaper gallery 3. Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship photos and pictures wallpaper collection 3. Catamarans have been around long enough that their sheer size and the vast expanses of living quarters they provide should no longer surprise us the way they once did. Yet still they do, especially when a builder incorporates a design wrinkle that adds yet more living and working space. Lagoon Catamarans introduced the concept of the flying bridge to its line of cruising catamarans on the Lagoon 440, and the new Lagoon 500 exploits it to the full--in this case, on a platform that's designed for luxury ocean cruising in either a private-ownership or a charter context. The flying bridge is a dramatic solution to the old problems of where to put the steering station and whether it's best protected behind the bridgedeck saloon or exposed on the quarter, on the port side, on the starboard side, or on both sides. Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 3). Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship images wallpaper gallery 3. Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship photos and pictures wallpaper collection 3. Every location has its boosters, but the flybridge trumps much of the debate, although it does add another factor to the appearance equation: Sun protection over the flybridge adds another visual layer and requires the boom, and the entire mainsail, to be elevated farther to clear it. Perhaps that was sufficient reason why the Lagoon 500 we saw during the 2006 Boat of the Year (BOTY) testing had no bimini over the flybridge, just a spray dodger over the steering station. According to Nick Harvey, director of Lagoon America, a bimini with windshield is provided standard. Being at the helm so high above sea level takes a little getting used to. Still, there can be no doubt the elevation is a great help in negotiating tricky entrances in clear waters. A guaranteed plus is having the helm on centerline. You don't have the parallax error inherent in steering from an off-center station: You know the boat really is going where you're pointing it.With the boat's control station removed, complete with the sailhandling equipment, the traditional cockpit isn't the cockpit any more but purely a lounging and dining area, and it's well sheltered beneath a solid roof. Its communication with the bridge is via three deck hatches; the only vestige of sailboat gear is one end of the mainsheet, led to a winch so it can be dumped from below if a gust comes up. "There's no possibility for the sheets and halyards to become entangled in the feet of owners or guests relaxing in the cockpit," says Harvey. Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 3). Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship images wallpaper gallery 3. Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship photos and pictures wallpaper collection 3.