Launched during the Cannes Yachting Festival last September, the Lagoon Eighty 2 embodies excellence in design and luxury for customers who want to “live on the sea”. Flagship of the Lagoon range, designed like its predecessors by VPLP, the Eighty 2 has been meticulously crafted in every detail to make it a veritable production yacht. Mathias Maurios, Partner Naval Architect at VPLP, talks us through the salient issues that guided its design.
Successor to the Seventy 7 at the top of the Lagoon range, this new catamaran is a standard-bearer for the values of elegance and luxury the brand holds so dear. At 23.91 metres long, it was designed to be the largest vessel possible under the EC standard for recreational craft. During the design phase, VPLP was minded to focus on the idea of movement unhindered by any structural elements, and on increasing the size of the outdoor living areas both on the main deck, fore and aft, and on the flybridge.
“With Guillaume Rey, who managed this project at VPLP,” says Mathias Maurios, “we did a ton of work to make the aft crossbeam disappear. Usually it serves as a bench seat. Overcoming this technical challenge resulted in an unrestricted perspective almost 20 metres long. The forward cockpit is also flush with the saloon. Even if we could see the 3D images of the boat clearly in our minds, this vast open layout completely floored all of us when we discovered the boat in Cannes.”
Deploying the 22 m² stern platform, which is wider than the space between the hulls, plays a major part in giving a sense of space hitherto unknown on a vessel of this size. On the practical side of things, the platform extends astern in two sections and permits the use of a 21-foot or 6.6-metre tender for greater versatility when cruising.
The dimensions of the flybridge were also revised upwards. With a surface area of 50 m², it allows the entire crew to enjoy an exceptional view at moorings or underway. It also provides an excellent vantage point for monitoring the sail plan of 338 m² on the wind, comprising mainsail, genoa and staysail. The 3D hauling points eliminate the need for cumbersome sheet tracks and ensure the sail can always be trimmed to the angle of the apparent wind. All the lines lead efficiently to five winches placed between the two steering wheels. The Lagoon Eighty 2 has no blind spots at the helm and a direct view of the sail plan, like the one from the bow net.
Anticipate each detail
Thorough digital modelling, entrusted to Vincent Combaut at VPLP, also allowed the team to look at a wide range of details, and formed the basis for efficient discussions with Lagoon’s engineering and design department. Integrating solar panels, concealing the lashings around the net – the latter flush with the deck – and refining the design of the companionway and handrail to the bridge are just a few examples of the many parts that were subjected to rigorous modelling.
“The ambition to create a yacht like this demands you deal with each detail one by one, and encourages you to be creative,” says Mathias Maurios. “The divans which conceal the mooring windlasses are yet another example of the clear lead that Lagoon endeavours to maintain in its market.” Lastly, the possibility offered to customers to furnish their catamaran with loose furniture is no mean feature of the Lagoon Eighty 2.
Everywhere, both inside and out, the level of the finishings is worthy of the standing of this latest iteration of the range, and combines to produce an immaculate environment almost as big as a shore dwelling. For instance, the owner’s cabin has more than 25 m² of floor space and opens to the outdoors via a hull door. Certified for 14 people in category A, the Lagoon Eighty 2 is available in 4 or 5 cabin versions, with galley above or below deck.
