Hi Rod,
I took notice of of your critique of the Lagoon powercats, and I agree with you. But as you said the exterior design was appealing, it certainly was to me

Would you care to venture as to how you might redesign this vessel to have a more appealing and usable interior?

...just a design exercise, not contemplating anything :)
(if I were to build anything nowadays I'd be looking at one of these 'Great Gatsby' vessels)
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/redesigning-pilgrim-40-trawler-canal-boat-11212.html

Regards, Brian Eiland

RE: The recent thread about the differences between Fountaine Pajot's prior power cats: the Highland 35 and Maryland 37.
....big excerpt.....

Frankly, this is a downside to many French-designed yachts in general. They perpetually are inclined to sacrifice functional items in lieu of a spare, stylish, "clean" look. (Although, even then there is NO excuse for design execution that results in specific discomfort.) In my experience, that doesn't add spit to one's safety or comfort when out bashing through a seaway. As it happens, this is as true for the Lagoon designs (which I also represented for many years) as the Fountaine Pajot designs. (I've NEVER seen a more stylishly inventive exterior, matched with the most god-awfully ill-conceived interior than Lagoon's 42' and 43' power cats of a few years back. Whoa! I could iterate a DOZEN "what-WERE-they-thinking" problems with most every aspect of that design's interior layout. I'll simply say, though, it's NO surprise that sales were so perpetually bad in the U.S. for that model, and certainly no surprise that they abandoned the model after several years of abysmally low sales. And now? I REMAIN mystified by Lagoon and its notion of power cats. With their new, so-called 'power cats' they've pretty much just stripped off the mast and added a couple of larger engines -- VERY disappointing for anyone seeking even a "moderately serious" power-cruising cat in the 40-to-60-something length range. WHERE is the all-weather helm, with truly supportive seating, arm rests, handlholds, etc. Then again, maybe they're ahead of me on this, and have discovered that the majority of their would-be buyers ONLY go out in relatively calm, non-rainy/non-cold conditions, and thus all-weather considerations are irrelevant. . . ?) I can only imagine these latest designs are the result of two, albeit wildly, divergent philosophies: (1) Things are tight financially, and they decided the way less expensive route of simply modifying their already existing sailing cats (quite nice, by the way), into these truly 'minimalist' power cats (and I use that latter designation in only the very loosest of terms), or (2) The folks at Lagoon have done some serious market-research, and discovered they can capture an appreciable added market share of non-sailors by simply "tweaking" their current sailing models and removing the sailing rigs. Then again, one only has to look at the perpetually dismal acceptance of the Citroen and Renault automobiles in the U.S. to recognize -- there's simply a surprisingly large divide between cultural-and-design sensibilities between the Frogs and the Yanks.

Cheers,

Rod Gibbons, boating author, and mngr/founder
Eco-SeaCottage.com
Seattle, WA
(206) 297-1330