Sail or power in the Virgin Islands — and the Lagoon naming trap
We get this question more than any other, and it is almost always asked the wrong way round. People ask “which is better?” The useful question is “which one suits how you will actually use the boat, in these particular islands?”
Then there is a second problem, which is that Lagoon’s naming genuinely confuses people — including, occasionally, people who sell boats. We will clear that up too.
What the twin hulls buy you either way
Before the sail-or-power question, it is worth being clear about what you get from a catamaran regardless of rig. It sits still at anchor — which, when you are living aboard, matters more than almost anything else. It draws very little, so the shallow bays in the BVI open up to you. And the beam gives you interior and deck volume that a monohull would need to be far longer to match.
The case for sail here
The Virgin Islands are close to ideal for sailing. Anchorages are an hour or two apart, the trade winds are reliable, and the water is deep enough to be easy and shallow enough to be interesting. You can shut the engines down and keep going.
The trade-off is honest: average speed, and a learning curve. If your idea of a good day is the passage itself, sail wins and it is not close. Running costs also do not track the price of diesel, which over ten years is a real number.
The case for power here
Power is the right answer more often than sailing purists like to admit. If you have guests arriving on a schedule, if you want to entertain aboard rather than trim, if nobody in the family wants to learn a rig — a motor catamaran does the job without pretending otherwise.
What you give up is the ability to switch the engines off and keep moving. Fuel becomes the running cost that matters, and in the islands fuel is not cheap.
Now, the naming problem
Lagoon’s larger boats are named SIXTY and EIGHTY, and the series contains both sailing catamarans and motor yachts. The number after the word is the whole distinction:
- Lagoon SIXTY 5 — sailing. 168m² of mainsail and 102m² of genoa.
- Lagoon SIXTY 7 — power. Same platform, no rig, the volume given back to living space.
- Lagoon EIGHTY 2 — sailing. Lagoon’s own phrase is “born to sail”. 338m² upwind.
- Lagoon EIGHTY 3 — power. The largest thing Lagoon builds.
We mention this partly because we have seen a SIXTY 5 listed as a motor yacht more than once. If you are searching brokerage sites yourself, check the sail area before you rule a boat in or out — the name will not tell you.
How to actually decide
Two questions settle it for most people. First: on a good day, do you picture yourself sailing, or arriving? Second: who else is aboard, and do they want to be part of running the boat or part of enjoying it?
Answer those honestly and the boat usually picks itself. If they point in different directions — one of you wants to sail, the rest want the flybridge — that is worth a conversation rather than a compromise purchase. Come and see us; we are on the water in St. Thomas most days.
The Caribe Current
Liked this? The Caribe Current goes out once or twice a month — new listings, price moves, and what is actually selling in the Virgin Islands.