The Lagoon 380 Trap (and How to Avoid Buying the Wrong One)
- Captn Tommy
- Jan 1
- 5 min read
Lagoon 380 Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist (2026 Insurance-Smart Survey Prep Guide)
The Lagoon 380 is one of the easiest cruising catamarans in the world to shop for.
There are always listings. Always photos. Always someone saying, “Perfect liveaboard, ready to go.”
And that’s the trap.
Because the Lagoon 380 isn’t one market. It’s three markets wearing the same name badge:
The privately owned boat that’s been cared for, documented, and steadily upgraded.
The ex-charter workhorse that did its duty, then got passed along with a fresh polish and a vague story.
The “cruiser project” that’s seaworthy on a good day, but only insurable on a theoretical one.
From a distance, they can look identical. Same layout. Same windows. Same broker language. Same smiley cockpit photos.
Up close, they can be separated by tens of thousands of dollars and a long season of repairs you did not plan for.
This article is about how to avoid buying the wrong Lagoon 380, before you waste a flight, a survey fee, or a month of your life arguing with a boatyard.
The Lagoon 380’s real superpower
It’s not speed. It’s not performance. It’s not luxury.
The Lagoon 380’s superpower is that it attracts real cruisers. People who want a simple, forgiving platform with shallow draft, good volume, and a huge global parts ecosystem.
That’s why so many of them exist, and why so many of them have been used hard. When a boat becomes the “default choice,” it becomes the default charter boat too.
So the question is not “Is the Lagoon 380 a good boat?”
The question is: Which Lagoon 380 are you looking at?
The 4 mistakes Lagoon 380 buyers keep making
1) Falling in love before they see the boring photos
Most buyers ask for pretty pictures first. Cockpit. saloon. cabins. A drone shot at sunset.
Those photos are fine, but they don’t answer the only question that matters:
Has this boat been maintained like a cruising asset, or used like a rental car?
The photos that tell the truth are boring:
engine compartments (both sides)
saildrive legs and oil condition
bilges and low points
chainplates and bedding
mast base and compression area
under-bridgedeck stress zones (when hauled)
window frames from the inside
A seller who won’t provide those photos is doing you a favor. They’re saving you money by telling you to stop early.
2) Underestimating “invisible water”
On many production cats, water doesn’t always show up as a dramatic leak. It tracks behind liners, under soles, into corners where it quietly does damage.
On the Lagoon 380, window history matters. Not because a window leak is automatically catastrophic, but because a long-term leak can quietly rot the places you can’t see in listing photos.
If you want a shortcut: stop trusting “it was re-sealed.” Start asking:
when was it done
what product was used
who did the work
can you show me invoices
can you show me the inside below the window frames
There’s a difference between a proper reseal and a panic smear.
3) Treating saildrives and rigging as optional negotiation points
On older cats, there are two categories of items:
items that can wait
items that stop the transaction from being sensible
Saildrive service history and standing rigging age tend to land in the second group.
A Lagoon 380 with unknown saildrive diaphragm history and old rigging might still be a nice boat in spirit. But in the real world, it can turn into a boat you cannot confidently take offshore, and may struggle to insure depending on region, intended use, and the insurer’s current appetite.
This isn’t about drama. It’s about predictability. Offshore cruisers do not need perfect boats, but they do need predictable boats.
4) Paying survey money before they’ve done structured screening
A formal survey is essential, but it is not a magic spell. It is also not cheap. If you use it as your first filter, you will burn money on boats you should have eliminated from your sofa.
A better approach is:
verify identity and paperwork (HIN, ownership chain, VAT/tax status where relevant)
run a structured photo/video screening
sea trial if possible (major mechanical and handling issues reveal themselves under load)
then full survey and haul-out on the right candidate
That order saves money. And it saves heartbreak.
What actually makes a Lagoon 380 a “good one”
The best Lagoon 380s have a certain feel, even through photos and documentation:
dry, clean bilges
clean engine spaces with no saltwater chaos
service dates that make sense (not “I think it was done in 2018”)
consistent maintenance habits
tidy wiring, or at least honest wiring
evidence of a methodical owner, not an improviser
And here’s the big one:
They have a file.
Receipts. Invoices. Rigging documentation. Saildrive service. Battery and charging work done properly. Prior survey history.
In the current market, paperwork is not admin. Paperwork is value. You are not just buying fiberglass. You are buying proof.
The calm truth about the Lagoon 380 market
There are still great Lagoon 380s out there. Plenty of them. But the “average” example is not as average as it used to be, because many are now in the age band where neglected maintenance turns into expensive maintenance.
That doesn’t mean you should avoid the model. It means you should shop it with structure.
The Lagoon 380 is common enough that you can afford to be picky. There will be another listing. There will be another boat. Your job is to avoid the one that looks like a deal and behaves like a project.
A practical tool if you want to screen faster (without guessing)
If you are actively shopping the Lagoon 380, we built a model-specific Lagoon 380 - Comprehensive Survey-Prep Guide to help buyers do exactly what most people skip:
screen boats remotely using the right photos and videos
identify the Lagoon 380’s predictable structural and system hotspots
run a smarter sea trial
ask seller questions that force clarity
negotiate using realistic cost drivers (not vague “it needs work” statements)
It is not a replacement for a survey. It is the step before the survey that helps you choose the right candidate, show up informed, and avoid wasting money on the wrong boat.
You can see the guide here:https://www.truenorthyachtadvisors.com/product-page/lagoon-380-comprehensive-survey-prep-guide-73-pages
Final thought
Buying a used cruising cat isn’t about finding a perfect boat. It’s about finding a boat with a known history and predictable future costs.
The Lagoon 380 can absolutely be that boat, as long as you shop it like a cruiser, not like a tourist.
If you want more guides like this, keep an eye on the Survey-Prep Guide library. We’re standardizing them so once you learn the method on one model, you can apply the same approach to every multihull you shop.
