Brandon knows this catamaran intimately — he buddy-boated with her former owners for three years and helped build her solar arch himself.
There are boat tours, and then there are boat tours delivered by someone who has already spent years tied up alongside the vessel in question. That is the situation with S/V La Vida Shred, a 2014 Leopard 48 now on the market, presented by Brandon of The Cruisers Company — who, along with Amber, cruised for four years with four kids and buddy-boated with this very catamaran across thousands of miles when she sailed under the name Exodus.
“We spent many a nights hanging out back here, having conversations,” Brandon says from the aft cockpit, admitting the nostalgia is running high. He didn’t just visit the boat; he helped install some of her upgrades and watched the previous owners maintain her from anchor, year after year. That perspective gives this walkthrough an unusual level of credibility — he’s pointing at systems he personally wired.
Power: 2,160 watts of solar and a lithium bank that runs the air conditioning
The headline system is electrical. Brandon built the solar arch off the transom himself, carrying 2,160 watts of solar feeding 1,200 amp hours of lithium batteries. What he likes most is how the install was executed: each panel runs into its own Victron MPPT controller rather than being ganged into one larger unit, so an owner can see exactly what every panel is producing. From there, power flows to a Xantrex 3,000-watt inverter that runs the whole ship.
The clever bit is the rewiring that allows the air conditioning to run through the inverter — meaning AC on lithium, without firing the generator. For anyone who has spent a still Caribbean night listening to a genset run, that alone is a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. The galley is all-electric and runs off the same bank, and all the refrigeration aboard has been replaced within the last couple of years, including a dedicated cockpit fridge and freezer.
Living space, fore and aft
Brandon returns repeatedly to how much seating a Leopard 48 offers. The aft cockpit is genuinely large — a long bench on one side plus wraparound seating at the table — and the saloon table area is described as “massive.” The saloon has recently received completely new cushions and a new tabletop, and the table lowers with filler cushions to create a large lounging or sleepover space, which is exactly the kind of feature that earns its keep on a long passage.
The forward cockpit is the other signature Leopard feature, and it works. Shaded by the brow that extends well forward, with seating on both sides and flip-up tables for eating and drinks, it catches the breeze when the sun is baking the aft deck. Brandon filmed it in the heat of the afternoon, in full shade, with Amber relaxing across from him — a fair demonstration.
At the helm, the electronics were entirely replaced and upgraded in 2022, with two dedicated MFDs so radar and charts can live on separate screens. Brandon, self-described boat nerd, also singles out the Leopard DC panel: individual breakers for VHF, autopilot and instruments rather than bundling several loads onto one switch — a small thing that matters when you’re troubleshooting at sea.
Mechanicals: clean spaces and the right saildrives
Brandon’s first instinct as a former cruising-cat owner is to check gelcoat and engine rooms. On S/V La Vida Shred he found no crazing or hairline stress cracking, and engine and generator compartments he calls exceptionally clean — no oil leaks, no staining, nothing to get your feet greasy.
Propulsion is twin Yanmar 4JH5E 54-horsepower engines, common and well-supported. The detail he flags is what’s bolted behind them: pre-2014 boats used Yanmar SD50 saildrives, while this one has the later SD60s that addressed the reliability and maintenance complaints of the earlier units. Oil has been changed every 200 hours — 50 hours ahead of schedule — and the engine mounts have been recently replaced, which shows in how little the running engines vibrate on camera.
The tender package is a Highfield 360 with console and a 25 hp Yamaha four-stroke, recently fitted with custom chaps to protect the Hypalon from tropical sun. It lives on a push-button electric davit winch — no hand-cranking at the end of a long day.
An owner’s hull — and a utility room worth studying
The last two families aboard both had two children, so the layout has settled into a natural split: kids to port, owners to starboard. The port aft cabin mirrors the starboard master and has its own head and shower; the port forward cabin is a queen with generous storage and shelving plus another head and shower.
The starboard hull has been used in its entirety by the owners, with two heads run as his and hers. The forward starboard cabin is where things get interesting: the berth has been reduced in size to create a seating area, opening up genuine utility space with easy access to the washing machine, the controls for a Seawater Pro 40-gallon-per-hour water maker and its tank-selection switches, plus stowage for tools and drills. Importantly, it’s reversible — a board lifts to extend the berth back to a proper five-foot bed suitable for a child or young teenager.
The sailing case
Brandon’s strongest opinion is that Leopard 48s are underrated sailboats. He points to the hull form: narrow at and below the waterline with flare above it to create volume in the accommodation, combined with 48 feet of waterline. His evidence is personal — he chased this boat on his own Lagoon 450 across multiple passages and watched her AIS speed run consistently higher. He estimates a Leopard 48 can sail one to two knots faster than many boats in its class, which compounds into real time saved offshore. The sailing footage, complete with a pod of dolphins showing up mid-shoot, makes the point cheerfully enough.
Where the Leopard 48 market sits
For context, here’s how the model has been trading on YachtSite:
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Sold, last 24 months | 5 |
| Median sold price | $500,000 |
| Median time to sell | ~229 days |
| Active listings | 12 |
| Asking range (median) | $320,000–$595,000 ($482,000) |
| Active listings with price cuts | 4 |
| Inquiries, last 30 days | 29 (vs 30 prior period) |
| Lowest asking | $320,000 | |||
| Median asking | $482,000 | |||
| Median sold | $500,000 | |||
| Highest asking | $595,000 |
The Cruisers Company backs the video with a 360-degree tour of the vessel — including inside the mechanical lockers — so buyers can walk the boat before committing to travel. Contact details and the full listing page are linked from the video description.