Tell me about Leopard 24

Hi Folks,

Long time since I have posted here, kind of kicking around the above mentioned boat. There is a little here and there on the forum regarding these clumped in with Mangusta, Jag and, AB boats. The 24 is the only small Leopard with jets, could be good/bad? I am thinking of using this in the Rio de la Plata and coastal South America to include inland rivers.

I realize they are old Italian boats and this would be in a location with few yacht resources but, there is an active commercial fleet and plenty of marine resources in general. Any current data on how these have aged and good/bad would be welcomed.

The Leopard 23 has surface drives, the 24 was a 'one off' with jets.

Yea,

That is the boat, what do you know about them?

You mention a couple of things that are why I want some feedback. I am aware of the unique features of this boat and that it IS different than the other Leopards of this size range. The jet maintainence is well known and that these boats are orphanes is also known. These boats are not new and the information online is limited to sales or charter offers, not details on the boats opperations.

The notion that these are different than the other Leopards with surface drives and, how that affects the boats performance/sea keeping is what I am after. I can compare the jets/engines/ nav etc. The way these boats are different is what is unknown. How do they handle following seas or beam seas? What are they like in 2 meter seas? They are an interesting concept for the type of use I envision but, as noted not a big seller? That alone raises questions, were they just over priced or did they have some real issues?

You are evading the questions, do you have any experience with these or could you compair the Mangusta to the Leopard? I like The Mangusta as well but the 92 is the smallest jet and that is a bit bigger than my wants, really a 65~75' jet would be ideal. I like the layout of the Leopard 24 better than the Mangusta myself.