Wiley Sharp walks through a four-cabin, four-head Lagoon 46 working the Virgin Islands charter trade — and makes the case for it as a family cruiser too.
Some boats reveal themselves slowly. The Lagoon 46, according to broker Wiley Sharp, is one of them. “These Lagoon 46s are kind of sleeper sailors,” he says partway through his walkthrough of S/V Starry Night, a 2022 example currently earning her keep in the Virgin Islands. “I’ve spent a fair amount of time sailing on them, and it’s a far better boat under sail than what it looks like on paper.”
That comment sets the tone for a tour that is refreshingly practical. This is a working crewed charter yacht in a four-cabin, four-head layout — currently running six-passenger charters — and Sharp presents her as two things at once: a turnkey opportunity for an owner-operator, or, with some upgrades, a genuinely comfortable family cruising platform.
Decks, bows and the flybridge
The tour begins at the starboard sugar scoop, where the first of two mechanical spaces houses a Yanmar 4JH57 diesel paired to an SD60 saildrive and fixed prop. A matching Yanmar lives to port, alongside an emergency bilge pump (there’s one on each side), the stern shower and a dive-style ladder. A Highfield tender hangs on powered davits — a brand Sharp singles out as “super well-built, super light, and a very good riding tender.”
Moving forward, the side decks are wide, the hatches flush-mounted, and integrated grab rails run the length of both sides. The hatches have been fitted with Lewmar vents, a small but telling detail for keeping a hard-working charter boat dry inside. Up at the bow are twin dolphin seats and forepeaks port and starboard, the traditional Lagoon trampoline, and a U-shaped centerline settee that doubles as access to the anchor windlass, the Onan generator, the chain locker, water tanks and yet more stowage.
The flybridge is where Sharp is most enthusiastic, calling the arrangement “one of the biggest improvements on the 46 over the 450… a really, really functional and usable space.” The helm carries Harken electric winches and a powered traveler, making single-handed sail handling straightforward, plus a large B&G plotter, autopilot and Tridata, Yanmar engine controls and displays to starboard, and a flat-mounted Starlink antenna overhead. A bimini shades the lot, and the self-tacking jib leaves visibility forward uncluttered.
Cockpit and saloon
The cockpit table was collapsed for the video but opens to seat eight. Aft is a large bench with stowage beneath and the powered dinghy davit winch; outboard sits an oversized daybed. A neat touch: a section of bench rolls on a track to sit flush with the cooler, propane locker and trash can, freeing space when a table leaf is folded out. Adjacent is a bar area with generous storage and an ice maker.
Inside, the galley occupies the port-aft corner in a U-shape — large single-basin sink, abundant counter space, a big Isotherm refrigerator, a three-burner Eno cooktop with oven and broiler below, and storage above, below and outboard. Forward to port is the nav station with a workspace suited to captain’s paperwork, plus controls for the watermaker and the Fusion stereo. To starboard, an L-shaped settee with high-low table, a bench seat outboard, a fridge up top and a drawer-style freezer below. Sharp is a fan of the latter: easier to keep organized. There’s underfoot storage in the saloon sole as well, and light floods the space.
Four cabins, four heads
The accommodation is deliberately egalitarian. The forward starboard cabin has a semi-walkaround queen berth with hatch ventilation, under-berth and outboard storage, hanging lockers and an ensuite dry head with an electric Jabsco quiet-flush toilet, large single-basin sink and mirrored cabinet. The aft cabins sit a little lower with better walkaround access and comparable mattresses. The port-aft cabin gains extra storage thanks to a companionway positioned further forward. All four heads are effectively mirror images — Sharp notes they “feel like a very luxurious, elevated feel.”
He also makes a candid argument for the layout: “There’s so much value in buying a four-cabin boat for a family that wants to go cruising over paying the premium for an owner’s version. Is the owner’s version nicer? Absolutely. Is it worth a couple hundred thousand dollar premium? It all really depends on what’s important to you as a boat buyer.” Practicality runs through the tour — even the main 12-volt distribution panel and electrical closet get a mention, because easy access means easier maintenance.
Where the Lagoon 46 sits
For context, the model has been trading steadily on YachtSite.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Sold, last 24 months | 5 |
| Median sold price | $650,000 |
| Median time to sell | ~150 days |
| Active listings | 9 |
| Asking range | $465,000 – $999,000 (median $699,000) |
| Inquiries, last 30 days | 8 (vs 0 prior 30) |
Generator, air conditioning, watermaker, electric winches and a B&G electronics package — as Sharp puts it, “pretty much everything you need to go and enjoy the Caribbean.”