beneteau yacht price

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Discover the latest BENETEAU sailing yachts and motorboats.

Making a successful boat purchase means planning ahead and being well prepared. BENETEAU has an extensive range of useful tools that will help you focus your searches and define your project. From the initial introduction up to one-to-one contact with a Beneteau brand dealer, take a few minutes to find the boat that suits you best and, why not, book a sea trial! 

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Offer valid on Swift Trawler 35, Swift Trawler 41 and Swift Trawler 48 models

Until 31 May 2024

Offer valid on Oceanis 30.1, Oceanis 34.1 and Oceanis 37.1 models

Enjoy the Lounge trim for the same price as the Essential trim

Sailing yachts

Yachts & motorboats

BENETEAU has been building sailing yachts and  motorboats  for all types of boating practices since 1884. Would you like to  buy a new boat ? Leisure boating, short trips, cruising, competitive sailing – whatever type of sailing you envisage, there is a boat to suit you at your local BENETEAU  boat dealer .

BENETEAU: A LONG STORY THAT BEGAN IN VENDÉE 

The story of BENETEAU began in 1884 in the shipyards of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie in Vendée, inspired by Benjamin Bénéteau.  At the time, BENETEAU had close ties with the fishing industry and, at the start of the 20th century, the brand launched its first sailing trawlers and motor tuna fishing boats. 

In the 1960s BENETEAU turned towards the building of recreational craft. In making this choice, BENETEAU actively focussed on  sailing yachts  and motorboats . 

In the 1990s, BENETEAU expanded becoming the umbrella brand of GROUPE BENETEAU. 

WIDE RANGE OF SAILING YACHTS AND MOTORBOATS 

Today, BENETEAU offers a wide range of sailing yachts, ranging from small boats, like the First 14, to big boats, such as the Oceanis Yacht 62, a large monohull as well suited to coastal cruising as she is to ocean navigation. The same is true of the motorboats, with lines of outboard and inboard motorboats for leisure boating, as well as big yachts ideal for cruising. 

This versatility contributed to BENETEAU’s international reputation as a brand, both in the water and at the major boat shows in Europe, the United States and Asia-Pacific. It also helped BENETEAU become a historical player in offshore racing, supplying three generations of one-design boats for the Solitaire Le Figaro single-handed race. BENETEAU also won renown with the First sailing yachts in well-known international races such as the Fastnet, the Sydney Hobart and the Middle Sea Race. 

MORE THAN A BOAT DEALER 

Our BENETEAU boat dealers are also present on international shores, so our after sales service can intervene worldwide. Thanks to our global network a BENETEAU boater can find the best possible assistance wherever he is boating. 

Buying a yacht, sailing yacht or a BENETEAU outboard motorboat is also a chance to join the brand’s community, with BENETEAU boat owner gatherings or rendez-vous, regattas, competitions, rallies, etc. 

You will have realized by now that BENETEAU offers you much more than buying a  new boat . It offers you a real boating experience and shares with you your passion for the sea.

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Beneteau Yachts For Sale For Sale

Whether you are considering power boats or sailboats, the Beneteau Group is one of the largest and well-known boat building companies in the world. From models like the Gran Turismo and Swift Trawler to other brands altogether like Jeanneau nad Prestige, Group Beneteau has created a boat for every kind of purpose and lifestyle. Let the team at United Yacht Sales help you find the right used Beneteau on the market today that fits your budget and lifestyle.

Learn More About Beneteau And Find Your Next Boat

The Beneteau family has been pushing the boundaries to achieve sailing perfection for over 130 years, generation after generation. With over a century in just research and development, Beneteau has been renowned for building elegant and powerful racing yachts. There are way over 100,000 Beneteau yachts on the water today, Beneteau has a global community of passionate enthusiasts. Also, there are over 400 dealers worldwide. Beneteau works with renowned naval architects, designers and engineers for innovative designs and materials. Nothing but the best quality materials are put into Beneteau Yachts. They are the most reliable and elegant production yachts on the water today. Wherever one may go, a Beneteau yacht will always be recognized. As for the technology put into all Beneteau boats, they have integrated technology that is used on race winning boats across the range of comfortable and of course, elegant yachts, for everyday sailors. Beneteau values the high quality craftsmanship put into every model. The family owned business is based in Vendee, France with 80% of the production on site! Every yacht that is built, complies with the very strict ISO 9001 quality standards, so you know you will never be short of the best quality and safety. Other than making sure all Beneteau yachts are up to date in style and safety, Beneteau also loves our oceans and is always looking for ways to keep them beautiful. They are constantly challenging themselves to reduce the environmental impact of boat building and the ecological footprint of their boats. 

List Of Beneteau Yachts For Sale On The Brokerage Market

• Page 1 of 13

Beneteau Gran Turismo 40

With slender lines, exquisite side glazing, the Gran Turismo 40 has a very pronounced sport character. Not only is this sport yacht superior at the wheel, but she is also very safe, even when traveling at speeds up to 38 knots. The cockpit is big enough to seat 11 people and the outdoor galley is placed aft. As for the interior, the layout of the lower deck gives you a feeling of luxury. Aboard this sport yacht there are two cabins, a head and a separate shower. Overall, the Beneteau Gran Turismo 40 gives off meticulous attention to detail with a strong balance between the sporty temperament and the practical features such as making life onboard easy and luxurious. 

Beneteau Gran Turismo 50 Sportfly

A sport look and the latest technology create the Beneteau Gran Turismo 50 Sportfly. With Volvo IPS 600 engine power on an Air Step planning hull, driving sensations are second to none. The Sportfly has a twin bench seat that is able to convert into a sun-lounging area on the driver’s side. A large lounge continues along the cockpit on the main full-space deck. The exterior galley is located in the cockpit taking up no room at all. There is a worktop and a grill at the stern as well. There is also a tender garage, which is reached by the submersible swim platform, perfect for a day filled with water sports. Tubing anyone? The style and materials used on the inside of this power yacht is exceptional. Deep pore walnut woodworking, padded and lacquered items and leatherette upholstery. You can choose between a two cabin or three cabin version. The owner suite is bathed in light and has a very high level of comfort. There is a bull beam that flows across the owner suite, accommodating an en-suite shower room as well as a dressing room. No other boat other than the Gran Turismo 50 Sportfly boasts larger than life sensations. 

Beneteau Oceanis 46.1

Apart from the Oceanis 46.1 performance at sea, she also has a huge amount of space that sets this boat apart from many others. An incredible deck plan makes her wonderfully safe and easy to use while setting sail out at sea. The furling mast, self-tailing jib and all the halyards and sheets are brought back to a single winch at each of the helm stations, this makes maneuvering simple while short-handed, making it possible to sail about with only a few crew, not a whole team. The interior has a large hull with an exceptional amount of natural light spewing through. You can choose from satin light oak or mahogany to set the tone and feel of the interior atmosphere. No other brand sailboat is this easy to sail, easy-going and fast. The Beneteau Oceanis 46.1 can be fully customized to make her as unique as you want and appealing as no other. The attention to design detail makes life on board a real pleasure where you may never want to leave! Sail confident in the knowledge aboard this Beneteau sailboat, you are safe as is she. 

How to Buy a Beneteau Yacht

If you’re interested in purchasing a Beneteau Yacht, a United Yachts Sales professional can assist you. All employees are trained to identify as many ways as possible to improve your experience when purchasing a Beneteau Yacht. Being a 100-percent customer-driven business, United Yachts deliver every time.

How to Sell Your Beneteau Yacht

United Yachts Sales has experience and the product knowledge to sell your Beneteau Yacht. Selecting the right full-service brokerage firm when selling your yacht improves the likelihood of a seamless and timely transaction. Listing your yacht with United Yachts, you can be certain it is in the hands of dedicated professionals. With over 15 years in business, our devoted Sales Professionals work attentively to provide you with first-class representation.

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How Much Does A Beneteau Yacht Cost? (10 Examples)

Beneteau Yachts offers a range of sailing and motorized yachts available through a network of over 400 dealers worldwide.

Table of Contents

Beneteau offers over 40 different models, which is way too many boats to list in one article. So we have put together a pricing guide for the more popular Beneteau models across the brand from 2022.

Beneteau Sailing Yachts

Beneteau offers their ever-popular First and Oceanis lines, the modern, innovative, fun First SE line, and the more luxurious 54 and 60-foot Oceanis Yachts. Sizes range from as small as the First 14 to the Oceanis Yacht 60, so there is a sailing yacht to suit almost everyone.

1. Beneteau First 14 SE

The Beneteau First 14 is a fun, fast, entry-level sailboat that is easy to handle, either solo or double-handed.

With a sail plan area that can vary between 8.5 m² and 21.5 m², the First 14 SE is a highly adaptable boat.

It is suited to all ability levels and can be used for One-design racing.

Technical Specifications:

• Length: 14.11 feet Beam: 5.58 feet Displacement: 163.14 pounds

Suggested list price 2022 (excl. VAT): $12,080

How much is a small yacht?

2. Beneteau First 27

The sporty but comfortable Beneteau First 27 has won the Cruising World 2022 Boat of the Year Award for the best pocket cruiser/daysailer.

As a racer/cruiser, this boat offers all the comforts necessary for weekend and coastal sailing, which includes a serviceable head, a small galley, and up to 6 berths. So a couple could easily live aboard, rather than camp, for weekends or a few days.

Plus, they could easily be joined by friends to take part in racing or a regatta and be serious contenders for a podium finish!

• Hull Length: 7.99 m
• Hull Beam: 2.54 m
• Light displacement: 1700 kg
• Engine Power (Hp): 15 HP

Suggested list price 2022 (excl. VAT): $95,530

3. Beneteau Oceanis 34.1

The Beneteau Oceanis 34.1 has been voted one of the best family small cruisers in the 2022 annual Yachting World magazine awards.

The 34.1 is the updated version of the Oceanis 35.1 and is a much sleeker, lighter, and faster boat than the old version.

Down below, the modern, light accommodation comes with 2 or 3 double cabins plus 1 head, which provides ample accommodation for family or friends.

• Length overall: 10.77 m
• Hull Beam: 3.57 m
• Light displacement: 5 470 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 130 L
• Fresh water capacity: 231 – 361 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 21 – 30CV

Suggested list price 2022 (excluding VAT): $110,500

4. Beneteau Oceanis 40.1

The Beneteau Oceanis 40.1 won the Sail Magazine 2021 award for Best Monohull Cruising Yacht Under 50′.

A new boat is available in various layout options, keel configurations, and rigs.

This means the Beneteau Oceanis 40.1 can be adapted to the most discerning sailor’s cruising requirements without sacrificing the boat’s good looks, comfort, fast performance, and versatility.

• Length overall: 12.87 m
• Hull Length: 11.99 m
• Hull Beam: 4.18 m
• Light displacement: 7 985 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 195 L
• Fresh water capacity: 235 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 45CV

Suggested list price 2022 (excluding VAT): $291,000

5. Benteau Oceanis Yacht 54

One of the newer offerings in the Beneteau stable is the Oceanis Yacht 54.

This design paves the way for Beneteau’s new line of luxury, high-end cruisers, which, in these times, seem to be very much in demand.

While the boat’s design keeps with the Oceanis tradition, it has been developed to offer more semi-custom options for interior layouts, sail plans, deck hardware, and even engine and propulsion options without sacrificing speed, maneuverability, and performance.

How Reliable Are Beneteau Boats? Check out our article here!

• Length overall: 17.12 m
• Hull Length: 15.98 m
• Hull Beam: 5 m
• Light displacement: 16 600 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 400 L
• Fresh water capacity: 720 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 80 CV/110 CV

Suggested list price 2022 (excluding VAT): $698,200

Beneteau Motor Yachts

The Beneteau motor yacht range includes the Flyer, Antares, Gran Turismo, Swift Trawler, and Grand Trawler lines.

These motor yachts range in size from the Flyer 6 up to the Grand Trawler 62. With a choice of more than 20 models, you can be sure of finding your dream boat.

So let’s take a look at some of the price tags on some of the more popular models:

1. Beneteau Flyer 6 Sundeck

This entry-level small power boat is perfect for quick getaway trips on the water for up to 6 people.

This smallest motor boat in the Beneteau collection is modern and sporty and offers as much, if not more, fun than the bigger models!

• Length overall: 5.96 m
• Hull Length: 5.3 m
• Hull Beam: 2.23 m
• Light displacement: 1251 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 100 L
• Fresh water capacity: 50 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 140 CV (different engine options available)

Suggested list price 2022 (excluding VAT): $49,700 (base price without engine)

2. Beneteau Antares 11 Fly

The Antares 11 Fly is the flagship of the Beneteau Antares range, which Beneteau introduced in 1977.

This stylish and contemporary powerboat focuses on space, comfort, and safety for the whole family. With a luxury double cabin in the bow, a stern cabin that sleeps 3, and a saloon that converts to 2 more berths, this powerboat can sleep up to 7 guests.

Plus, it has plenty of outside space for family and friends to enjoy.

• Length overall: 11.16 m
• Hull Length: 9.9 m
• Hull Beam: 3.40 m
• Light displacement: 6148 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 2 x 400 L
• Fresh water capacity: 200 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 2 x 300 CV (different engine options available)

Suggested list price 2022 (excluding VAT): $240,400 (base price without engines)

3. Gran Turismo 41

The Beneteau Gran Turismo 41 has made it to Yachtworld’s ‘Best New Cabin Cruiser Boats for 2022’ list.

This is the latest model in Beneteau’s express cruiser line, and while it is an upgrade to the popular Gran Turismo 40, it has been well received. The boat has been designed around style, speed, comfort, safety, and relaxation.

• Length overall: 12.55 m
• Hull Length: 11.50 m
• Hull Beam: 3.85 m
• Light displacement: 7 959 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 2 x 325 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 2 x 380 CV/HP

Suggested list price 2022 (excluding VAT): $526,300

4. Beneteau Swift Trawler 35

The Beneteau Swift Trawler 35 won the 2018 BOB (Boat & Fun Berlin) award in the “Best for Travel” category.

The boat has had several upgrades to its 34-foot predecessor, including improved stability and enhanced livability. This boat is perfect for a couple to liveaboard, and due to its seaworthiness, you may even be tempted to go on a long cruise.

• Length overall: 11.29 m
• Hull Length: 10.81 m
• Hull Beam: 3.96 m
• Light displacement: 8 252 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 800 L
• Fresh water capacity: 2 x 150 L
• Engine Power (Hp) : 1 x Cummings 425hp (comes as standard)

Standard base price 2022 (excluding VAT): $279,300 ex VAT.

5. Grand Trawler 62

The Beneteau Grand Trawler 62 hits the spot all around for the design of this magnificent motor yacht.

It is a comfortable, spacious, and stable yacht to live aboard or for long-distance cruising. It is designed to comfortably sleep 6 to 8 adults on board. Plus, this motor yacht is designed to turn heads and boasts one of the largest flybridges on the market for its hull length.

The crisp, clean lines and the stunning interior design reflect the superior quality and dedicated workmanship that sets the Beneteau brand apart from the rest.

No wonder it took the 2022 prize for European Power Boat of the Year!

• Length overall: 18.95 m
• Hull Length: 16.47 m
• Hull Beam: 5.41 m
• Light displacement: 28 500 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 2 x 2000 L
• Fresh water capacity: 840 L
• Engine Power (Hp): 2 x 730 CV
• Standard base price 2022 (excluding VAT): $1.43 million

Please note that all prices quoted are for the base models only and that any optional extras or customized options are not included.

Final Thoughts

Over the years, Beneteau has offered many different models, and more than 40 available today.

So if you are in the market for a new Beneteau, you can be sure that you will find the right model for your boating needs. However, if you find the price of new boats a bit daunting, you can always check out the second-hand boat market for a Beneteau boat that fits your needs and your pocket.

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Used Beneteau Yachts for Sale

Beneteau Oceanis Yacht 62

Beneteau Oceanis 62

Beneteau Grand Trawler 62

ODOO - ID 1.934

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Beneteau Monte Carlo 6

Beneteau Oceanis 60

Beneteau Monte Carlo MC6

Beneteau Oceanis 58

Beneteau 57

Beneteau Oceanis Yacht 60

Odoo id - 1.953.

Destination Anywhere

Beneteau Sense 57

BENETEAU YACHTS

Established : 1988 Located : France, with U.S. Factory in Marion, South Carolina Construction : Fiberglass Category : Sailboats, Powerboats, Cruisers, Sportfishers, Trawlers

Brand History

The Beneteau adventure began more than a century ago on the quays of Croix-de-Vie in Vendée. For 120 years, the core of the boatyard’s profession has been innovation and a passion for yachting. From the first sardine boat to the latest Monte Carlo, from the shipbuilding tradition to more advanced technologies, their expertise has grown. However, it is still the pioneering spirit of Benjamin Bénéteau that is the driving force behind our 2,500 co-workers.

Today, more than 42,000 Beneteau yachts have sailed the seas of the world. At their helm, keen owners, with whom we share the same values of performance, modernity, safety and respect. As demand grew internationally, Beneteau opened a state-of-the-art production facility in Marion, South Carolina in 1986. Within four years, Beneteau became one of the top three sailboat manufacturers in America. An innovative line of luxury Beneteau powerboats, cruisers and trawlers soon followed.

Buying a Beneteau: We offer used Beneteau yachts for sale worldwide, including Beneteau Monte Carlo, Beneteau Oceanis, Beneteau Sense models and more! Contact our sales professionals for immediate assistance.

Selling Your Beneteau: With a team of experienced yacht brokers and marketing professionals, we will employ a comprehensive marketing approach to ensure your vessel receives maximum global exposure online as well as exposure in person at major boat shows. Learn more about how SYS Yacht Sales will help to sell your Beneteau yacht!

CONTACT SYS YACHT SALES

Call 941-365-9095 and start your search today! We look forward to helping you find the yacht that is right for you.

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New Beneteau Sailing Yachts

Long cruises, fishing, quick trips, sport and great sensations. Oceans, seas, lakes and rivers. All types of boating, all types of pleasure, and all horizons in seven ranges and forty models. There is a dream to suit everyone.

Beneteau Sailing Yachts

The world's largest Sailboat brand. Founded by a man spurred on by passion and single-minded determination, Beneteau has lived through three different centuries - from 1884 to today. The company's history is a long series of anecdotes, successes, accomplishments, constant innovations and strong experiences.

Beneteau is a family business that has one goal: to make the pleasure of boating and getting away from it all accessible to an even greater number of people than it already has.

The Beneteau Sail Range

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Each year the Ancasta Yacht Club looks to create series of fun, informal events that are open to owners looking to take their boats to places they have not been before, to places they are perhaps not comfortable cruising to on their own or simply open to those who enjoy cruising in company. With a professional skipper, the cruises are safe and a fantastic opportunity to try new things and share experiences with fellow boat owners.

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Yachting World

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Beneteau First 36 review: Is this the best First yacht in years?

• Toby Hodges
• March 14, 2023

Is the Beneteau First back to its iconic best with the new lightweight, sporty cruiser-racer for all levels of sailors, the Beneteau First 36?

Product Overview

Price as reviewed:.

You might not appreciate it at first glance, but this could well be the best performance production yacht we’ll see for some time. This realisation creeps up on you slowly, and is further confirmed the more time you spend aboard the new Beneteau First 36.

I’m far from alone in thinking this and the Beneteau First 36 won the highly competitive performance category in this year’s European Yacht of the Year competition – and with unanimous votes from the 12-strong jury.

The Beneteau First 36 is neither brash nor sexy. Rather, it’s modest, simple even, but, as you soon discover, ergonomically brilliant. It’s not perfect of course – a comparatively small and fiddly heads compartment ensures that – but it is a superb marriage of design, engineering and industrial nous. All of which begs the question, is this finally a return to the dual purpose cruiser-racer roots of the First?

First and foremost

What’s in a name? A lot. More than 25,000 yachts in over 70 different model formats have launched bearing the First branding over the last 45 years. These boats gained a reputation for offering cruising comfort combined with race-winning potential, all at an acceptable price point. That hasn’t really been the focus for many years – until now perhaps.

This Beneteau First 36 was conceived initially in 2018 by Seascape, the sportsboat specialists which Groupe Beneteau bought and rebranded the year before. It became a major collaboration between the brands, their designers and engineers. This is the Slovenian yard’s first new Beneteau, tasked with reviving that dual purpose ethos of First and designed to bridge the gap between its sportsboats and the larger, more luxurious French-built Beneteau First 44 and Beneteau First 53 .

The First 36 is arguably the only mainstream production cruising yacht that can plane in moderate winds. Twin rudders allow you to push but remain in control. Photo: Beneteau First/Ana Šutej

Seascape founders and mini Transat sailors, Andraz Mihelin and Kristian Hajnšek, have collaborated with Sam Manuard on all their designs to date. The racing scene has since caught up and Manuard is now the in-demand Class 40 and IMOCA 60 designer.

Mihelin defines their creation concisely: “It’s designed with one purpose: to motivate people to sail more.” That’s quite the task! Yet since I first sailed with Mihelin on their debut Seascape 18 in 2009, we have seen and frequently discussed how sailing has changed. The desire for space and comfort has driven a burgeoning multihull market, while the planing monohull market has been left largely to a few skilled niche yards such as Pogo and JPK.

Get people sailing

Typically, when you crave the conditions to really send a yacht, you get no such luck. I had two trials out of La Rochelle, where we spent the majority of the time in single figure windspeeds. That said, there was plenty of opportunity to see just how easily driven – and easy to drive – this design is, and to learn more about how it achieves that from the designers and builders who joined us on board.

Simple but really neat control lines led to hand. Photo: EYOTY/Ludovic Fruchaud

The light breezes dictated that our preferred option was to reach whenever possible with a big (140m2) blue gennaker, where we could induce some heel and make average speeds of 8-8.5 knots. The Beneteau First 36 is designed to hit double figures in around 14 knots wind and we noted how it starts planing in the high 8-knot boatspeeds in around 12 knots wind.

It also has the stability and control to keep plenty of sail up when speed reaching. A couple of my fellow European Yacht of the Year jury members did get to sail it in 20 knots and recorded figures of 10-13.5 knots under Code 0 at 90° and up to 14.5 knots under kite at 120°. That’s rapid for an 11m monohull.

The Beneteau First 36 is also quick upwind, even in the light stuff, where we typically made around 7 knots in these conditions, although it’s not one for pointing too high – start to pinch (less than 45° true) and you quickly sacrifice half a knot.

The sporty feel on the helm and how it moves on the water is the real take away. It’s a light boat with plenty of rocker and is responsive to longitudinal weight distribution, so crew weight distribution will be important when racing. Nevertheless, on the second day in slightly lighter breezes and with eight people aboard, we maintained a consistent 7.5 knots, occasionally touching 8 knots with the gennaker (with little attention to crew weight positioning!).

Manuard’s powerful hull shape uses reverse sheer for a low look. Photo: EYOTY/Ludovic Fruchaud

It’s the ease of that speed that stood out. For a 36ft boat to be averaging high rather than mid single figures, is the difference between sporty and displacement sailing. That translates to a significant increase in fun factor too. The First has a very high sail area to displacement ratio and although it’s technically a planing/high performance boat, it doesn’t look like one whether on or below decks.

How do they do that?

The mastery lies in the engineering and build. The Seascape team has produced an impressively light standard boat, a fully cored, vacuum infused hull and deck with sandwich bulkheads. Everything is structural with no needless weight. It’s closer to specialist race boat building than the more industrial methods its parent company specialises in, yet without the expensive exotic materials. The wide but short foam cored swim platform weighs just 8kg for example, and the overall light displacement is under 4.8 tonnes.

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“There’s no silver bullet here, it’s lots of small things,” Mihelin comments. All scantlings were optimised by Kiwi specialists Pure Design and Engineering and adapted by Manuard and Hajnšek to within labour cost targets.

The ease with which you can maintain good speeds on the water is one thing, but then there’s the ease of sailing the boat. As the boat’s interior designer Lorenzo Argento proved, you can spend long periods reaching with no hands on the wheel as it tracks along effortlessly. He is so impressed he has bought a Beneteau First 36 for his 60th Birthday.

The First 36 is a great deal of fun to sail. Photo: EYOTY/Ludovic Fruchaud

In fact, there was very little pressure increase in helm on all angles, whether sailing upwind under jib at 7 knots, or beam reaching with the code 0 at 8.5 knots. “Sam’s brief was that we don’t want a boat that’s hard to sail,” says Mihelin.

The Jefa steering links to high aspect rudders on stainless steel stocks. Were twin rudders really needed on this, as it’s not an overly beamy shape? A well mannered boat is part of the core brief, Manuard replies, adding that with this type of hull shape even pros would struggle to control it with a single rudder when pressed.

Manuard has found fame with his scow bow shapes so I was also curious if he’d considered that approach here. “We thought it out of the scope of the boat – it’s not an extreme racer,” he explains. “The scow comes with negatives, the slamming is really difficult to bear… the biggest point of this boat is that it suits a lot of people.”

Warmth of wood. The compact galley has adequate stowage, particularly in the raised lockers and bin outboard of the sink. Photo: Branko Ceak

The designer used reverse sheer as a styling and space trick, to keep the bow and stern comparatively low (the latter to avoid a bulky appearance), yet maintain reasonable coachroof height for access. The deck design is also deliberately simple. “It’s one of the reasons we threw out a tiller system,” says Mihelin, explaining that the Beneteau Group has a lot of customer and user data, and knew that 90% of 37.7s were sold with wheels.Nevertheless, a tiller is an option many racing and short-handed sailors would love to have on this boat.

Keep it simple

The clean, working cockpit transforms from cruising to racing mode by removing the aft sets of cockpit benches and table, leaving just the short forward benches. This not only jettisons some weight but frees up key space to work the sheets, particularly the primary winches, where there is then space enough to stand and grind.

The navstation is comfortable and a good size, although you lose seated headroom outboard, and the saloon is generous and comfy. Photo: Branko Ceak

A prime benefit of creating a lightweight shell is that you can take weight out of the appendages too. Here a 1.5 tonne cast iron keel and unfussy Z-Spars aluminium rig comes as standard, while a square top main was rejected because it adds weight to the mast and the additional complication of runners.

All running rigging is left exposed, led aft to a bank of six clutches each side of the companionway. The jib sheets are led through low friction rings, controlled via in- and outhaul purchase systems each side, to give full cockpit control of jib sheet leads and angles with minimal weight. Tail bags help keep the cockpit and companionway area tidy and the six-winch layout is designed to allow cross-sheeting of all sheets to the windward side.

There’s a slot in front of the wheels to work the mainsheet winches, and without the aft benches, more space to sit and trim the main or jib. The traveller controls and backstay purchase are led neatly to camcleats here too, within reach of trimmer or helm.

The stanchions are through-bolted with supports for hiking crew, while an offshore hatch on the foredeck provides bracing if changing headsails. On deck stowage is in a quarter locker and one large main aft locker, from where the steering gear is accessed.

simple, no frills forward cabin has 6ft headroom up to the berth, a single locker and raised shelving. Photo: Branko Ceak

Lightweight performance yachts are typically stripped or have a very minimalist feel, an impression you certainly don’t get here. The Beneteau/Seascape team has been clever in maintaining a feeling of warmth and a certain level of cruising comfort needed for a dual-purpose boat.

The surprising part is perhaps how this is achieved, in that many of the kilos that have been saved, by using sandwich bulkheads rather than any structural plywood for example, are added back in the form of proper doors, tables, wooden floors and trim. It makes a difference between cruising and camping aboard.

Key criteria were to include a proper navstation for racing with a chart table large enough to be used as an office desk, and a three cabin only layout. The thinking is that a two cabin yacht of this size would typically have a stowage area in place of the third cabin, whereas here the identical aft cabins are adaptable and can both be used either as doubles or a single with large work cabin/stowage space.

Overall, the interior is kept symmetrical and simple with easy flowing access. The central island, with its integral two-level fridge, is an excellent feature. Conceived by Argento, it provides bracing where you need it most, yet a clear passage each side, which will be valuable for moving or stacking sails. A large wooden chopping board extends work surface space by joining the island to the sink or chart table.

Aft cabins are clever as they can be used as doubles or work cabin/stowage space. Photo: Branko Ceak

The saloon has long, sleepable berths with particularly comfortable cushions, however, with tanks below the berths, practical accessible stowage is found wanting. An angled V-shaped entrance to the forward cabin and heads helps extend the saloon and there is decent space at both ends of the table to sit or walk around.

The small heads compartment and decision to go with a door that opens inwards will be an area of contention, and the lack of separate shower a potential deal breaker. The solution is more reminiscent of an airline- or train-style toilet. While it is possible to shut the door after you, it takes a bit of practice and larger crew will need contortionist skills. The folding sink is neatly done, with a drop down mirror above it, but it leaves you questioning the long term practicality and durability of such a fitting.

Build quality is impressive. The Beneteau First 36 has a vacuum infused Vinylester hull and deck and a Corecell foam core. “Using foam helped us take 200kg out of the hull”, says Seascape’s CTO Hajnšek, adding that Pure Design helped them to get rid of balsa as a core. The lightweight sandwich technique results in all the liners weighing just 60kg for (an estimated 200kg saving).

Seascape will know better than any that it can shed another 300-500kg by removing timber and using a different keel. It leads one to think there’ll be a turbo edition of this model in the future, with tiller, water ballast and foam cored furniture.

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The First 36 strips away sailing complexities in an effort to ensure it can be fun for crewed racing and short-hand sailing. This is the planing boat amateur sailors can enjoy. It’s no glitzy head turner, we’ve yet to see how it will rate and perform on the race course, and it’s fairly basic with small tanks for cruising. However, it still firmly ticks the cruiser-racer box. It’s built with production ‘standard’ (non-exotic) materials, and thanks to good design and engineering, it delivers on the water. Is this a new First icon then? The First marque used to dominate the value-for-money cruiser-racer sector, and this model arguably takes us back to those roots. And yet the 36 introduces another factor above these – high performance that is approachable enough to encourage fun for all levels of sailors. The heads is arguably a mistake and will be inconvenient for larger crewmembers. I also wonder if they can be built quickly enough to this standard, while hoping that the more sustainable materials Beneteau is already employing on its First 44 can be used for this model soon too. But how refreshing! A stiff, planing boat that puts the focus back on sailing is surely the way to go. Easy speed equates to more sailing time. The 36 is indeed class. First class.

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Beneteau First 36, Sailing World 2023 Boat of the Year

• By Dave Reed
• December 16, 2022

Sailing World Magazine’s  annual Boat of the Year tests are conducted in Annapolis, Maryland, following the US Sailboat Show. With independent judges exhaustively inspecting the boats on land and putting them through their paces on the water, this year’s fleet of new performance-sailing boats spanned from small dinghies to high-tech bluewater catamarans. Here’s the best of the best from our  2023 Boat of the Year nominees »

The Total Package

• Beneteau First 36 2023 Boat of the Year
• Stated purpose: Shorthanded racing, club racing, coastal cruising
• Crew: Solo to six
• Praise for: Build quality, deck layout, versatility
• Est. price as sailed: $345,000

Like a runaway, the Beneteau First 36 careens across a westerly-whipped Chesapeake Bay. The boat’s big-shouldered spinnaker and mainsail are silhouetted in the early October morning light. It’s making trees on the Eastern Shore as we peg the throttle down to keep chase in a 19-foot RIB. The four crewmembers on board are having a casual conversation—like no big deal—when a cold and meaty gust fills the spinnaker. The leech flickers, and the boat surges forward onto plane. Twin rudders zipper the slick streaming out from the transom as the helmsman, hands at 10 and 2 on the carbon steering wheel, effortlessly weaves the boat across waves tops. The boat is, as the saying goes, on rails.

“Wicked,” is how senior Boat of the Year judge Chuck Allen summarizes his experience when he steps off. “That boat is going to be hard to beat.”

Three days and 10 boats later, nothing comes close to usurping the Beneteau First 36 as the obvious and unanimous Boat of the Year, a boat that has been a long time coming and overdue. It’s a boat that will serve many masters.

Beneteau initiated its First 36 project in 2019 by surveying a broad focus group of First “Point 7” owners and dealers about what they wanted in the marketplace, and the takeaways were: 1) Not another ­displacement boat—it had to plane. 2) They wanted a lounge, not a dining room. 3) They wanted their nav station back, and 4) for that, they were OK with having a smaller head.

Given the boat was to meet all three of its club racing, shorthanded and cruising demands, the brain trust assembled inside and outside of Beneteau focused on No. 1—keeping it light and fast. Naval architect Samuel Manuard, the new hot talent of the IMOCA 60 and Class 40 scenes, did the hull, keel and rig. Pure Structural Engineering took care of the structure, and the weight-obsessed glass slingers at Seascape’s factory in Slovenia ensured the boat came in at not a pound more than 10,580. At that weight, of course it’s going to plane.

The entire boat is ­vacuum-infused with CoreCell (hull) and PVC (bulkheads) from the deck down, inside and out, and everything, except the fridge, is somehow a piece of the structure puzzle.

“We are saving big weight there, as furniture is also part of the structure, and all of it glued together makes the boat extremely stiff and very light,” says Beneteau’s Tit Plevnik. “What is special is how calculated it is. In mass-production building, you can’t rely on precision, but we do. The boat is built to the same standard as a pure ­racing boat.”

“The moment I saw it, I knew it would be good. It’s a great-looking boat at the dock and even better with the sails up.” —Greg Stewart

Built like a race boat, the judges all agree it sure sails like one. “It’s a big 36-footer,” says veteran BOTY judge and naval architect Greg Stewart. “It’s a full-ended boat that has a hint of a scow-type bow with a lot of buoyancy forward. Looking at the numbers, what they achieved with the weight and its placement is impressive—10,000 pounds for a 36-foot waterline length is a very good number. I could tell the minute we put the spinnaker up it was a slippery boat.”

Stewart set the day’s top speed at a tick over 18 knots and says: “I remember feeling the puff hit and load the rig, and the boat just scooted off with really nice steering. It felt like a Laser when you get it in that groove and it just levitates. With the dual rudders, which are pretty long, the boat has more of a power-steering feel upwind, so it lets you do a lot of things. There’s so much control, which is a good thing because you can drive out of situations, but at the same time, it’s easy to oversteer.”

Multiple cockpit mock-ups done at ­different heel angles produced a workspace that the judges could find no flaw with. “It’s all legit, easy and clean in the pit,” Allen says. “With the four of us in the ­cockpit, we had plenty of space to move around and were never into each other.

“I was doing a lot of trimming downwind,” Allen adds. “You can feel the boat take off. It was really stable and easy to handle. The thing is light and fast, and we did push it to try and wipe it out, but it was hard to do.”

All the judges praised the clever location of the primary winches on sloped coamings, which were easier to trim from than a traditional winch-on-the-coaming setup. “They’re at the perfect height,” says judge Dave Powlison, “and with them angled like that, you don’t have to crane your neck to see the sail, and the lead is virtually override-proof.”

Also noteworthy is the generous space between the high carbon wheels and the cockpit walls that allow the helmsman to slide forward without having to step up and around the wheel. The jib trimmer has easy access to the three-dimensional clue adjustment systems, and for the pit, there’s plenty of clutches, redirects and cleats to keep everything sorted and tidy.

The standard spar, and that on the demo boat, is a deck-stepped Z Spars aluminum section with Dyform wire rigging that carries 860 square feet of upwind sail area, which Stewart says is considerable for the displacement of the boat. The mast is well aft, which really stretches out the J dimension and opens the foredeck for a quiver of headsails—for this, you’ll find two tack points on the foredeck. There are four halyards total: one for a masthead gennaker, a 2-to-1 for a code sail, a fractional gennaker, and a 2-to-1 staysail. Allen, a semi-retired sailmaker, put an estimate for a complete race inventory at $60,000, which would put the boat on the racecourse for roughly $400,000. (Base boat is priced at $345,000.)

When the race is done, however, how about that interior?

Step down the wide companionway steps into a space of design simplicity and efficiency, some of which makes you say, “Duh, of course.”

For example, there’s no ­traditional L-shaped galley to port or starboard. There is, however, a tall and slender fridge smack in the middle of the boat (that you connect to the galley with a removable cutting board to complete the L). Walk on either side of it to get forward, past the proper nav station, the fold-down dinette table in the middle with roomy 6-foot berths on both sides, a jetliner-size head with a stowaway sink to starboard, and then a gigantic V-berth that benefits from all that volume in the bow. Back aft, under the cockpit, are large quarter berths as well that easily cruise-convert into storage space for water toys, like kites, wings and foils, all of which takes us back to survey result No. 2. This is where the post-race party begins and ends.

With the usual supply-chain delays, compounded with the build and design team’s obsessive and calculated approach to getting the Beneteau First 36 perfect at Hull No. 1, its debut got off to a later start than hoped. But with early boats landing at eager dealers worldwide, Plevnik says the goal is 32 boats per year for the next two years. The BOTY judges assure us it’ll be worth the wait and give you plenty of time to start planning what you can and will do with it.

• More: 2023 Boat of the Year , Beneteau , Boat of the Year , Print Winter 2023 , Sailboats
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