Blue Deep Water Beneteau

[NEBrian]

Hello Beneteauians! As a potential Beneteau owner I would like to ask what model Beneteau is the most Deep or Blue Water Sailboat capable. I know that length has a say, but what model to start with? Please include any models that have been discontinued in the last 20 years. Thanks in advance.

 

[Doug4bass]

Popcorn..........

 

[Jackdaw]

Hard to go wrong with a First 39. Many have done a lap.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Who knows? If the boat successfully makes a crossing, it's "capable." But, if you want a blue-water boat buy a Moody 42, or similar.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Hello NEBrian,
I live at the other end of rt 2 in NH. Pick the boat in your price range with the accomodations you need. Be sure price range includes costs for repairs and upgrade additions for bluewater, long range cruising; such as new safety equipment, updated standing rigging, spare parts, storm jib, extra reef points, if needed, in main. There's a long list of common sense equipment and mods that any boat owner intent on bluewater sailing should have. Beneteaus, as a brand, are up to the task, when properly outfitted with a captain who knows his boat and is well prepared.
I am not a Beneteau owner, but I have lived aboard, sailed long range and across an ocean. I do know Beneteaus are designed solidly and to sail bluewater, survive knockdowns and be self-righting. That's a good start for any bluewater venture.
If buying used, be sure the PO hasn't changed or adversely modified the vessel to not meet the above standards, which are not comprehensive by any means.
I also recommend that when sailing outside immediate availability for help, keep the main hatch closed. There is the unpredictable rogue wave or blast of wind. I was sitting below, aboard a 56' three-masted schooner, reading a book at the dock, on a nice Florida Winter day when the boat took a very sudden 20 degree heel and popped back upright. Talking to people at the marina afterward, they described the row of sailboats as looking like a line of dominos, they just suddenly fell over in turn down the row. Nobody else felt any wind or saw the Kraken brushing the keels. You never know.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[BrianRobin]

As an experienced sailor friend of mine once said, it's not the boat, it's the sailor

 

[David in Sandusky]

Some Beneteaus are clearly coastal cruisers. Their large cockpits and beamy designs make them questionable for a long voyage where they need to survive major storms with no safe harbor near.

I recommend “Choosing a Cruising Sailboat” by Roger Marshall, available from the SBO store, to help you make an informed choice. Roger talks about seakeeping and comfort from the hull, safety systems, bunks near the centerline, a large, rechargeable battery bank, a watermaker, a complete galley, substantial ground tackle, and an inflatable dinghy for his voyager/long distance cruiser design.

Educating yourself will help you to select and prepare a boat for your purpose.

 

[Kings Gambit]

...it's not the boat, it's the sailor

This phrase is often cited in various forms. I wonder what it is that a sailor must know to allow him or her to successfully circumvent the design constraints of a boat; i.e., to do with it what is not designed to do. Bad weather avoidance? Storm tactics? Beefing up? Rescue-me electronics? Course planning? Appealing to the correct patron saint? Myself, I appeal to St. Brendan the Navigator; but there's also St. Christopher! This may be one of the more important decisions for all new sailors seeking the blue-water experience!!

It also helps to know the effective (working) definition of "blue-water" cruising. Being more than a day's run (24 hr) to safe harbor. That may or may not equate directly with distance offshore. For most sailboats (monohull), a day's run falls between about 130 and 180 n.mi. The principle being that you do not have to stay out there and get beat up in bad weather when you have the choice (and chance) to run in.

 

[Jackdaw]

Some Beneteaus are clearly coastal cruisers. Their large cockpits and beamy designs make them questionable for a long voyage where they need to survive major storms with no safe harbor near.

While I agree with the rest of your post, this is not really true. There is nothing inherent to beamy or big cockpit boats that makes them unsafe for ocean work. Indeed, its becoming a new norm.

 

[Caboteur]

All Bénéteau boats have a CE certification. All «A» certified boats qualify for transoceanic travel. All «B» boats are certified to 200NM from shore. Presently «A» certification starts at 34 feet for the Oceanis series. This would mean a restricted crew... I would prefer 37+ for comfort & space. I've crossed from LaRochelle to Newfoundland on a RM 1050 (34 feet), we were four on board and it was comfortable enough... This was a Northern passage with fog, bergs and wind. So much for the big cockpit theory.

 

[Kings Gambit]

OK-- so find a modern, beamy boat with large cockpit built in Europe, and having a certification of "A", and you're good to go around the world! Should not be hard to find one.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Exaggeration for effect - Can someone please explain how a 30 ft wave which will break windows and remove a mast can read a certification label?

 

[NEBrian]

Thank you all for the great information. Thanks Caboteur for giving me the model Beneteau Oceanis. There seems to be a lot of Beneteau sailboats for sale. I just wanted a place to start. Thanks again.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Exaggeration for effect - Can someone please explain how a 30 ft wave which will break windows and remove a mast can read a certification label?

Well obviously the wave can't read the certification any more than another car can read how many stars are in your car's crash test rating when it hits you. But it's still a valuable measure of overall safety and readiness. I wouldn't want to be in a bad storm with an A certified boat any more than in an accident with a 5 star car, but I'd have a better chance there than in a D certified boat or 1 star car.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Well obviously the wave can't read the certification any more than another car can read how many stars are in your car's crash test rating when it hits you. But it's still a valuable measure of overall safety and readiness. I wouldn't want to be in a bad storm with an A certified boat any more than in an accident with a 5 star car, but I'd have a better chance there than in a D certified boat or 1 star car.

I'm not sure it makes any difference and if you looked at NHTSA data on injuries sustained for lesser rated cars, neither would you. These safety ratings appear to be all largely marketing.

But my point is that if someone is buying based on a certification standard absent any consideration of tabbing, chainplate access, rudder stock, keel design, sail configurationor any of a myriad more important aspects, they might want to stay closer the shore.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Exaggeration for effect - Can someone please explain how a 30 ft wave which will break windows and remove a mast can read a certification label?

Waves read the cert labels about as well as moose read the moose crossing signs.

All other things being equal, which boat would YOU want out there 1000 NM from shore?

All threads that start with, I'm looking for recommendations for bluewater boats, spend post after post talking about the sailor and other aspects of preparedness. There have been a few good recommendations; they are good ones, I'm sure, but when the subject of ocean sailing comes up the most important thing on everyone's mind is, 'ARE YOU PREPARED TO CROSS AN OCEAN?'
the next unasked questions to answer are, how many more important things there are to consider than which boat.
These are real concerns and the sailors of SBO have your best interests at heart, so be patient with us, NEBrian. We'll help get you there. Most of us would just like a chance to go there with you, I know I would, so keep posting.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

Oh yeah, I forgot to ask,
Are you planning a trip up the Saint Lawrence or down the Mississippi or are you buying on the coast and going from there, cause I got to say, that last option, compared to the other two, BORINGGGG! Everyone does that.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[JohnShannon]

The "First" series are built a little better and designed for racing, the Oceanis series is optimized for cruising and comfort. Firsts have done and won Sydney Hobart Oceanis mmm maybe not. You could also get a Figaro 2 set up for easy single handing!

 

[JohnShannon]

I think the CE A rating looks at the same design details that a 30ft wave looks at, it does mean something but like all rules is imperfect.

 

[CaptainSV-SecondStar]

While no ocean crossing yet with us aboard, our 2007 B49 has circumnavigated the Caribbean and done numerous offshore miles. Worth a look. It was not a boat that was on our original short list at all, but we could not be happier with the results. For us, while I'd like to see a few additional handholds below, she is a wonderful, workable combination of livability and sea-keeping.