Beneteau 331 ???s

Ryd

.
Sep 10, 2021
8
Beneteau 331 Richmond CA
Hello cruisers!

Hopefully this is the Beneteau forum...
We are the new owners of a 2001 Beneteau 331 in the SF Bay area.

A few basic questions:
Wondering if these 2001 331s were made in the USA - I guess in south Carolina, or brought in from France?.
I haven't found a clear answer on that.

This boat has a US spars mast with a furling main, which is one of the reasons we went for it...it does not have wind instruments on top of the mast, but we would like to add them...so wondering if anybody has experience running wires down a furling US spars mast? Can this be done without taking mast down? Can instruments be mounted from a bosun's chair on the top of mast?

I'm replacing the Raymarine depth and speed and most of these are bundled with wind instruments so wondering if I should pay extra for wireless wind speed/direction to avoid taking mast down.

Any insights into Beneteau 331 would be appreciated. The westerbeke 25 diesel also rattles a bit so trying to figure that out too...

Best ryd
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
Congratulations on your new sailboat and welcome to the SF Bay!!

Wondering if these 2001 331s were made in the USA - I guess in south Carolina, or brought in from France? If this was a USCG documented boat, you can get a USCG abstract of title which might tell you where the boat was manufactured. However, since you have a US Spars (US) vs. Z-Spars (French) mast my guess the boat was manufactured in the US.

Running wires down a furling US spars mast? See section 12 in the attached manual for running wires down the mast. Suggest getting a manual for your furling mast and a cross-sectional drawing from US Spars U.S. Spars | America's Premier Mast and Boat Equipment Manufacturer (usspars.com) . From my Selden furling mast manual, which yours should be similar: Running cables All in-mast furling mast extrusions have one or more cable conduits. These run uninterrupted to the mast heel even on keel stepped masts. A messenger is threaded through all empty conduits at the factory to facilitate cable drawing. A new messenger should be drawn through a conduit at the same time as a cable is drawn through. This will facilitate the running of additional cables. If an existing cable should prevent a new one being run, it should be extracted after first having attached a new messenger to it to take its place in the conduit. That messenger can then be used to pull two or more cables through the conduit simultaneously. Cables are led into a conduit at the masthead through a hole in the side of the mast extrusion. Cables should be over-length. The head box can then later be removed without the need to disconnect electric installations. Cable exits are located in the mast heel casting.

Can this be done without taking mast down? Yes.

Can instruments be mounted from a bosun's chair on the top of mast? Yes.

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I'm replacing the Raymarine depth and speed and most of these are bundled with wind instruments so wondering if I should pay extra for wireless wind speed/direction? You could install a Raymarine Wireless Tacktick Mast Head Fly and remote wind meter at Raymarine Wireless Instrument Displays | Raymarine - A Brand by FLIR the helm, which is what I did on my Hunter 31. The wireless head fly was installed and wired mast head unit was replaced on my Hunter 386 both with the mast up.

The westerbeke 25 diesel also rattles a bit so trying to figure that out too. Could be any number of issues like aging or loose engine mounts, shaft misalignment, propeller damage to name few, which I have expereince on different boats. These articles might be helpful in tracking down the vibration cause: A Guide to 2 Possible Causes of High Levels of Vibration in a Boat Engine - Morgan's Motor Sports Blog (aw-outfitters.com) Troubleshooting Boat Vibrations | BoatUS . I recall I already provided two top notch marine diesel engine mechanics in the SF Bay, who can mitigate the vibration.
 

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Ryd

.
Sep 10, 2021
8
Beneteau 331 Richmond CA
Thanks so much...food for thought on these items...
Yes I would like to get the contact info for your diesel mechanics ...im getting used to the interface of this forum and haven’t seen those names if you already provided..

Also I'm wondering if you know anyone in BArea that is a pro at line splicing? I'm going to replace the running rigging and both the main sheet and traveler lines have spliced loops on one end...seems like it is hard to but these pre-spliced off the spool

Thanks a bunch! Headed to rio vista soon for bottom paint then on to Richmond...
 
Jan 7, 2011
4,727
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
Thanks so much...food for thought on these items...
Yes I would like to get the contact info for your diesel mechanics ...im getting used to the interface of this forum and haven’t seen those names if you already provided..

Also I'm wondering if you know anyone in BArea that is a pro at line splicing? I'm going to replace the running rigging and both the main sheet and traveler lines have spliced loops on one end...seems like it is hard to but these pre-spliced off the spool

Thanks a bunch! Headed to rio vista soon for bottom paint then on to Richmond...
You can also check Garmin and RayMarine wireless wind instruments. I have a Tac Tic (now Raymarine ) wireless wind and it works well, and wires to deal with.

Greg