Beneteau 393 vs 40.7 Questions

[elle]

My husband is a keen racer who works as crew on other peoples boats. We are looking to purchase our own boat one day. We are looking for a new Beneteau to go cruising in the Carribean one day. I have my sights on a 393 which we sailed in the BVIs. Plenty of room below and it sails just fine. My husband wants a boat that offers more performance and sails faster. Down below there is less room than the 393 and that is where we cannot agree. I do know that the keel is 7" and that is not so great in the Carribean.Any suggestions for a 40' boat that might offer a solution to both our requirements?Thanks

 

[Rick I]

Cruising

The priorities for cruising comfortably are different from racing no matter what some designers or manufacturers might say. By cruising I mean more than a two week vacation. You need storage and if you're like most of the east coast sailors who end up in the Bahamas, a bit less draft. The 393 is an ideal boat for this. There is a deep draft version and a "traditional" rig if you want a bit more performance. My experience has been that the 393 with the furling main and shoal draft works very well. I cruise mine six months every year and there's usually sufficient wind to move it. More often than not we're reefed. I guess you have to decide what you really want the boat for, cruising or racing.

 

[Chuck]

Buy the cruiser

If you are going to be on the boat for extended periods, buy the most comfortable boat. Shallow draft seems to be just as important for you. Racing is racing against your rating. Skill and luck take over, size is unimportant.

 

[Mike]

393 phasing out

FYI Beneteau is phasing out the 393 as well as some of the other current series. The new 40 replaces the 393 and is new design. We just saw it (as well as the new 49)at an open house on Saturday. Definately more Euro looking inside and out. If hull appearances are right she looks like she'll want to be sailed fairly flat but would give you a fast ride in return. Beneteau will be displaying her at all the latest shows.

 

[b393capt]

393 phasing out - get yours before its gone

The 393 is a terrific cruising boat, and the 2 cabin model is extremely roomy with lots of space.I am a racer ... have been racing for 4 years on 23 foot Sonar's. My wife suggested last year we should buy our own boat, rather then just cruising once a year in the BVI and again in San Francisco (Long Island, NY has very limited availability of chartering bases).Believe me I seriously considered the 40.7 and similiar racer/cruisers, but I had some big realities to face. First, two people I know got racer/cruisers that were narrow, and ended up never using them for cruising because it made such a poor cruising boat in both cases, and in the one case the boat was too difficult for 4 people to sail, let alone 2, when it was rigged to race with a crew of eight. My second reality, is that keeping a crew of 4 people organized and competitive was really difficult on the 23 foot Sonar's, I felt a crew of 8 wasn't going to happen, so I started thinking that if I sail handicapped I might as well get a boat that's easy to race with a small crew.I settled on the 393 to get the best crew of all ... my family. My wife liked the 2-cabin 393 overwhelming vs any other boat we saw. We got it last season, and she and my daughter sailed almost every other weekend with me, so I consider that a huge success. I didn't actually race my 393 yet, because I was too busy having my family enjoy sailing with me!To accomidate my desire to race, I made some decisions:- We went for the classic non-furling mainsail, so that I could fully adjust the sails, also adding a cunningham.- We kept to the shoal draft to have greater access to harbors, although a penalty for upwind performance, the PHRF rating system gives you handicap points to adjust for that.- We got an Autoprop propeller, which reduces resistance and adds 3/4 knots to speed sailing. - We got the option for Asymetric spinnaker. The 2-cabin version has this huge lazerette that easily stows this additional sail.No matter I succeed or not at racing her, just to have my whole family as part of my hobby reinforced a good decision to get the 393 as a cruiser first. After all, I can race someone else's boat if I have too carrying what I need in a small sack, but getting your family onto someone else's boat to go cruising is far more difficult, and having your family enjoy the hobby is pricelessDanb393capt"Breeze Pleeze"

 

[b393capt]

393 phasing out - get yours before its gone

I forgot the original point I was going to make ...A previous post mentioned the 393 is being phased out, but don't infer that it is getting better, that's not the case. Get the 393 as it is today, it is very well designed to be a 39 foot boat, where as the model that replaces it is carry down a design and styling that is fabulous at 46 foot ... but no so much so into the smaller sizes as a sort of one design fits all approach through several sizes of Beneteau that isn't as good as the 393 design it's replacing. Visit the 393 web-sitehttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/beneteau393/Danb393capt"Breeze Pleeze"