Beneteau Model...?

Nov 11, 2018
13
Beneteau 323 Toronto
Hi All,

What's the simplest way to determine the model of a Beneteau absent any obvious hull identification etc.? I'm looking at a boat that is being presented as a 2000 323. Best I can tell the production run for the 323 didn't start until 2001. Placement of hatches, windows, etc. also tend to make me think she may not be a 323. Is there an easy way to tell which version I am looking at?
 
Jun 29, 2010
1,287
Beneteau First 235 Lake Minnetonka, MN
Have you gone to the Beneteau website? You can see all their boats under, I think, Legacy Yachts.
 
Nov 11, 2018
13
Beneteau 323 Toronto
I have looked at the website under Heritage Yachts. There doesn't look to be a perfect fit so I'm wondering if there are multiple versions of the same boat. A peculiarity of this boat is that the ice box is under the nav table. None of the pics I can find of either the 311 (which I suspect the boat may be) or the 323 show this way.
 

DougM

.
Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
I didn’t think the 323 was introduced until 2004.
mine is a 2004 and the hull number is 24.
Perhaps that was a misprint amd its possibly a 321?
Just looked it up though and discovered the french built 323s were introduced in 2001.
 
Nov 11, 2018
13
Beneteau 323 Toronto
I'm convinced it's a 311. It has a single backstay and the others all look to have a split backstay.
 
Sep 23, 2019
44
Beneteau 311 Toronto
I take it the serial number is different than the hull identification number? I called Beneteau today and was told the HIN wouldn’t give model info.
 

RitSim

.
Jan 29, 2018
406
Beneteau 411 Branford
That's interesting because I got my HIN number wrong in an email to them and they came right back and told me that the number did not match my info on the model that I had given them. I was looking for what model hull number I had.
 
Sep 23, 2019
44
Beneteau 311 Toronto
That is interesting. I know the last digits are production year. There’s a letter ahead of that for month. Ahead of that is hull number as far as I can gather. Between the “BEY” and all this is another string of numbers. I thought these might be the model. According to the call I had today, no dice.
 

Dr. D

.
Nov 3, 2018
272
Beneteau Oceanis 35.1 Herrington Harbour North
For boats built or manufactured August 1, 1984 or later:
HIN1984

  1. Manufacturer Identification Code (MIC)
  2. Hull or Serial Number
  3. Manufacture Date, where the second digit is the last digit of the year, and the first is a code for the month as below:

    A:JanE:MayI:Sep
    B:FebF:JunJ:Oct
    C:MarG:JulKNov
    D:AprH:AugL:Dec
  4. Model year
Looks like that doesn't give the model.
 

JRacer

.
Aug 9, 2011
1,331
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Is it documented with the USCG? Or, is it registered with the State? Whichever it is, they should have details on the manufacturer and model, length, etc.
 
May 17, 2004
5,028
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
For boats built or manufactured August 1, 1984 or later:
HIN1984

  1. Manufacturer Identification Code (MIC)
  2. Hull or Serial Number
  3. Manufacture Date, where the second digit is the last digit of the year, and the first is a code for the month as below:

    A:JanE:MayI:Sep
    B:FebF:JunJ:Oct
    C:MarG:JulKNov
    D:AprH:AugL:Dec
  4. Model year
Looks like that doesn't give the model.
In some cases the first characters in the serial number are a model identifier. Evidently not for Beneteaus of that era though.