"Capt. Rob" wrote in message

*Performance* encompasses a lot more than just going fast. I'll take
the
Swan any day.

Wow...you really went out on a limb there! Next you'll tell us that
you'd take Pam Anderson over Judy Dench.

You wouldn't???

But Chantiers Beneteau's claim that they are great offshore
passagemakers is more advertising hype than reality.

Honestly, we won't take Thomas into dangerous conditions offshore in
any boat.

Probably a good thing for both Thomas AND you.


Now that
you own one, there are few boats that can compare with your 35s5.
Sounds
like owner prejudice, plain and simple, to me.

That IS a VERY valid point. In this case it came down to education
about some of the Beneteau line.

Education, or just buying into the advertising hype?

I don't have a high opinion of the
latest Beneteau boats, especially the Oceanus series. Did you know that
brokers are currently fighting with BeneteauUSA to make fit and finish
improvements because quality has fallen badly?

I'd heard something about that. We inspected a 393 at a boat show last year
and were disappointed in the interior fit and finish. Externally the boat
seemed pretty typically Beneteau.

Go look at a new
one...even a First series. Mark at Doyle loved the way his 36.7 sailed,
but said the interior is crap compared to my boat.

Was your boat built in South Carolina or France? Could that be a factor?

Of course we
observed this ourselves. He himself laughed that he was a Beneteau
basher...and then he sailed a first series boat. The combo of
performance and cruisability for these waters is essentially unmatched
anywhere near the price.
Go ahead...try to match it. Doug couldn't.
That's not to say the 35s5 is ideal for everyone. It's a handful at
times and requires more work to sail than say a Catalina 40 or Island
Packet 35. But that's what we wanted!
All I can add is that we took Windward First out in some pretty heavy
wind and chop and it was simply a blast! Reefed under main alone, she
still sailed like a quick dinghy and aside from the howling wind, it
was very relaxed and composed. This is a great boat for the LIS area.

I happen to like Beneteaus in general. I've never been a Beneteau-basher.
A close friend just bought a 445, which is an ex-charter boat, identical to
the one we sailed in the BVI a couple of years back. While it isn't a real
show-stopper in terms of quality, fit, and finish, it ain't bad. And it is
fast and capacious. It meets his needs very nicely, and he and his wife and
kids will love it, I'm sure.

What I was objecting to in your diatribe was comparing your boat with boats
obviously built to a higher standard and with greater integrity of hull and
rig, designed for conditions that your boat was not. If you were honest
you'd have to admit that your boat is not in the same league as a Wauquiez,
Sweden, J-Boat, Swan, or many others costing far more. Then again you
didn't have to mortgage the Empire State Building to buy your boat.
Everything is a trade-off in life. Boats are no exception. Beneteau builds
a decent boat for the buck, better than Hunter or Catalina, IMO.

Max