Beneteau First
 

Adrian Smith wrote:
Was this a chartered boat, if so where did you charter it from... If
you don't mind me asking?

Yep, it was a charter-boat. I Sailed it in the archipelago of Finland.
That's in the Baltic sea between Sweden and Finland. I'm sure you're
familiar with the region... ;)


--
Markus

Beneteau First
 

Adrian Smith wrote:
I'm looking at purchasing a Beneteau First, either a 25.7 or 27.7.
Has anyone any advice to give either positive or negative.
How well do they stand up to sea conditions etc.




Markus Rautanen wrote:
I cruised a 27.7 last summer for three days. The wind was between 5 and 20
kts, so I can't say how it handles in rough conditions

heh heh some here would say that 20 knot winds were 'rough
conditions.'

... but under the
weather me had, I really enjoyed sailing it! The boat is really fast
compared to other 27-footers, especially on open winds.

All the equipment on deck I found more than satisfactory. Cockpit is quite
large for it's class, and it is widened in the aft to allow more space for
the helmsman. Interior is, as I'm sure you know, a bit roughly made with
little wood and plenty of GRP showing. The keel mechanism is easy to operate
with the electonic hydraulic pump.


Now you've got me interested... the south east US has many
shallow areas, a lifting keel is a great idea.

I will tell you first that I have not sailed the Beneteau
25.7 or the 27.7, but I have sailed the 36.7 of the same
model series. Right now I think they're importing the 34.7
as the "10R" maybe planning to build it in the US. The two
boats have different proportions, the 27.7 is wider &
flatter aft... it looks like the older Figaro design.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Beneteau First
 

DSK wrote:
Markus Rautanen wrote:
All the equipment on deck I found more than satisfactory. Cockpit is
quite large for it's class, and it is widened in the aft to allow
more space for the helmsman. Interior is, as I'm sure you know, a
bit roughly made with little wood and plenty of GRP showing. The
keel mechanism is easy to operate with the electonic hydraulic pump.


Now you've got me interested... the south east US has many
shallow areas, a lifting keel is a great idea.

Yep, same here in Finland. However I'm slightly suspicious of the consept of
a lifting keel. Would it bother me if I was considering buying a 27.7?
Propably not. It's just a bit hard to think of it being structually as sound
as a traditional keel - although Beneteau assures it is. And because it's
lifting, I guess one is less likely to ground it since it's up when in the
shallow areas... The mechanism seemed very simple (in a good way) and as I
said, easy to use.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Breeze here is now certainly fresh, considering temperature is around -20
Celsius (about -5 Fahrenheit) :D

--
Markus

Beneteau First
 

Now you've got me interested... the south east US has many
shallow areas, a lifting keel is a great idea.


Markus Rautanen wrote:
Yep, same here in Finland. However I'm slightly suspicious of the consept of
a lifting keel. Would it bother me if I was considering buying a 27.7?
Propably not. It's just a bit hard to think of it being structually as sound
as a traditional keel - although Beneteau assures it is.

It's possible for it to be as strong, but you're right in
that this will require additional work in design &
construction... the biggest drawback IMHO is that it takes
away a notable amount of interior room.

And because it's
lifting, I guess one is less likely to ground it since it's up when in the
shallow areas... The mechanism seemed very simple (in a good way) and as I
said, easy to use.


A big plus. Simple is usually strong too. Question- is the
up/down button located so the helmsman can use it? That is
where it should be, I think.

Around here, people say that shallow draft allows you to run
aground in much more interesting places. Our current boat
draws 1.1 meter and we like to explore.



Fresh Breezes- Doug King


Breeze here is now certainly fresh, considering temperature is around -20
Celsius (about -5 Fahrenheit) :D


Brr-rrr! Too cold for my southern blood. I am hoping it will
warm up a little here so I can finish fiberglassing our
decks. This is unusual for North Carolina in January.

I started wishing people "Fresh Breezes" in my internet
correspondence about 11 years ago or so, it sounded
friendly. By now my fingers type it automatically.

DSK

Beneteau First
 

DSK wrote:
It's possible for it to be as strong, but you're right in
that this will require additional work in design &
construction... the biggest drawback IMHO is that it takes
away a notable amount of interior room.

That's propably true in most cases, though I wouldn't know since 27.7 is the
only lifting-keel boat I've sailed. In my opinion the design in 27.7 is such
that the keelmechanism doesn't take much additional space. The well serves
as a pedestal for the table and can be completely covered with it when the
keel is down.

A big plus. Simple is usually strong too. Question- is the
up/down button located so the helmsman can use it? That is
where it should be, I think.

Nope, the button is located in the control-panel inside the boat. When the
keel is down, it has to be secured in place by a pair of approx. 2" x 2"
steel beams that (of course) have to be removed when you hoist the keel. So
you have to go inside to hoist/lower the keel anyway. In my opinion it's
these beams that "bond" the keel into the hull. If one would leave those out
and ground the boat, the well would propably be damaged by the keel since it
would be more free to rotate. Btw I think 27.7 is also available with manual
hydraulic keel mechanism. I would go with the electric one :)

Around here, people say that shallow draft allows you to run
aground in much more interesting places. Our current boat
draws 1.1 meter and we like to explore.

Nicely put :D The 27.7 is around 65 cm keel up and 2,10 m keel down as far
as I recollect...

I started wishing people "Fresh Breezes" in my internet
correspondence about 11 years ago or so, it sounded
friendly. By now my fingers type it automatically.

It sounds very frendly indeed - I'll propably have to steel it and use it
myself... ;)


--
Markus

Beneteau First
 

I like the Figaro type designs. I'd trade my Etchells for
one. I'd love to sail one to check it out.

I also like lifting keels. How can you argue with a
shoal draft when you need it, and the ability to trailer it
off a ramp? Still I wonder how well the lifting keel
would hold up under heavy use.

I know I'd get a lot more sailing in, at different venues,
if I could trailer it somewhere for a weekend and
launch it off a ramp, and rig it easily.

The Figaro is just over 10' wide so that makes
trailering a headache. I wish they kept the beam, at
least under 10 feet, or better yet a bit narrower. That
wide beam is nice but limits the other attributes of the boat.



"DSK" wrote
Now you've got me interested... the south east US has many shallow areas,
a lifting keel is a great idea.

I will tell you first that I have not sailed the Beneteau 25.7 or the
27.7, but I have sailed the 36.7 of the same model series. Right now I
think they're importing the 34.7 as the "10R" maybe planning to build it
in the US. The two boats have different proportions, the 27.7 is wider &
flatter aft... it looks like the older Figaro design.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King