Read article : Beneteau First 50 - MySailing.com.au
Beneteau's latest cruiser/racer is from super-yacht specialist Philippe Briand, by Vanessa Dudley.
FIRST of all, it's not a Farr boat. French boat builder Beneteau has had a golden run with its First line of production cruiser/racers bearing the Farr Yacht Design name, most notably with the First 40.7 and more recently the 47.7, 44.7 and 36.7.
For its new First 50-footer, however, Beneteau turned to Philippe Briand, the French naval architect whose focus in recent years has been on super-maxis like the 140ft Mari Cha IV. Briand advances the proposition that "the primary function of a yacht is to be aesthetic. Her owner has to be proud of her?.
"Philippe Briand was brought onboard to produce a beautiful boat," says John Cowpe of the Australian Beneteau importer, Vicsail. While smaller First models like the 44.7 and 34.7 have been aimed at IRC racing, the new First 50 has a different primary focus, Cowpe says. "It's a sports cruiser, a boat you would race in Premier Cruising division rather than against the IRC class boats like the Cookson 50s."
The result is a stylish and well-proportioned yacht which has some interesting signature features like the "eyebrows" (or eyelids) over the side windows in the coach house (giving the boat a distinctive look, while also providing protection so the windows can be left open while sailing in moderate conditions), and the long bank of green tinted skylight hatches along the centreline both ahead and behind the mast.
It is a much sleeker craft than Beneteau's other current model 50 in the Oceanis cruising range.
In fact it probably has more in common with semi-custom craft such as the Marten 49 in the modern performance/sports cruiser category. With its carbon composite construction the Marten offers higher performance, but at a considerably higher price.
The first boat to arrive in Australia is Playstation 3, for Sydney yachtsman Dean Harrigan, stepping towards a more performance oriented boat from his previous Beneteau 53f5 Big Kahuna, and Greg Hargraves.
Playstation 3 attracted a great deal of interest at the Sydney International Boat Show in August before whisking away for the delivery north to the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, where it was to compete in the Premier IRC division.
By the time this review is published, there will be racing results on the board for the new boat, which at the time of writing did not yet have an IRC rating.
Rig and deck layout
Playstation 3 is fitted with a black-painted aluminium mast produced by Sparcraft; keel-stepped and tapered with triple aft-swept (20 degree) spreaders. A slightly taller carbon mast, weighing roughly 100kg less, is a more expensive option. The large section aluminium boom is also from Sparcraft.
"A lot has been learned from racing boats to produce a simple boat that works," says John Cowpe. The mainsheet trims on an electric-powered winch on a central island base with no traveller, relying on vang sheeting. There are Navtec hydraulic controls for the vang and the backstay.
Harken winches are used with a 53.2 self-tailer for the main, 60.2 self-tailers for the primaries and four 48.2s on the coach house for the halyards and control lines.
Standard running rigging includes Dyneema halyards and control lines leading back to jammers on the coach roof within reach of the cockpit. Where possible lines are recessed into the deck to provide less cluttered space.
The headsail has a fixed genoa furler under the foredeck. The anchor locker houses a tilting bow roller fitting for the 24kg Delta anchor. A hydraulic ram controls anchor launching on the pivoting arm, which turns through 180 degrees, and there is a 12 volt 1500 watt electric windlass. A separate sail locker with its own access hatch is also located at the bow.
The electronic instruments on Playstation 3 are from B&G, which also supplied an autopilot. This makes the steering a little heavier than would otherwise be the case, but will be a boon for deliveries and cruising.
The standard boat comes with teak cockpit seats, but Playstation 3 was also given a full teak decking job by Vicsail's after-sales team. This added an estimated 80-110kg of weight; "one big guy spread across the whole boat, so it?s not a big issue," says John Cowpe.
The two steering wheels are 900mm diameter painted aluminium. The transom folds down by simply releasing a barrel bolt to provide a boarding and swim platform. The aft section of the cockpit houses a large locker for the life raft or tender, safety gear, etc, and there is a lot more storage in the cockpit seat lockers.
Playstation 3 is set up with a cockpit lighting system of blue LEDs on the boom in front of the mainsheet so "doing a race like the Pittwater to Coffs, the crew can see without blinding the helm," says John Cowpe.
Below decks
The First 50 interior is very much in keeping with the latest styling across the major production yacht builders, including the use of light oak coloured timber, open floor spaces and those raised, square hand basins which are everywhere these days.
The first time I saw this styling ? Japanese influenced to my eye ? was on the German Hanse range, although I'm not sure if that's where it originated.
Stepping down the companionway brings you into a large, light and airy saloon, with a lot of headroom (1.95 to 2.01m) in spite of the relatively low-slung proportions of the coach roof.
The row of green tinted hatches in the centre of the coach roof can be sealed off with blinds and provides a healthy amount of light. According to Beneteau there are in fact 24 opening ports and hatches when you count up all the Lewmar windows with their anodised aluminium frames and include the sliding companionway hatch.
Halogen lighting and articulating reading lamps are included in the standard fit out.
The layout provides three private double cabins, the forward cabin having an en suite bathroom with a separate shower stall, while the mirror-image aft cabins are served by a smaller bathroom on the port side of the companionway. The forward toilet has an 80lt holding tank.
The two aft cabins have innovative soft fabric zip-up hanging lockers on stainless steel frames, while the front cabin has a more conventional full height locker. There is plenty of attention to detail throughout this craft, such as the internal light which comes on automatically when you open this forward locker.
Other details include a dedicated holding area for the stormboards behind the companionway steps, and drawers within drawers in the galley, which is on the starboard side at the aft end of the saloon.
The galley facilities include a 60lt top-opening icebox with a 12 volt evaporative cooling system, plus there is a 100lt fridge, as well as an LP gas oven and stove and quite a lot of storage compartments and bench space.
The L-shaped settee on the port side flanks a timber table on stainless steel legs, while there are two more removable/reversible seats on the centreline. Opposite to starboard is another settee, while outboard on both sides are banks of cupboards with upward opening doors.
Aft of the dining area is a generously sized navigation station with swivel chair, chart table, electrics panel and space to mount nav instruments, radios, etc. An aft-facing desk area can accommodate a laptop computer. The radio/CD/MP3 player is included in the standard equipment list with two saloons and two outside speakers.
Instead of having large floorboards which can be difficult to manage, the First 50 has small laminated timber squares which are lifted individually using a suction cap. This allows access to the bilge and inclusions such as the wine rack housed under the floorboards adjacent to the front of the galley.
The Yanmar 55hp engine under the companionway has an 80Amp alternator attached and a 40Amp battery charger. The 12 volt batteries include a 110 Amp engine starting battery plus two 140 Amp house batteries and there is 220V shore supply with a circuit breaker, and seven 220 volt sockets around the cabins.
Performance
By the time this test is published, Playstation 3 will have some runs on the board from the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. We did not race the boat, but sailed her in a 5-12kt westerly breeze on Sydney Harbour in flat water.
She is a big, powerful performer, with the T-profile torpedo bulb keel providing a reassuring amount of righting moment when pressed.
In bumpy water you would not expect her to equal the performance of boats like the carbon hulled Marten 49, but her IRC rating should reflect that difference, and in flat water she achieved impressive numbers upwind and reaching without using her new suit of Norths 3DL sails or a spinnaker, which will be flown conventionally from a pole rather than a bowsprit.
Beneteau clearly sees a future in the sports/performance cruiser concept, as the company will release a First 45, also designed by Philippe Briand and similar to the 50 with stylish lines, twin wheels and an open transom, at this year's Paris Boat Show in December.
Specifications
Length overall ... .. .. 14.98m
Waterline length ... ... .. 14.65m
Beam ... ... ... 4.37m
Draft (deep draft option)... 2.80m
Displacement ... ... ... 13,780kg
Ballast ... .. ... 4300kg
Sail area:
Mainsail.............. 68.60sq m
Genoa.............. 70.10sq m
Spinnaker.......... 160sq m
Construction: Solid GRP hull, reinforced by longitudinals and local reinforcements in high load areas, with structural inner hull and deck mouldings bonded and laminated into place. Infusion moulded deck of sandwich GRP/balsa/polyester resin. Mixed lead/cast iron keel with lead and antimony bulb and hollow keel fin, fixed to the hull using stainless steel bolts and backing plates. Composite rudder of GRP/foam with rudder stock of biaxial and unidirectional cloth.
Fuel capacity......................237lt
Water capacity....................................568lt
Engine..........................................Yanmar 75hp marine diesel sail drive with three-bladed folding propeller
Base price: $756,000 ex sails & instruments; $925,000 as tested
Designer: Philippe Briand
Builder: Chantiers Beneteau, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, France, www.beneteau.com.
Australian distributor: Vicsail, Rushcutters Bay, NSW. Tel (02) 9327 2088; or visit www.vicsail.com
