Beneteau First 36.7

Beneteau First 36.7

2002 February 7

By ROBERT H. PERRY

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Racer-cruiserr

If we count boats over 32.66-feet LOA, Beneteau has at least 13 different models to choose from. The company works with a variety of designers and breaks its boats down into "racer-cruiser," "performance cruisers" and "center cockpit" categories. I'm not positive, but I would imagine Beneteau builds more sailing yachts than any other builder. To quote my favorite line from "Close Encounters": "This is important."

The newest Beneteau is this Farr-designed 36.7. Interesting to me is the fact that the brochure's specs list "Farr" under the heading "hull design." I think it's safe to assume that a company like Beneteau employs a gaggle of in-house designers to take care of interiors, decks and structural details. Rigs, keels, rudders and hulls are best left to the "out house" designer of record.

This model was inspired by the highly successful, Farr-designed First 40.7. The 40.7 has earned an enviable race record in some of the world's toughest fleets. The hull of the 36.7 shows what we might call the current generic racing shape, i.e., no overhangs, moderately light displacement, broad stern and fine entry. It's not an especially distinctive looking design in any way. It really looks like the rest of the racing fleet. I miss the divergent racing fleets of the '70s with those all-out pigs that were so much fun to whip. (Are you racing?!) The performance range of most fleets is dramatically narrowed today.

The D/L is 185 based on a "light ship" displacement. The 36.7 is on the beamy side with an L/B of 3.1. You have your choice of a deep keel drawing 7 feet, 2 inches and weighing 3,748 pounds, or a more shoal keel drawing 5 feet, 11 inches and weighing 4,034 pounds.

The interior layout certainly is oriented toward the family cruiser. There's a massive double quarter berth to port and a single quarter berth to starboard, both within their own enclosed spaces. The galley is on the skimpy side, but there is little else you can do when you want two quarter staterooms. The nav station is generous. It takes up as much space as does the galley. Looking at this layout makes me wonder if there isn't a race version of the interior. This Beneteau model, like the C&C 99, works hard to be both racer and cruiser.

The deck design takes advantage of the wide stern and uses a large-diameter wheel. The cockpit coamings are cut away aft, and this allows the mainsheet traveler to extend out to within about 10 inches of the rail. Note that there is a teak toerail on this model. There is a handy well in the foredeck for ground tackle. As usual, Beneteau has done a superlative job with its deck tooling. The cockpit seats are veneered in teak. The cabintrunk is highly radiused for a low-windage shape.

The rig is fractional with two sets of swept spreaders. The SA/D is 20.6. I find it curious that whoever drew the sailplan I am looking at tried very hard not to let the mainsail roach overlap the backstay. Usually sailmakers will ignore what the designer drew for sails unless you are working closely together on a custom project.

There is tankage for 79 gallons of water and 20 gallons of fuel. The standard auxiliary is a 29-horsepower Volvo diesel saildrive. Construction features a solid fiberglass hull as opposed to the typical cored hull you see in most boats of this type. The deck is balsa cored. The rudder, stock and blade are composite.