beneteau 305

J

jazdow

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31 May 2005
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Hi
Still undecided about out next boat. A very nice Benny 305 has caught my attention but I'm a bit concerned she may sail on her ear a lot and be a bit tender.
Has anyone had any experience of these boats. It seems well put together and ticks a lot of boxes. I'm looking for something that can give a good account of herself round the cans but also cope with the 'weather' beyond the Crinan canal!

Cheers

JD
 
10 years experience in Greece. As a bit of a racer, I expected it to be a bit of a pig with a roller genoa when the wind was up. It wasn't, and it changed my opinion - I'd always have a roller genoa on a cruising boat now. Racing, foil forestay and multiple sails every time. Never raced it properly, but we were never beaten by anything in the Sunsail fleet fortnightly regattas. Not only due to a fantastic helmsman and crew of wife and two kids (crew age from 0-10 over the ownership), but also to the design philosophy of early '80s compared to the slightly bloated and under-rigged Oceanises/Odysseys of the '90s.

It's a good solid boat, typical of that era. No osmosis or other material spec problems. Original engine, no problems. New standing rigging fitted as a precaution. It was ex-charter, so I would expect any inherent problems to have shown up.

The only thing 'wrong' with it was something that most owners don't notice, despite it being relatively common - the keel wasn't under the middle of the boat! Have a look around any boatyard and you'll find several boats like it. Mostly because the non-cnc milled hull moulds weren't symmetrical, but also simple mistakes in measuring before drilling for bolt holes. (I used to work in boat-building and know how it was done, and susceptible to errors). On ours the keel was an inch to Starboard, but correctly aligned both fore and aft and vertically - just in the wrong plane. As I say, surprisingly common, and it didn't bother me. Yes, it probably does make a difference in speed from one tack to the other, but not detectable on basic instruments or 'feel'.

Long and short. I'd have another, and would be happy to race it. No - it's not tippy by comparison with anything else of it's time. One of my favourite boats of that era was the First 38, which I knew well, and I always felt that the 305 was a mini me to it.
 
Owned one for 6 years and a pleasure to sail (mostly singlehanded UK west coast and Ireland) . When buying (14 years ago) I saw 2 boats with quite bad osmotic blistering so this can be an issue: mine was epoxied from new and, other than a wet rudder, I had no such problems. Sails well under either genny or main alone and helm was well balanced. The tunability of the standard masthead rig may be a bit limited for the keen racer. Flexed a fair bit in a seaway and I could never permanently seal the deck-port just fwd of the mast, possibly due to this movement but stability was not an issue. Other than that I had no problems and would recommend the boat. I didn't notice a keel offset, but then I never looked for one.
 
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I bought mine in Antigua and sailed it singlehanded across the Atlantic in 2002. Great boat.

Upgraded for something a bit bigger but often wish I hadnt!

Reduce sail early and goes just as fast. Need to sail it as flat as possible. They are well balanced so will sail constant course with tiller locked off and main fluttering on leading edge for easy relaxed cruising. Put 6 men on the toerail for exhilarating racing. Keep the Genoa luff tight though with backstay tension for cruising or racing. Ease it off in the marina though to give it a rest or you will end up with a banana boat.

I used a little simrad tp10 with no problems. 156 N miles in one noon to noon with only a bit of roller genoa and no main! 400 miles in 3 days between Bermuda and Azores while I slept below and made mugs of tea. Great fun.
 
I have owned and sailed a 305 with SWMBO for the last 4 years. No racing just cruising. She is a wonderful boat and my advice would be if she stands up to survey and has decent gear just buy her. You won't be disappointed. As well as being a well built and well laid out vessel, IMHO she looks beautiful too. Maybe not everyones cup of tea but each to his own.
 
Many thanks for all your comments. They are very useful in helping form an option and making the final decision.


Yes ,nathanglasgow, the boat is Off Piste. I agree she presents well. I believe she suffered some damage at Rhu a couple of years ago, but seems to have been repaired to a high standard.


Going to pay her a visit again this weekend. I hope we don't get another soaking!

Thanks again

JD
 
Yup repair bill over 5K.Rudder bearing and engine work done about 3 years ago too.If you're interested in how much it sold for in 2011 PM me.
 
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