Beneteau Oceanis 411 celebration

[MOOnlight441]

Hi all,
I am new to this site so if I have posted this in the wrong place Sorry!!

I am looking to buy a beneteau 411 celebration, I would appreciate any advice on any issues that they may have and what to look out for/common faults etc. I have viewed a few and am concerned that the bulkhead door to the forward cabin is difficult to shut. Is this a common fault? I will be getting a full survey prior to purchase. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

 

[pvb]

Not a Celebration version, but there's a very lightly-used 411 Clipper moored close to me. Good spec, hardly been used, needs some exterior cleaning at the moment. The owner has a little website with lots of pics and details - http://oceanis411.com/

 

[Skylark]

My pal bought a new 411 Celebration and I was privileged to crew on its maiden voyage. Over a coupe of years we sailed several hundred miles around the Irish Sea. In the end, the blue hull got the better of him so he exchanged it for a new, white hull, 473. I'm a big fan of Beneteau having owned a 361 and I now have a 41. There is a 411 in my home marina with a fastidious owner so it looks superb. I'm not aware of poorly fitting cabin doors........but it doesn't sound right. I'd walk away from any concerns, however small. It was a popular boat and there are plenty about in very good condition. Keep looking

Welcome to the site and good luck with your 411. Good choice!

 

[Richard10002]

If it's ashore, boats flex on the stands. When my Moody 44 was on the hard, the door to the rear alleyway became very stiff, but back in the water, all was fine.

 

[doris]

If it's ashore, boats flex on the stands. When my Moody 44 was on the hard, the door to the rear alleyway became very stiff, but back in the water, all was fine.

Good comment.

411 is a nice boat. Saw a light blue one in Marmaris that had a permanent S/S bow protrusion and had a lightweight genoa rolled up the outer forestay making a sort of slutter rig.
Made the boat look very seaworthy.

 

[[3889]]

I'd walk away from any concerns, however small. It was a popular boat and there are plenty about in very good condition.

Welcome to the site and good luck with your 411. Good choice!

The biggest selling Benny ever, IIRC. I've sailed two and my only gripe is the strange perspex cover over the instruments at the helm, making viewing and controlling very awkward. Not sure if all boats have the same arrangement.

 

[Norman_E]

Forward doors can get hard to shut on a lot of modern boats if the rig is tightly tensioned, but its better to have a door problem than a slack rig.

 

[pvb]

I've sailed two and my only gripe is the strange perspex cover over the instruments at the helm, making viewing and controlling very awkward. Not sure if all boats have the same arrangement.

Think they do - it's to protect the "waterproof" instruments! The perspex cover can be removed.

 

[MOOnlight441]

Thankyou for all your comments!!

 

[Monique]

Nearly bought one years ago. Tall rig & deep keel = sailed well.

The dark BLUE hull killed it.... too much maintenance

GL

 

[Bobc]

I'd walk away from any concerns, however small.

Take that advice and you'll be looking forever. Even new boats have faults.

 

[Pinnacle]

We sold our 2003 411 Celebration in the autumn. We owned her for 5 years. I too, think it was Beneteau's best ever seller - hence the "celebration" that they had sold 1000 of them. They were designed and produced in the mid/late 90's before the accountants really took hold. Consequently, we found her to be well built ( for an AWB ) and of course, much of the kit is from International suppliers - Volvo Penta, Raymarine, Z-Spars etc.

As others have said, the door to the front cabin can be tricky to shut. What you can do is to remove the plastic washers that are in the door hinge pins. That may well lower the door sufficiently to allow easy opening and closing.

The blue hull was a pain to get and keep looking good. Once polished and waxed, it looked great



but it was difficult to keep it looking that good!

If you can, try and find one that has at least one holding tank fitted. I was quoted c£1800 to have one fitted to the day head.

Best of luck in your search!:encouragement:

 

[Mrnotming]

Enjoyed sailing on a 41.1 (not Celebration).Great room with a bunk cabin forward, plus a smallish forward cabin.Rudder became stiff a couple of times, bearings seized onto shaft,Agent seemed to be able to sort it out each time.Also the Volvo bow thruster was rated 12/24V, and ate several solenoids,electric motor was ok.Fitting a fully battened main with battcars or similar, gave a bigger roach to the Mainsail, but made close quarters manouvering in white sails class inconvenient as the sail could not be scandalised easily, and the boat tended to take charge.

 

[Solwaycruiser]

Recently sold a 2001 411. We had the standard draft of approx. 1.7 metre which was a good compromise for our sailing area but would expect the deep draft to have a bit less leee way and point a bit higher.

Did have a problem with the bottom rudder bearing which is quite a well known issue I think but not a difficult fix. We put new sails on and added a third reef as the original only had 2 reefs. Again fairly straight forward to adapt the deck gear. They can slam a bit going into a chop but that's the trade off for the space down below. Good off the wind though.

Worth checking the teak capping where the mooring cleats are as the wood can start splitting where the cleats are bolted through the teak. Again not too difficult to sort out. Didn't have an issue with the internal doors but good advice in other replies about checking that. Not sure but think there may be a rubber seal along the bottom of the door (although it may have been the heads doors )so worth checking if there is and if so that it is not causing an issue.

Would buy again if looking at that size but would steer clear of blue hulls and teak decks (that goes for other boats as well). For me I would look for the deep draft and the single aft cabin with the corner galley but that is all personal preference.

 

[Georgio]

I sailed a friends 2000-built 411 across the Atlantic (the wrong way - Carib to Europe) and through the med and was impressed by the boat, comfortable and sailed well, my wife loved it. The down side (common to almost all these types of boats) is lack of hand holds down below making it east to fall a surprisingly long way, particularly bad just at the bottom of the companionway. Linear galley worked well as you could park your bum on the back of the saloon seats at sea when cooking.

Double aft cabins eat into the cockpit locker space but there is enough to get by for most folk, big (deep) storage lockers under the aft seating help.

Beating hard on the wind does cause the hull to twist that makes interior doors impossible to open and close so they are a *bit* bendy but not enough to worry.

I would say she looks good, an above average AWB.

 

[Skylark]

Take that advice and you'll be looking forever. Even new boats have faults.

Fair point if taken literally. However, the OP is looking for a 411 which we all seem to agree is an AWB will good credentials. There are plenty about and it remains a buyers market. If someone is serious about selling, any issues with the boat should be fixed, although I do understand that not everyone subscribes to this approach. I've certainly viewed some dogs where the owner couldn't even be bothered to tidy below deck.

I sold my 361 quite quickly and for a fair value in a recessionary market. Another popular boat from the same stable. Lots of them about. The fact that is was "sail away" helped, I'm sure.

 

[MOOnlight441]

Hi davidjackson thanks for your comments, the 411 I am buying has identified during the survey that the stainless steel stiffening sleeve has become detached from the GRP stern tube. Have you had similar issues and if so do you have any idea of cost to rectify? Many thanks MOOnlight441

 

[Skylark]

Hi,
No, I'm not familiar with the issue. The beauty of plastic boats is that they are fairly easy to repair and the result is often stronger than when original. Any hint if the issue is a result of fair wear and tear or a specific incident? Just thinking about as yet undescovered consequential issues. My sailing pal picked up a stray line which ripped out his stern tube and almost sunk his 473! That repair, through insurance, cost several thousand pounds. From memory, it included engine re-alignment and so on.

One of the biggest issues, imho, is finding the right craftsman to do the job. Personal recommendations from this forum may be a good place to start. Pictures and a more full explanation of what's required may help, too. Good luck, keep posting!

 

[cmedsailor]

I am not familiar with the Beneteau 411 (lovely model by the way) but I am familiar with the Beneteau 361 as an owner who did drop the rudder 2 year ago (reason was to remove the shaft; rudder was OK but before assembling back the whole thing I cleaned the rudder shaft and bearings really good anyway and that made it even smoother).

The B361 has a stainless steel collar glued at the bottom of the GRP rudder shaft and another bronze bearing at the bottom of the GRP rudder shaft tube. I have not understood for which of the two the survey is referring to.

In any case dropping the rudder was for me a tiring job simply because of luck of space (imagine a 1.88m tall person “bent” into a lazaretto for a few hours…you get the picture!). Most probably for the B411, bigger boat, more space is an easier job. In general, as long as you have some space to work is not a difficult job for an average DIY person. All these bearings (top, lower etc) can be purchased from Beneteau via a dealer and you can ask them for their cost.