New Beneteau First 27.7

[david_e]

There is a brand new Beneteau being unveiled at the Amsterdam Boatshow week after this. It can be viewed on www.beneteau.com, excellent graphics including 3D profile of the interior.

Being one of the First range it is aimed at the performance end of the market but, interestingly, it has features that make it suitable as a cruiser. Some of the features that catch my eye are; draft of 2.15m, heavy bulb keel, 47 sq m of sail, an extended transom and removable cockpit lockers.

There are alot of knowledgeable people on this forum, what do they think it's sailing characteristics will be across the wind ranges? Plus any other observations.

Also, there is no price as yet, so any guesses as to what it might start at ex factory without extras?

 

[david_e]

The combination of the light displacement of 2,200kg and the deep fin keel at 600kg should make this boat a flyer, particularly in light winds. It will be interesting to see how much heel it gives as in a choppy sea this will slow it down when going to windward as the broad hull will induce slamming, off the wind it should be quick and with a bowsprit and flying a gennaker should be fairly easy to sail short handed.

It looks as though the extended transom will allow extra tension on the backstay and is also there for the mainsheet traveller, again a power adding feature. Lets hope that the keelbox is sufficiently strong to take the pressures this power delivers!

The gangways look quite wide which in turn narrows the cabin so not sure how much headroom there will be for the cruisers. with only one window and a hatch could be wuite dark.