Yacht of the year

[Egret]

Do they make a lifting keel or bilge keel version

Looks more like a club racer than a cruising boat, and with that keel bulb needs clear water - no thick weed or crab pots/long lines - but may have a place if a group of people decide they would like new boats to race together - do we know how it rates?

 

[dunedin]

Do they make a lifting keel or bilge keel version

Looks more like a club racer than a cruising boat, and with that keel bulb needs clear water - no thick weed or crab pots/long lines - but may have a place if a group of people decide they would like new boats to race together - do we know how it rates?

It’s a Beneteau FIRST - which is their fast boat range. If want a pure cruiser they have Oceanis and Jeanneau options to suit.

 

[John_Silver]

It’s easy to get left behind by the pace of boat price inflation. I did some benchmarking at the 2019 Southampton Show. Then withdrew from the market during the post-covid sales bonanza. Autumn 2025 I went back for a second look, to get a feel for price points. Picking out some of the better known names (£ inc VAT @ a ‘sensible spec’):

Rustler 37 up 91% now £900k
34' Arcona up 87% now £410k
X4.0 up 42% now £550k
Dragonfly 32 (no 2019 price) now £450k
RM1080 (no 2019 price) now £360k

Small sample (of, deliberately, very different boats) but an indication of how far the market has moved. With the X-Yacht seeming like an outlier (in a good way) in the scale of price increase.

Looking at the First 30's likely competitors, in terms of size, usage and performance; Beneteau have pulled off something pretty remarkable, to be able to offer a cutting edge, 'sensible spec,' 30 footer for £170k. Its also good to see a major manufacturer putting serious R&D commitment into the 30ish footer market. Much neglected, of late.

 

[potentillaCO32]

It’s easy to get left behind by the pace of boat price inflation. I did some benchmarking at the 2019 Southampton Show. Then withdrew from the market during the post-covid sales bonanza. Autumn 2025 I went back for a second look, to get a feel for price points. Picking out some of the better known names (£ inc VAT @ a ‘sensible spec’):

Rustler 37 up 91% now £900k
34' Arcona up 87% now £410k
X40 up 42% now £550k
Dragonfly 32 (no 2019 price) now £450k
RM1080 (no 2019 price) now £360k

Small sample (of, deliberately, very different boats) but an indication of how far the market has moved. With the X-Yacht seeming like an outlier (in a good way) in the scale of the the price increase.

Looking at the First 30's likely competitors, in terms of size, usage and performance; Beneteau have pulled off something pretty remarkable, to be able to offer a cutting edge, 'sensible spec,' 30 footer for £170k. Its also good to see a major manufacturer putting serious R&D commitment into the 30ish footer market. Much neglected, of late.

View attachment 205360

Does make buying a 70s/80s boat and spending a few tens of thousands bringing it up to spec remarkably good fun for the money. Even financially is a drop in the ocean of first year depeciation.

 

[sigma38dave]

Does make buying a 70s/80s boat and spending a few tens of thousands bringing it up to spec remarkably good fun for the money. Even financially is a drop in the ocean of first year depeciation.

We’re doing exactly that now, sails, rig, engine and cosmetic bits. In fact it’s quite addictive once you get started!

I understand of course time and tastes move on and best of luck to anyone buying one of these new Firsts.

 

[John_Silver]

Effectively that’s what I’ve ended up doing with my existing boat.

Plan A was to change at 10 years old. Before the gear replacement cycle (as opposed to annual polish/ antifoul plus a few discretionary upgrades) kicked in.

But a want of suitable alternatives in my size (30-35’), Covid craziness etc means that we’ve defaulted to Plan B: Preventative maintenance + an acceptance of occasional pit stops to make repairs, when out cruising for the summer. (To be honest most of those stops have been to sort new kit: new autopilot, a new sail & a 1 year old backstay. So ‘new’ doesn’t necessarily mean more reliable)

I do keep looking around. But the price to change has many more 000’s than the TLC route. Plus ‘my’ size range is out of favour with most yards. Which curbs temptation too.

 

[seeSimon]

No, it’s bang on. Being quoted ex vat is a bit of a fiddle I’ll grant you, but 110k Euros is 10lk £ give or take small change.

Ok, so when it’s got a spec more comparable to a DF28, it’s also not much cheaper. Yet would be utterly annihilated on performance. The 28 is a 6 berth cruiser racer too, if we wete looking at a new boat, those 2 would be the comparison if we were making one. But we’d just dig deeper and get the Dragonfly. Monos in any price bracket have still got a lot of catching up to do.

I appreciate that this is yachting world, not PBO, but the VAT on €110, plus exchange costs, will be several weeks pocket money to me (which is paid in sterling)

Sorry, but I'm not interested in DFs, or any other tri/cat for that matter...hard enough to get modest single hull moorings hereabouts.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I appreciate that this is yachting world, not PBO, but the VAT on €110, plus exchange costs, will be several weeks pocket money to me (which is paid in sterling)

Sorry, but I'm not interested in DFs, or any other tri/cat for that matter...hard enough to get modest single hull moorings hereabouts.

You buy whatever pleases you. But if you think the mooring thing is stopping you, you've simply not been paying any attention. Even my old clunker is only 20cm wider than a First 30. The newer 28 is about 20cm narrower.

 

[ithet]

Looked at the F30 while at Dusseldorf. While it is not our kind of boat and my wife has never raced or sailed a performance boat (or maybe a Sunfast 32 counts), she like me absolutely 'got' the concept.

Regarding price, it's the deal you actually get that matters. The cruiser we were looking at has drawn an offer of a factory boat with approx £65k of extras, at about £65k discount.

 

[Boathook]

We’re doing exactly that now, sails, rig, engine and cosmetic bits. In fact it’s quite addictive once you get started!

I understand of course time and tastes move on and best of luck to anyone buying one of these new Firsts.

I've started to do the same. Not sails and engines, but rig, electronics and interior once I've stopped the deck leaks. This weather has been good for showing leaks but a nuisance trying to fix them !

 

[Goldie]

You buy whatever pleases you. But if you think the mooring thing is stopping you, you've simply not been paying any attention. Even my old clunker is only 20cm wider than a First 30. The newer 28 is about 20cm narrower.

You’re right about the beam of course, but I’m based in the same area as seeSimon (#28) and at least some of our local marinas and mooring options have a strict ‘no multihulls’ policy (mine does) so it’s not a case of “not been paying any attention”. The logic of similar beam doesn’t come into it .

 

[Chiara’s slave]

You’re right about the beam of course, but I’m based in the same area as seeSimon (#28) and at least some of our local marinas and mooring options have a strict ‘no multihulls’ policy (mine does) so it’s not a case of “not been paying any attention”. The logic of similar beam doesn’t come into it .

Yarmouth was much like that. But they’ve come round to the Dragonfly, it hasn’t created any hassle. Some multis are either so huge, or in such bad taste that I can fully sympathise with a ‘no multi’ policy. But the marina could do with paying attention to the folding tri market. There are a lot around now, probably 600 odd in uk, Dragonflys, Corsair/Farrier and a slack handful of others.

 

[Goldie]

Yarmouth was much like that. But they’ve come round to the Dragonfly, it hasn’t created any hassle. Some multis are either so huge, or in such bad taste that I can fully sympathise with a ‘no multi’ policy. But the marina could do with paying attention to the folding tri market. There are a lot around now, probably 600 odd in uk, Dragonflys, Corsair/Farrier and a slack handful of others.

I suspect that the main concern in our case (swinging moorings) is that the swinging characteristics are different, especially as (imho) the moorings are rather close together.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I suspect that the main concern in our case (swinging moorings) is that the swinging characteristics are different, especially as (imho) the moorings are rather close together.

It is certainly possible in extreme conditions fir multis to be quite different in the way they sit on moorings. We used to have a swing mooring for our F27. But they were well spaced. Our neighbour had bought our DF800 off us, and the other side was Rod Carr and his Edel 33. It was not unusual to see all 3 at different angles, especially as we were right on the bend in Mengham Rithe. That is only possible when you have a non interlocking circle for each boat. We’ll be needing more like that, not just because of the rise of the multihull, folding tris especially, but because you can bet your bottom dollar that Ben 30 is not going to just sit quietly in the tide. Not as energetic as a Dragonfly, but potentially dangerous to neighbouring gel coat.

 

[Goldie]

It is certainly possible in extreme conditions fir multis to be quite different in the way they sit on moorings. We used to have a swing mooring for our F27. But they were well spaced. Our neighbour had bought our DF800 off us, and the other side was Rod Carr and his Edel 33. It was not unusual to see all 3 at different angles, especially as we were right on the bend in Mengham Rithe. That is only possible when you have a non interlocking circle for each boat. We’ll be needing more like that, not just because of the rise of the multihull, folding tris especially, but because you can bet your bottom dollar that Ben 30 is not going to just sit quietly in the tide. Not as energetic as a Dragonfly, but potentially dangerous to neighbouring gel coat.

That’s the problem with our mooring field - the swinging circles aren’t non- interlocking .

 

[Chiara’s slave]

That’s the problem with our mooring field - the swinging circles aren’t non- interlocking .

No boats of the year allowed then.