Beneteau First 31.7 & 40.7

 

Issue: September 1999
Manufacturer: Beneteau

The French have cornered the market in short-handed ocean races which range from the incredible (those Transatlantic sprints in 20-metre trimarans) to those which are a bit more comprehensible to mere mortals.

One of the latter is the Figaro, a single-hander which this year starts in Brest and has stopovers in France, Spain and England. The race is a one-design affair sailed in the Beneteau Figaro, whose Finot/Conq hull has been adapted for the Beneteau 31.7.

To the quick little hull Beneteau have grafted their usual clever accommodation and hardware, and the result is a truly modern cruiser/racer. Or racer/cruiser. As on all modern performance boats this straight-stemmed hull has little overhang, so for a hull length of 9.50m the waterline is long at 8.80m. The beam is not excessive at 3.23m and displacement modest at 3600kg (empty). The keel is L-shaped in profile - ie the ballast bulb extends aft from the leading edge. Form stiffness is added by keeping the hull wide at the transom, though the volume is carried above the water, not below, adding stiffness when it is needed, as the boat heels. Because the 31.7 is intended to be a cruiser/racer (there's that definition again) the rig is a simple double-spreader arrangement, without extreme spreader sweepback on the keel-stepped Sparcraft mast. There are no runners. The forestay attaches to the mast just a few centimetres below the black band, so is not quite masthead. The B&G instruments are carried on a locally-made (Bashford) tubular console on the mast's trailing edge.

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The cockpit is wide because, as mentioned earlier, there is plenty of beam aft, at deck level at least. It is not long, but there is room for two crew ahead of the helmsman on the cockpit coaming. The traveller bridgedeck runs right across the cockpit from coaming to coaming, so the traveller can be eased to a useful angle. The tails for the 8:1 backstay are led through the transom to cams on the bridgedeck, where they can be reached by skipper or crew. Cockpit seats have teak surfaces, and set in the coaming each side is a recessed teak bum pad for the steerer. I remember them well because when I took over the helm I slid off one a few times until I got my backside in gear with my brain, and both in gear with the tiller. Each side of the recessed companionway, on the cabin roof, is a Lewmar #30 halyard winch and three jammers.

Sheet winches are Lewmar #40s; all are self-tailers. The tiller extension has a push-button in its end to lengthen and shorten, a nifty idea that I had not seen before. Under the starboard seat is a huge stowage bin. Engine controls are in the cockpit sides to port, with the throttle to starboard. Sounds messy, but works fine in practice Down below, there are two double cabins. The forepeak cabin has standing headroom for just a little less than 6ft. There is a removable panel in the vee berth to give floor space when the bed isn't being used. There s a locker, and ventilation via the main hatch in the foredeck. The main cabin, on the port side aft, has slightly more headroom plus two opening hatches, and a decent-sized locker. The main saloon berths are long; the portside one is almost two metres. The table is mounted on the centreline with drop-leafs, and has the usual Beneteau wine bottle stowage in its centre. The headliner is a white moulding with timber strips, the hull sides are finished in the same cherry timber used throughout. The floor is in rib-surfaced ply panels that drop into position on the liner moulding.

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