Beneteau Flyer 12

 

Issue: June 2006

THE FLYING FORTIES

This French Mademoiselle offers style, performance and value for money.

WORDS IAN MACRAE
PHOTOS IAN MACRAE, KARL IBRAHIM

Beneteau is a family company that's been building boats in France for more than a century. In 1884, it began building robust trawlers capable of sailing regardless of the weather. The boats were built with a dedication to excellent workmanship and with a great respect for the safety of the people who put to sea in them.

In the early days, the company built only yachts, but in 1977, the first Beneteau powerboats were launched. These boats were built with the same passion, innovation and sense of safety as other vessels from the yard. In late 2005, Beneteau launched the Flyer 12m.

What was it the catalogue said?

"Over and above the Flyer's recognised qualities ? seaworthiness, safety, practicality ? the Flyer 12 shows our capacity to innovate and keep improving performance and comfort."

And after this test, the Modern Boating team can only agree.

PERFORMANCE & HANDLING
Even thought the Flyer 12 retains the option of having Volvo's revolutionary IPS drives (which deliver even better performance) fitted, Australian importer of Beneteau Powerboats, JW Marine, is only bringing shaft drive models into the country. This will change in time, as Australia's acceptance of Volvo's IPS increases, but buyers can still order an IPS boat if they wish.

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But IPS drives aside, the secret to the Flyer 12's performance and handling lies in her evolutionary hull. The boat has a V-shaped hull with a stiff tulip bow for easy passage through the sea and good spray deflection. Plenty of research by Beneteau's R & D Department on hydrodynamics went into the hull's final design and the result is a sea boat that performs better the harder you push her.

This is another of the new generation of hulls with large, down-turned and aggressive chines starting right at the sharp bow entry and continuing all the way back to the transom.

Readers are probably getting sick of hearing this, because we have said it many times in recent boat tests, but what this setup does is trap air between the outer edges of the chines and the keel. This creates a cushion of air for the boat to ride on, which softens the overall ride.

These wide, down-turned chines improve lateral stability at rest and when underway and the hull's performance can be further enhanced by the use of trim tabs. You don't need much trim, but a little at the right time, especially when the sea is running 'beam on', really improves the ride.

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