SEPTEMBER 2008
The latest edition of Modern Boating magazine is out now! To get your copy delivered to your door, simply click on the link b
The latest edition of Modern Boating magazine is out now! To get your copy delivered to your door, simply click on the link b
Modern Boating and Big Hat Productions head out for a glorious day on the water to give the Seawind 1160...
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Motion of the ocean
WORDS + PHOTOS:
BARRY TRANTER
Things are gettting racier for Beneteau's popular cruiser.
To the casual observer, the world of the production yacht may seem straightforward—manufacturer A builds A-type boats, manufacturer B builds B-type boats. A and B may seem superficially similar, but a careful look at the specs, and a quick comparison at the Boat Show, will confirm that no two are alike.
But it goes much deeper than that. Buyers have fickle tastes, or tastes that continually evolve (not necessarily the same thing) so boatbuilders must watch the trends constantly and adjust their products to suit.
As well as swinging worldwide trends, there are national differences in taste. As Vicsail's Brendan Hunt points out, tastes in Perth and Brisbane differ from those in Sydney. Who'd be a product planner?
But I love this stuff and so does Brendan, whose job it is to keep up with trends or, preferably, get ahead of them.
Which brings us to the Oceanis 37.
Once upon a time, a Beneteau was a Beneteau. Over time, the company developed two lines, the First range of racer/cruisers and the Oceanis cruisers.
That simple arrangement was thrown into disarray by the arrival of the roomy Cyclades cruiser/charter boats. That enabled the Firsts to become even racier, and the Oceanis to evolve from pure cruisers to cruiser/racers. Confused? Concentrate. It's not that hard and there is no test at the end of this story.
read on below advertisement
So the concept of the Oceanis as a pure cruiser is dead. For this 37-footer, designers Finot/Conq gave the hull a beamy stern and a high-performance keel (a backwards L in profile) made of cast-iron. They placed the chainplates and shrouds right out on the gunwales, providing good support for the mast, an arrangement that limits the length of the headsail and so restricts the area. This makes the headsail relatively easy to tack, a good idea on a family boat; a good idea on any boat, for my money—anything to reduce the drudgery of winching.
This rig layout is standard practice on grand prix boats, but it also works well on cruisers because it is simple. The mast needs to be a little taller to recover some of the sail area lost by the small headsail, but the wide shroud base helps support it.
Modern accommodation
The accommodation layout is classic modern, an owner's cabin forward, two double cabins aft. This boat's stern is so wide that in the starboard aft cabin the berth is almost as wide as it is long. And you can lie in bed and watch the waves astern, through the opening port in the transom, a luxury enjoyed by the likes of Cook and Flinders and Bligh, but few yachtsmen since.
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BARRY TRANTER
Things are gettting racier for Beneteau's popular cruiser.
To the casual observer, the world of the production yacht may seem straightforward—manufacturer A builds A-type boats, manufacturer B builds B-type boats. A and B may seem superficially similar, but a careful look at the specs, and a quick comparison at the Boat Show, will confirm that no two are alike.
But it goes much deeper than that. Buyers have fickle tastes, or tastes that continually evolve (not necessarily the same thing) so boatbuilders must watch the trends constantly and adjust their products to suit.
As well as swinging worldwide trends, there are national differences in taste. As Vicsail's Brendan Hunt points out, tastes in Perth and Brisbane differ from those in Sydney. Who'd be a product planner?
But I love this stuff and so does Brendan, whose job it is to keep up with trends or, preferably, get ahead of them.
Which brings us to the Oceanis 37.
Once upon a time, a Beneteau was a Beneteau. Over time, the company developed two lines, the First range of racer/cruisers and the Oceanis cruisers.
That simple arrangement was thrown into disarray by the arrival of the roomy Cyclades cruiser/charter boats. That enabled the Firsts to become even racier, and the Oceanis to evolve from pure cruisers to cruiser/racers. Confused? Concentrate. It's not that hard and there is no test at the end of this story.
read on below advertisement
So the concept of the Oceanis as a pure cruiser is dead. For this 37-footer, designers Finot/Conq gave the hull a beamy stern and a high-performance keel (a backwards L in profile) made of cast-iron. They placed the chainplates and shrouds right out on the gunwales, providing good support for the mast, an arrangement that limits the length of the headsail and so restricts the area. This makes the headsail relatively easy to tack, a good idea on a family boat; a good idea on any boat, for my money—anything to reduce the drudgery of winching.
This rig layout is standard practice on grand prix boats, but it also works well on cruisers because it is simple. The mast needs to be a little taller to recover some of the sail area lost by the small headsail, but the wide shroud base helps support it.
Modern accommodation
The accommodation layout is classic modern, an owner's cabin forward, two double cabins aft. This boat's stern is so wide that in the starboard aft cabin the berth is almost as wide as it is long. And you can lie in bed and watch the waves astern, through the opening port in the transom, a luxury enjoyed by the likes of Cook and Flinders and Bligh, but few yachtsmen since.
next page »
« go back
