New Beneteau First 36 – More Details Unveiled as Asia Stock Secured

The all-new Beneteau First 36 was reinvented in 2021, taking inspiration from the DNA of the Beneteau First line to achieve the perfect balance between seemingly impossible needs. She is designed by an elite international group of designers and delivers comfort and performance elegance and utility, while also incorporating race-grade construction technologies for a reasonable cost. The result is a beautiful and easy to handle boat with impressive performance credentials.

The First 36’s design team is coordinated by the experienced hand of Kristian Hajnšek, CTO of Seascape, who works closely with the team at Beneteau to bring race-grade construction technologies into the production racer-cruiser segment. An international team of designers, including designer Lorenzo Argento and naval architect Samuel Manuard, brought their extensive experience to the table to achieve an incredible end result. During the design process, the team developed numerous iterations in their quest to achieve the perfect balance between an easily planing hull and good upwind performance.

The First 36 is optimised for short-handed sailing, making her ideal for the ever-popular short-handed adventure distance races. Her very high sail area and low and balanced nautical design make her a top performer as a club-racer, a safe and fun family cruiser, or simply a thrilling day sailor.

Easy functionality is at the heart of the First 36’s design. The positioning of her six winches, steering wheels, and other deck gear was thoroughly tested on several mock-ups and on a full-scale testbed sailboat in order to enable an exceptional sailing experience. Details like an offshore hatch on the foredeck, and removable cockpit benches demonstrate the priority of sailing functionality over style that was maintained throughout the design process.

A standard aluminium rig and cast-iron keel were chosen in order to keep the boat accessible. The draft of 2.25 m was chosen as a compromise between performance and ease of use.

When set up in the racing layout, the First 36’s wide and modern cockpit allows for different helm and trim positions, either for short-handed or fully crewed sailing. In race mode, the table and bench extensions are removed, opening up the working area in the cockpit.

A higher-than-average steering wheel position leaves enough room for the helmsman to move forward towards the mainsail winch when sailing short-handed. The cockpit winches’ positioning allows one or two crew members to sail with legs in and work the mainsail or primary winches in full crew mode. It also allows cross-sheeting of all sheets to the windward side. Designed to ensure impressive sailing performance, the racing mode certainly delivers.

The brand new Beneteau First 36 will debut at the BOOT Düsseldorf show in January 2022. With one Asia stock model secured for late Spring 2022, please contact us at beneteau@simpsonmarine.com to receive additional information on this model or other Beneteau boats.