Beneteau First 47.7, cruiser-racer spirit

First is the name chosen by French boatbuilder Beneteau for its range of performance-oriented cruiser/racers. First is also the position occupied at most IMS handicap regattas contested by the First 40.7 model since its release in 1998. It’s hard to think of another mass production cruiser/racer which has had so much racing success. The Beneteau First 47.7 is a Bruce Farr design created without regard to handicap rules, so the hull lines are both powerful and slippery. It has a fine entry, a comfortably wide transom and a choice of keels depending on your sailing needs. The deck layout on the Beneteau First 47.7 remains constant, regardless of which interior layout is chosen. The cockpit is wide (too wide to brace your feet on the opposite seat) and well arranged for either cruising or racing with a pair of Lewmars sunk into each coaming (a 58 primary and 48 aft), which should easily handle even the largest headsail. The rest of the deck is highlighted by excellent non-slip surfaces wherever you might step (including on the side of the cabin, for use when heeled) and built-in Dorade vents in blister mounts with protective guards. The deck is encircled by double lifelines with gates on each side and aft and a varnished mahogany toe rail.

Two-, three- and four-cabin layouts are offered. The salon has immense headroom, and Beneteau gets good marks for providing plenty of grab rails to help you move around this spacious area. A dinette is to starboard with a curved banquette outboard and a smaller bench seat inboard. The table gimbals to handle various heel angles, and there’s ample seating for the whole crew. To port is another settee and the nav station, which also has the electrical panel and a dedicated tool storage. The galley is aft to starboard so it’s out of the way, and the cook has acres of countertop that wraps around from the double sink past the stove lid (with covering board on rollers) and aft over the refrigerator/freezer. The area aft of the galley that would be a cabin on a different version is left open for storage, although you could throw a mattress in their as a mother-in-law cabin.

Undersail, this is a fun boat, although it’s neither an easy singlehander nor a ma-and-pa boat, because there’s a lot of sail to trim. But it’s light and responsive on the helm, with good visibility over the house and from the lee side. As the breeze builds, the Beneteau First 47.7 seems to heel easily until the lee rail nears the water, at which point it stiffens up and feels like it would take a gale to put it down another inch. Once settled comfortably into this groove, the First 47.7 goes upwind like the proverbial scalded cat, knocking off eight knots in a 15 knot breeze. Beneteau is so pleased with the performance of this big Farr design that it provides the full polar diagrams as part of the brochure. The First 47.7 is broad-reaching, which is another strength, and the wide beam carries a big chute easily. Given all of the above, it’s not surprising that word of a new, bigger cruiser/racer in the pipeline from Beneteau and Farr Yacht Design sparked a rash of orders before the Beneteau First 47.7 was even launched. Interest has been particularly high in the US and even in Australia.

Read the Beneteau First 47.7 Sea Trial on “Boat Point“.