2020 Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 review

Finding a marina berth for a traditional 35- to 40-foot yacht is becoming more difficult, but for a 30-footer can still squeeze into most facilities.

That’s why the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 is right for our times – the Finot-Conq designed Oceanis 30.1’s “pint in a quart pot” use of hull volume fits more of what the market wants into a small boat.

The Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 packs two roomy double-bed cabins, a generous lounge-dinette, cat-swing space shower head, and an L-shaped galley into a 9.0-metre-long by 3.0-metre beam hull without making the boat look like a shed on top of a tub.

The bow entry from a plumb stem is fine, running to chined midship-aft sections that increase interior volume while also enhancing sailing performance.

Because clever furniture design allows the cabin soles to be set as low as possible, headroom of 1.98 metres is available in the saloon and up to 1.85 metres in the cabins without relying on a tall, ugly coachhouse.

As soon as you lift up the sole panels it’s obvious that there’s enough vertical space for a low-profile bilge pump and through-hull fittings and elbows, but you won’t be stowing wine in there.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of storage space elsewhere.

The Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 is built at Beneteau’s Polish factory, reducing costs without compromising production quality. Fit and finish in the evaluation boat was excellent, even in unseen cavities.

Sydney's Flagstaff Marine has the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 priced from $220,000 in standard form, but most buyers will choose at least some items out of the options bin.

For example, our test boat included a Yanmar 21hp shaft drive diesel engine with three-blade folding prop (in lieu of the standard 14hp engine and fixed prop that's rated for inland waters only); deep performance keel (a shallow-draft keel is standard); teak infills on the swim platform; composite cockpit table; two halyard bags; opening hatch blinds and mosquito nets; blackout curtains; a 12-volt top-opening fridge and two-burner gas stove with grill/oven; Fusion audio system with interior speakers and waterproof exterior speakers;12/230-volt system with shore power, second 80Ah battery and battery charger; two Harken genoa winches; a second Harken winch on the cabin top; spinnaker rigging; composite bowsprit with integrated gennaker tack ring and textile bob-stay; genoa sheet tracks on side decks; furling Dacron genoa (in lieu of self-tacking jib); B&G coastal electronic package with wind, speed and depth; electric windlass; mooring and anchoring package; twin steering wheels (in lieu of tiller); hot and cold cockpit shower; and a chart table in the saloon.

Standard equipment includes a deck-stepped mast and boom with one set of spreaders; rigid boom gang; jib furler; self-tacking jib sheet track, running rigging, self-tailing winch on the port side of the coachroof; sails including Dacron self-tacking jib and square-topped mainsail, lazy jacks and boom bag; mooring lines; self-draining cockpit; starboard cockpit locker; gas compartment under port helm seat; stainless steel tiller with extension, coachroof compass, starboard cockpit engine throttle and control panel; access point for supplied emergency tiller; stainless steel stanchions with double guard lines; saloon table, LED lighting; electrical panel USB socket; sink with hot/cold mixer tap; twin-burner gas cooktop; 75-litre coolbox; waste bin; manual marine toilet; and a shower curtain.

The Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 has a monolithic polyester hull moulding and foam-sandwich deck finished in a diamond-point anti-slip surface. The deck/hull joint is bonded and screwed.

Four cast-iron keels are available: shallow-draft and deep-draft L-bulbs, stub-mounted swing half-keel, and full-length swing keel. Both swing-keel models can ‘take the hard’ on their retracted keels, stabilised by optional landing legs.

The full swing keel is power-operated, but only when the engine is operating, thus reducing the chance of the keel being unintentionally retracted while the boat is under sail power.

There is also a safety kick-back link in the keel-lifting mechanism to safeguard the power cylinder should the keel strike an underwater obstacle.

An aluminium mast is deck-stepped and fitted with wide-based twin swept-back spreaders. No backstay is necessary for this variation of the B&R rig that was developed in the 1960s by Lars Bergstrom and Sven Ridder to use on shorthanded around-the-world yachts.

Former US yacht maker Hunter Yachts used the B&R rig for many years, with Beneteau adapting it in 2011 for the Beneteau First 30.

The B&R rig is distinguished by the absence of a fixed or running backstay, allowing unlimited mainsail roach and easy gybing. The standard Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 sail plan includes a 900mm square-topped mainsail.

The mast can step conventionally or set in a hinged tabernacle that allows it to lower for passage under bridges.

The square-top main’s extra sail means the aluminium boom is relatively short. It is controlled by a rigid vang and mid-boom sheeting from the top of the coach house. The boom is angled to ensure that it is clear of even standing crew when gybing.

Lazy jacks and a generous boom bag make mainsail handling easy.

Halyards and sheets are led through organisers and clutches to a coachhouse winch. An extra coachhouse winch and twin genoa winches positioned well aft near the helm are optional.

A throwback design feature is shaft drive rather than leg drive, most likely due to cost and maintenance issues. A joystick-controlled leg drive isn’t really necessary given the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 is a very easy boat to manoeuvre.

The Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 has cockpit seating for six, but the boat can accommodate up to 10 people. An optional hoop-mounted cockpit table uses two dropsides that allow easy passage.

The swim platform is a simple, hinged transom panel with a telescopic ladder. It can stay down while motoring and sailing, and proved a boon when reverse-docking the boat – it was easy for the crew to step off it and onto the mooring pontoon.

A huge, metre-deep sail and water toy locker resides under the starboard cockpit seat. The port seat is fixed to provide headroom in the aft cabin.

The FRP-stepped companionway doubles as an engine room cover and is flanked by bulkheads that give extra security when climbing up and down.

Below decks is airy and filled with natural light from fixed coachhouse and hull windows, as well as from centrally located grey-tinted deck hatches with ventilators. There’s also an opening hatch above the galley.

A spacious shower/head is larger than you’d expect in a 30-footer, as is the L-shaped galley with stove/oven. A top-opening 75-litre fridge/freezer is bigger than you’d expect in such a compact yacht.

The aft cabin has a large bed area and cross ventilation, but somewhat restricted headroom, while the vee-berth up front has less area but more headspace. Twin doors open into this cabin, giving the interior a spacious feel, but the wide opening means you’d have to keep it tidy if guests can see in.

The benches in the saloon provide two extra berths and allow six to sit around the folding dining table with integrated storage. There’s more storage space behind the seats.

Flagstaff Marine’s Micah Lane accompanied me on this test and, as we both spend a lot of time on racing boats, we were both prepared to cut the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 some slack when it came to performance evaluation; 30-footers with cruising rigs aren’t exactly famed for their nimbleness around a course.

However, as I discovered testing the 2019 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410 Performance, some modern cruisers are more like yesterday’s club racers and the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 fits that mould.

We had squally, showery weather for the test that, while not being exactly comfortable, gave us a wind range from 5.0 to 25.0 knots with variations in wind direction that caught out incorrect sail-trim a few times. The square-topped main top section fell off nicely to leeward in strong puffs, automatically de-powering the sail.

Similar to the chined-hull Jeanneau, the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 felt initially tender, as the photos show, but it settled onto its chine at that heel angle and felt very controllable.

Dual rudders provided positive steering even when the boat was cranked over.

Two-up sailing was made easy with genoa sheet winches located well aft. The genoa and mainsheet winches were sufficiently powerful to allow all coarse trimming to be done quickly. A winch handle was needed only for fine tuning.

On the wind, pointing ability was good despite fullish cuts in the genoa and main. Adjustable cars on genoa tracks and an easily worked mainsail outhaul made trimming easier. Tacking through 90 degrees was possible, with close-hauled boat speed of 5.0 knots-plus in 12.0 knots average breeze.

Reaching was the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1’s forte. We saw 6.5 knots with the sheets eased, and rudder feel was fine enough to allow sheet trimming that balanced the boat with almost no wheel input.

The boat rounded gently into the breeze when smacked by heavy squalls, until the sheets were tended.

Running square wasn’t speedy because of the tall, narrow main and relatively skinny genoa sheeting angles, but an optional kite or poled-out code zero would do the trick.

As I post this report the test boat had already acquitted itself well in a CYC twilight race, finishing ahead of all but two carbon-sail 35-foot cruiser-racers.

Under power, the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 cruised happily at 2400rpm, giving around 5.0 knots – claimed WOT speed is more than 7.0 knots (I didn’t test the latter claim, given the brand-new engine and transmission).

Getting in and out of narrow berths shouldn’t be an owner’s problem given the generous rudder area and powerful, rapid ’grip’ from the folding prop. Manually pulling up a 4.0-tonne boat also is a pretty easy job for dock crew.

I had a ball in this sweet little yacht that I reckon is going to be a winner for Beneteau. Overseas sales are already humming and it should be the same here very soon.

The evaluation boat was imported at pre-COIVD-19 dollar exchange rates, so is available for a substantial discount on mid-2020 pricing.

Specifications
Model: Beneteau Oceanis 30.1
Length overall: 9.53m
Hull length: 8.99m
Waterline length: 8.65m
Beam: 2.99m
Displacement: 3995kg
Ballast: 973kg (fixed keel)/1300kg (swing keel)
Draft: 0.95m (swing)/1.30m(shoal)/1.88m (deep)/2.33m (swing)
Engine: Yanmar 14hp (21hp optional)
Sail drive: Shaft with fixed two-blade prop (folding optional)
Fuel: 130L, diesel
Water: 160L
Holding tank: 80L
Mainsail: 23.8m2 (18.8m2 furling)
Genoa: 22.1m2
Jib: 15.7m2
Code 0: 34.8m2
Asymmetric spinnaker: 70.0m2
Accommodation: 6
Passengers: 10

Priced from: $220,000 including deck-stepped mast and boom with one set of spreaders; rigid boom gang; jib furler; self-tacking jib sheet track, running rigging, self-tailing winch on the port side of the coachroof; sails including Dacron self-tacking jib and square-topped mainsail, lazy jacks and boom bag; mooring lines; self-draining cockpit; starboard cockpit locker; gas compartment under port helm seat; stainless steel tiller with extension, coachroof compass, starboard cockpit engine throttle and control panel; access point for supplied emergency tiller; stainless steel stanchions with double guard lines; saloon table, LED lighting; electrical panel USB socket; sink with hot/cold mixer tap; twin-burner gas cooktop; 75-litre coolbox; waste bin; manual marine toilet; and a shower curtain; 14hp Yanmar shaft drive diesel engine with fixed prop; shallow-draft keel

Price as tested: $255,000 including Yanmar 21hp shaft drive diesel engine with three-blade folding prop; deep performance keel; teak infills on the swim platform; composite cockpit table; two halyard bags; opening hatch blinds and mosquito nets; blackout curtains; a 12-volt top-opening fridge and two-burner gas stove with grill/oven; Fusion audio system with interior speakers and waterproof exterior speakers;12/230-volt system with shore power, second 80Ah battery and battery charger; two Harken genoa winches; a second Harken winch on the cabin top; spinnaker rigging; composite bowsprit with integrated gennaker tack ring and textile bob-stay; genoa sheet tracks on side decks; furling Dacron genoa (in lieu of self-tacking jib); B&G coastal electronic package with wind, speed and depth; electric windlass; mooring and anchoring package; twin steering wheels (in lieu of tiller); hot and cold cockpit shower; and a chart table in the saloon.

Supplied by: Flagstaff Marine, Sydney