Beneteau Grand Turismo 32 2024 Review

That’s where lifestyle specialists such as Beneteau, one of the leading volume boatbuilders worldwide, come to the fore.

Part of the Beneteau model mix of powered boats is the Gran Turismo line of weekender motor yachts, designed to accommodate a family and all the bits and pieces they bring but in a size that’s compact yet roomy. As Beneteau is a volume builder based in Europe, the boats are not a big hit to the hip pocket – not only when you buy the boat, but also when managing the berthing fees and maintenance.

The entry-level model in the Gran Turismo range is the 9.95-metre GT32 – an important length given most marinas start charging extra berthing fees for boats more than 10.0 metres in length.

It comes with either the choice of twin inboard MerCruiser engines or, for those stepping up from a more conventional boat and who prefer a bit of familiarity, with a pair of outboard engines.

Boatsales has a base Beneteau GT32 powered by entry-level twin 200hp Mercury Fourstroke outboard engines priced from around $475,000 before anything is added just to get buyers interested.

For that price, though, the base boat won’t come with much in the way of comforts apart from the seating.

Standard equipment runs to PVC upholstery including for the forward sun deck; an aft sun deck that folds up to make a forward-facing lounge and has space below for a liferaft; a solid wood cockpit table; side seat with footrest;  cockpit floor locker with gas struts; cockpit shower; telescopic swim ladder; cockpit galley station with sink and twin gas burner; saloon hardtop with sunroof; windscreen wiper; a dash large enough to take up to a 16.0-inch multifunction touchscreen; a sports steering wheel; helm chair and two-seat first mate’s bench; armrest with glovebox; grey walnut trim below decks; galley unit with 80-litre fridge; three opening portholes; blackout curtains; head with sink, mixer tap and separate shower; writing for three batteries; a pressurised cold water system with a hot water circuit for shore power/genset; smoke detector; stainless steel rails and cleats; and LED courtesy lighting in the saloon and cockpit. 

You also get Beneteau’s Seanapps smartphone app that allows owners to link to their boat whether they’re on it or sitting at home. The boat can send health alerts to the owner if, say, the bilge pump has to fire up, but also keeps track of where the boat goes – handy of you’re handing over the keys to a relative.

Realistically, though, to get a version of the GT32 that will give you a great getaway boat you’ll need to spend a bit more. Flagstaff Marine has supplied our test boat with a $650,000 price tag.

That's because Flagstaff Marine has fitted this boat out as a perfect weekender, but that includes a long and rich list of add-ons.

First off is an engine upgrade from the base 230hp MerCruiser 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engines pushing a Bravo3 sterndrive to a pair of more powerful 270hp ones (our pictures tell a lie as Beneteau had run out of the “270” engine covers so supplied this boat with ones for the “230”). As well, the fly-by-wire engines have Mercury’s Joystick Control and Piloting system patched in, helping to make docking a breeze.

Other features include an upgraded upholstery pack that includes a metre-long extension to the swim platform; foredeck sunshade with carbonfibre poles; upgraded upholstery; aft gas barbecue; 49-litre cockpit fridge; electric rather than hand-flush freshwater toilet; TV antenna; Zipwake trim tabs; electric windlass; Sleipner bow thruster; a 25-litre water heater; shore power with battery charger; covers for the bow and cockpit seats; and a searchlight.

In terms of electronics, our test boat has a Garmin GPSMAP 1223xsv chartplotter and VHF radio; a wireless smartphone charging station, and an upgraded 1600-watt Fusion audio system with eight speakers and a subwoofer.

You also get an inshore safety kit as part of the package.

Beneteau is a large-scale boat manufacturer with production lines more like that of a large-scale car maker than a traditional boatyard.

The 9.98-metre Beneteau GT32, which made its global debut in 2019, is the smallest model in the four-boat line-up that includes the GT36, GT41 and flagship GT45.

You’ll notice that despite its size, the Beneteau GT32 is quite light. That is because the boat is made using a balsa core sandwich where a sheet of balsa sits in between an inner and outer layer of fibreglass. It’s an older method of building a boat – most manufacturers now use a foam core – but one which Beneteau sticks by for its balance of strength, thickness and weight.

However, balsa is prone to rot if it gets wet. Beneteau says it overcomes this problem by cutting the balsa core into rectangles that become coated in resin during the build process, stopping water from spreading if the outer fibreglass skin is breached.

The hull uses the second generation of Air Step, Beneteau’s name for its new generation of stepped running surfaces designed to draw in air and mix it with the water passing under the boat, improving speed and increasing fuel efficiency.

The hull is built with a quite deep vee and sharply-angled bow forward to help it cut through waves and chop, running back to a shallow 16-degree transom and close to full-length lifting strakes that help with getting the boat up on the plane, and when combined with the sharp chines, stability at rest. 

There’s a lot of freeboard, with the boat sitting tall on the water despite its relatively compact waterline.

The Beneteau Gran Turismo 32 carries a lot of its 3.32-metre beam forward, increasing the amount of room below decks as well as creating as much foredeck space as possible.

Access to the engine is via a large electrically operated section of the transom that opens outwards. It is large enough that you can access all the service points easily and even duck down in front of the MerCruisers if needed.

The Beneteau GT32 has a Category B EC Certification rating, meaning it is built to navigate offshore conditions in winds ranging up to 40 knots and seas of up to 4.0 metres, and within 200 nautical miles of land.

Beneteau’s Gran Turismo range of boats is fairly distinctive. They all feature deep freeboards, a rear-biased saloon and a reasonably compact aft cockpit, with the design favouring saloon, foredeck and below-deck living space.

This design is amplified in the GT32 because of its compact waterline. The slab sides are broken up using a steeply raked sheerline, avant-garde hull window graphics and chines that run right up to the bow. The low-slung semi-enclosed saloon hardtop runs across the full width of the boat, giving it something of a dumpy look.

In most part, the Beneteau GT32 is a conventional motor yacht design, featuring an aft platform – our boat includes a metre-long swim deck extension – an aft cockpit with the engines hidden below an opening section of the transom incorporating a large sun pad, a small saloon space, and a forward bow lounge.

Below decks is a forward bow lounge that can convert into a sleeping space, a fully enclosed bathroom with a head, sink and separate shower, and an aft stateroom with some standing headroom, despite being built in under the saloon floor.

However, what is different about this design is the access to the bow lounge. Instead of locating the companionway via a central break in a split console, Beneteau has gone for a port side walkway accessed via a large pane that opens inwards and a wind blocker.

 There is no direct path from the stern to the bow. Instead, you follow a path that winds around the sun pad, across the cockpit between the helm seats, up a step past the port helm bench, and then up two steps to the forward companionway.

Access to the Beneteau GT32, while it is moored, is easy via the extensive swim deck extension that creates a large, usable space aft. This boat is also fitted with an optional transom barbecue to make the swim deck more of a social hub, and a transom shower so you can have a freshwater rinse as you step up from the water.

A set of handrails on the top of the transom lounge allow you to lift, and then lower the seatback to create a large sunbed with direct access to the swim deck. To port, an easy-access locker makes a great space to stash fenders.

The cockpit is accessed via the starboard side of the transom and can close off from the swim deck using a stainless steel gate.

The cockpit is well protected overhead via a large extension of the saloon hardtop. It is set up so that if you want to add a set of clears to extend the all-weather ability of the Beneteau GT32, you can.

The cockpit is dominated by a large U-shaped lounge to port that can easily seat up to six adults. In the middle of it is a teak table with three cupholders and five sides, each of a different length. Storage is built in beneath the seat-tops, and the table can drop down and take an infill cushion to create a large, flat lounge.

This boat includes the Elegance upholstery upgrade with nicely contrasted dark and light cloth-style trim in the cockpit, highlighted with tan accents.

The forward starboard section of the cockpit is dedicated to a galley station built into the back of the helm seat. Concealed beneath a gas strut-supported glass top is a sink with faucet and a twin-burner gas bottle-fed stove. Below is a small Isotherm fridge built into the space that would normally be dedicated to an icebox, and plenty of storage locker space.

Up forward, the more premium bow lounge offset to starboard features three separate beds with pillows, separated by fold-out armrests with integrated stainless steel cupholders. 

Scuppers here allow water to drain but don’t look up to the job should you ever stuff the bow. This space also has courtesy lighting and two of the six speakers spread throughout the boat.

The blunt forepeak is dedicated to the anchor locker but can double up as a seat or standing space. The 16kg anchor is housed in a section of the stem almost at deck level.

The Beneteau GT32 features a pretty large hardtop for its size. However, its design means you never feel cut off from the environment around you.

Key to this are long, deep side windows with opening hatches that allow air to circulate, and a deep four-fifths width single pane windscreen looking forward. Meanwhile, a large sunroof opens overhead at the press of a button.

The large opening section of the windscreen on the port side opens outwards. It’s heavy, so you’re likely going to need an adult to open and close it. A tinted perspex wind blocker is easy to open or close.

Access below is via a lockable sliding door built into the centre of the console.

To port is a forward-facing, open-backed bench large enough to seat two people side-by-side. The seat has a lifting bolster so it can act like a leaning post rather than a seat – handy, as there’s no easily accessible handhold if the passage gets rough. The seat is a step up from the cockpit floor level.

The starboard helm station backs onto a pair of low-backed chairs. Decent storage is built into the box on which the seats sit.

Unlike the port-side bench, there’s no step up to the helm seats. This is good because it gives enough standing room for taller skippers when needed, but bad, because it is quite a climb to get up into the chairs. An infill board can make the floor the same height as the port side for skippers of smaller stature that need the same standing visibility. An integrated footrest that is easy to use while seated is provided.

The helm is well laid out, featuring enough space for our 16-inch chartplotter – two side-by-side would look better – and the Mercury VesselView screen monitoring the 270hp engines powering our test boat.

The coaming top has an armrest that lifts up to reveal a small-item storage nook. There’s extra side pocket storage below.

The coaming has a decent shelf built into it to easily mount the twin digital throttle and shift controller so it falls close to hand, with the joystick controller, trim tabs and bow thruster controls all sitting high.

Three steps via the wide sliding door opening lead down to a decent-sized atrium that forms the centre of the below-deck space.

Forward is a large U-shaped bow dinette with lots of overhead and under-seat storage space built in, and enough headroom so that only taller people need to crouch slightly. A curtain hidden away in the cabinet slides out to fully enclose the bow section once you use the infill to convert it into a bed.

To port is a hanging locker forward and behind it a galley space that includes an 80-litre fridge and enough space to fit a microwave oven.

To starboard is a fully enclosed bathroom with an electric-flush head, sink with hot- and cold-water faucet, and a shower that has a screen door.

Aft is an amidships cabin. The bed is in a crawl space below the saloon floor, but a small forward section built into the bottom of the console allows for full standing headroom. Despite its low setting, large hull windows and an opening porthole make it feel a lot more comfortable. There is plenty of locker storage around the space, too.

The relatively benign waters of the Gold Coast Broadwater, the location of our test, don’t really do justice to this boat’s offshore potential.

At low speeds, the Beneteau 32GT is a surprisingly maneuverable platform. Alex, from Flagstaff Marine, is adept at using the Mercury joystick system, getting out of the surprisingly tight Runaway Bay berth with confidence and ease.

Even under throttle as we motor out to the channel, the boat steers true, responding well to small inputs from the helm. 

In the channel and rolling on the fly-by-wire throttles, the smooth, flat conditions meant we quickly brought the Beneteau GT32 up onto the plane, cruising along at around 23.0 knots at 3200rpm.

Performance

* Both engines

Maximum range based on 90% reserve for 720L fuel tank: 223nm @ 3000rpm

There’s a distinct hump when getting up on the plane, which means the trim tabs are a welcome addition as the wide bow section tends to sit high, compromising good forward visibility. Trimming down also makes the bow work better when crossing wake and waves, with the deep vee forward slicing easily through the water.

The shape of the deck above the hull carries a lot of beam high and forward, meaning it is very good at deflecting spray. 

Pitching the boat into a turn, the hull carves out a nice arc as the flat chines and stepped hull work together to carve out an arc.

I quite like the helm position. I’m tall, so I don’t need to worry about having to use the wood infill to gain a bit of height to stand behind the helm, although even for me it was a stretch to get up in the chair.

Once there, though, everything falls easily to hand. The entire console apart from the switchbank is finished in a glossy grey that does reflect some of the harsher sunlight, and the lack of a cowl over the multifunction touchscreen means it is occasionally lost to glare via the expanse of glass that frames the saloon space.

Not quite so good is the forward-facing seat on the other side of the boat. Again, it is quite tall with a companionway crossing in front of it. The console opposite has a handrail, but you’re not going to have enough reach to lean forward and grab it; that’s a job for standing up.

There’s also no bolster on the inboard side of the seat, making it hard to stay put if the boat is yawing side to side if, say, you’re anchored and a large motor cruiser pushing maximum wake blasts past. Hey, it happened to us.

If I’m being honest, the Beneteau 32GT isn’t the prettiest boat on the water. It’s a little dumpy and high-sided, but in strong contrast to this is one of the most user-friendly interiors on a boat that you’ll find. As you go up the range, though, the larger boats make the design look more cohesive.

Fast without being quick, fuel-efficient and right-sized to minimise running costs, it’s a very family-oriented boat that may go a long way to getting you hooked on the weekend cruiser experience.

The price of entry to the GT club is not that expensive, either, given that the boat we've tested here is ocean-rated and ready to explore remote anchorages.

It's a very good foundation for a lifetime of boating, because as the family grows up and you need more space, there are larger models in the GT range ready to step in and take the GT32’s place.

Priced from: $475,000 including aft sun deck; cockpit table; side seat with footrest; cockpit shower; telescopic swim ladder; galley station with sink and twin gas burner; saloon hardtop with sunroof; windscreen wiper; sports steering wheel; twin helm chairs and two-seat first mate’s bench; armrest with glovebox; grey walnut trim below decks; galley unit with 80-litre fridge; three opening portholes; blackout curtains; head with sink, mixer tap and separate shower; writing for three batteries; a pressurised cold water system with a hot water circuit for shore power/genset; smoke detector; stainless steel rails and cleats; and LED courtesy lighting; 2x200hp Mercury FourStroke outboard engines 

Price as tested: $650,000 including 270hp Mercury MerCruiser 3.0L V6 turbo-diesel engines with Bravo 3 sterndrive; Mercury Joystick Control and Piloting system; upgraded upholstery pack with swim platform extension; foredeck sunshade with carbonfibre poles; upgraded upholstery; aft gas barbecue; 49-litre cockpit fridge; electric-flush freshwater toilet; TV antenna; Zipwake trim tabs; electric windlass; Sleipner bow thruster; 25-litre water heater; shore power with battery charger; covers for the bow and cockpit seats; searchlight; Garmin GPSMAP 1223xsv chartplotter and VHF radio; wireless smartphone charging station; 1600-watt Fusion audio system upgrade with eight speakers and a subwoofer; inshore safety gear

Supplied by: Flagstaff Marine