Beneteau First 33.7

A few years back, when the French were nuclear testing in the Pacific, there was a call to boycott their products. Don't consume any Bollinger, Yo-Plait, croissants or crime brilies, wear Yves Saint Laurent clothes or drown yourself in Parisian perfume, don't drive Renauts and, at least by implication, steer well clear of Beneteau boats...

Yet, at the time, sales of imports bearing French signatures went up like a mushroom cloud. This says a lot about the Australian penchant for most anything French. Not even a nuclear explosion can quell our desire for their consumables.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION
In sailing circles, Beneteau yachts are something you simply cannot ignore. About 25 to 30 are brought here each year, making them our biggest yachting import.

There are now about 340 Beneteaus in Australia, equally from the mother factory in France (these boats bear a seahorse emblem) and from the newer factory on the east coast of America.

In France, Beneteau builds 2500 boats per year, while the American factory makes about 600 boats annually. Though Australia takes just 3% of the international market, we rank fourth in terms of consumption of Beneteaus, only behind Europe, America and Japan.

"Australians more than anything else love the (yacht's) interior. A Beneteau is the best compromise you can find between comfort and performance," asserts the French-speaking Christopher Vanek from Beneteau Vicsail in Sydney.

FIRST IN, BEST DRESSED
In the last year, the Berret/Racoupeau- designed First 33.7 has been Beneteau's biggest success story.

Ten 33.7s have sailed to Australia since the new model was released a year ago and the big-hearted cruiser-racer will remain the biggest selling French yacht here in the next year, ahead of the new Beneteau Oceanis 411, 311, and the First 40.7.

However, most sales of the 33.7 have been by a lease-back arrangement with Eastsail, a charter company at Rushcutters Bay on Sydney Harbour.

It has six 33.7s for performance-matched racing and corporate sailing on the harbour and it aims to have 10 of them in the fleet by 2000.

With the world at his feet, and the choice of what to buy including all the local boats, this endorsement in the French marque carries quite some weight.

QU'EST-CE C'EST?
"The First 33.7 is a really beautiful looking boat, modern shaped, with a typically five-star Beneteau finish," surmises Eastsail's proprietor, Joe Goddard.

In fact, this model - best described as a good IMS design with a nearly vertical stem, a usefully small transom, and a good compromise in the 9/10ths rig so it can be handled shorthanded - is perhaps the prettiest Beneteau ever.

While it has the typical rounded coachhouse and the flowing lines we've come to expect from the French, the 33.7 also sails exceptionally well to all points. Some say it is one of the first French boats to really perform up to standard.

While I enjoyed just a few hours with a 33.7 one pretty twilight on Sydney Harbour, the yacht is sailing virtually every day of the year through EastSail. A better acid test would be hard to imagine, and there's nothing but the cockpit (which is a tad too small for big groups of learners) that has been doubtful.

GO SPEED RACER
In the annual Beneteau regatta on Sydney Harbour, and fairly handicapped, the First 33.7 won both spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions. It was up against Beneteaus new and old, and it was the seventh fastest around the track. It sails just a second behind the sporty Cavalier 35 on a typical eight-mile harbour race.

The rig is, as mentioned above, 9/10 fractional with two sets of swept back spreaders, an adjustable backstay, and all reefing lines leading conveniently to the cockpit. The mainsheet traveller is full-width in the cockpit, where steering is by tiller (wheel steering costs an extra $6485). Deck gear features Lewmar winches and Spinlock jammers and blocks.

Flying a kite offshore, the boat has been known to surf freely. With a 34sqm genoa, it also works well to windward. The mainsail, 30.25sqm, is semi-battened and, thankfully, a furling genoa is standard. The keel is a deep-fin type with lead ballast.

And though it is small, the cockpit is quite comfortable for three or four people. It has a deep sail locker, separate gas-bottle locker, and teak-slatted benches with rounded moulded edges.

THE BIG FRENCH LOAF
Where you win out on the 33.7 is not only around the Harbour buoys or on coastal passages, but when you reach your destination. The boat has a glamorous, huge interior, for it's a 9.80m waterline length.

The finish is a French speciality using classy pearwood-stained mahogany, lots of hatches and signature First portholes for air and light, excellent downlighting by night, and chic upholstery any time you care to park yourself down.

One forward cabin, one aft cabin and one head is the standard layout, with an optional second aft cabin and the head moved forward of the saloon, for a cost of $5750 - useful should you have children tagging along or plan to carry a charter-boat size crowd.

As it stands in two-cabin layout, the boat can cater for two couples wonderfully well. The forepeak is one big double berth with ample hanging space. The saloon is flanked by settees (also sea berths) either side of the drop-down dinette, while the L-shaped galley to port is conveniently located to serve dinner inside or lunch up top.

In the living areas and the workable head near the companionway on the port side, there is a minimum of 1.78m headroom. The nav station opposite the galley can be sat at comfortably, while even the big aft owner's cabin with a double berth has good access with 1.77m headroom at its entrance.

IN THE WASH UP
Sailing the popular waters somewhere between a sportsboat and a sturdy cruiser, Beneteau's 33.7 is undeniably a luxury item. It looks the part, plays the part and sails the part of a French boat with French flair.

It would, in fact, make a particularly useful yacht for a couple. And with amazing volume down below you can also pack the freeloaders aboard for those summer holidays.

In fact, it's just the boat on which to recline with a glass of Bollinger, chew on some brie in a big fat French stick, spill crumbs all over the cockpit and kick back with a laissez-faire attitude to life.