Beneteau First 47.7

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, particularly in Australia where boats like Smile, Fruit Machine and now Fireball have dominated major events including the Hamilton and Hayman Island regattas and the Telstra Cup.

It makes you wonder if the people at Beneteau were really prepared for the phenomenal success of the First 40.7, with more than 284 sold now, including 19 into Australia.

It has certainly marked a very successful collaboration between the major international yachtbuilder and Farr Yacht Design. Kiwi-born, US-based Bruce Farr and his design team certainly have the runs on the board, with many winners of world championships, Sydney to Hobarts and Whitbread Round-the-World races, and a current portfolio which includes the Farr 40 One-Design class (leading the international push towards owner/driver fleet racing), plus several new Volvo Ocean Race entrants being built.

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 First 47.7 was even launched. Interest in the new model has been particularly high in Australia, for many years a Farr-boat stronghold and also a market in which Vicsail, the local Beneteau representative has been a pacesetter for production-yacht marketing.

No wonder Beneteau head office chose Sydney as the place to photograph the new 47.7 for its international publicity brochure. There are now four of the new model sailing in Sydney (plus another launched in Adelaide and nine more on order) and they are certainly turning heads.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
Over the years my own experiences with the Beneteau First range have been very positive. They have included the violent 1993 Sydney to Hobart Race, which we managed to complete in one piece on the First 405, All That Jazz.

That wasn't a fast boat but it certainly proved to be sturdy. It also had a cruiser/racer interior which I didn't think much of before the race, preferring a more austere and purpose-designed raceboat layout. I was forced into a rethink during that race, because the comfort and morale boost provided by that cosy, dry interior kept us going long after we'd ceased caring about only sleeping on the weather side and had slipped into survival mode.

The previous year I'd sailed on a purpose-built racer in the same size range which leaked like a sieve down below. The pipe cots were constantly wet and cold and trying to sleep was a miserable experience, so the contrast to the Beneteau couldn't have been starker.

More recently I've experienced some great racing aboard the First 40.7 Honeysuckle, including the 1999 Sydney-Gold Coast Race and Hamilton Island Race Week. Once again I was somewhat dismissive of the cruiser-style interior beforehand, only to appreciate its comforts at the end of a cold night watch or two. In this case I also got a buzz out of the close racing between the flock of 40.7s - not an absolutely true one-design fleet mainly because of slight differences in rig set-ups, but close enough to make every sail adjustment and tactical decision matter.

With similar initial interest in the 47.7, the question is whether close class racing will develop here too, adding an extra dimension to ownership of the big cruiser/racer.

CONSTRUCTION
The 47.7's hull is solid GRP with a moulded structural hull liner laminated and bonded to the hull, to distribute rig and keel stresses and allow the incorporation of different interior layouts as standard.

The deck is balsa/GRP sandwich, with a full moulded deck liner.

Lead ballast is used in the keel, of which two versions are available: the standard version drawing 2.3m and a deeper 'racing' keel drawing 2.8m. The spade rudder is set on a carbon fibre composite rudder stock.

The yacht we were welcomed aboard for this review was Trieste, proudly owned by Peter Versi. Peter's previous boat was a Beneteau First 405 called White Knuckles, which he sold in 1993. Trieste is set up with the deeper racing keel and a taller racing rig, one of two rig options offered with the 47.7. According to Beneteau-Vicsail, all of the boats imported to date have the racing rig and keel.

The standard rig has a mast 'I' measurement of 17.25m compared to the taller rig of 18.05m, with correspondingly larger sail sizes. Both incorporate a tapered, anodised aluminium mast stepped on the keel and supported by three sets of swept-back spreaders, no runners and a hydraulically-controlled adjustable backstay.

Versi said his initial sailing on Trieste has consisted of harbour twilights and no-extras afternoon races. The initial sail inventory from North consists of a Spectra mainsail and No 2 genoa on a roller furler. The boat does not have a spinnaker or No 1 genoa as yet, but Versi said the current set-up has been powerful enough for the sailing he's been enjoying so far.

While the 40.7 feels like a fairly compact 40-footer, the 47.7 seems very big for a 47-footer. It's big all over, particularly in beam, freeboard and interior space.

The standard deck layout includes an anchor well with electric windlass in the bow, in front of a forward sail hold with access via a Lewmar opening hatch and stainless steel steps.

Teak sidedecks are an optional extra, while slatted teak cockpit seats and floor are standard issue. The sidedecks are wide for ease of movement around the boat, with a timber toerail running the length of the hull/deck join along the gunwales, providing a handy edge to brace a foot against when working around the fore and side decks, but probably also a potential source of discomfort on longer races for the windward rail-sitters.

The deck layout is clean and uncluttered, and one of the most striking features is the attention paid to getting light and air to the interior, with many fixed and opening hatches and portholes along the topsides and coachhouse as well as a perspex sliding hatch over the companionway. There are also two dorade vents to either side of the cabintop, forward of the companionway, with handy stainless steel handholds doubling as protective braces around them.

Halyards lead back to clutches and Lewmar 44 self-tailing winches on the coachroof. The mainsail halyard is 2:1 purchase, added to the standard specification by the Australian Beneteau-Vicsail team.

The genoa sheets lead to ball-bearing genoa cars running on the inboard edge of the sidedecks, which can be adjusted under load via tweakers, then to Lewmar 58 three-speed self-tailing winches.

The mainsheet is a fairly standard racing set-up, leading forward from blocks at the end of the boom and the traveller to blocks at the gooseneck and sidedecks near the shroud bases, then back along the sidedecks to the Lewmar 48 self-tailers on the coamings each side of the cockpit behind the primary winches. The mainsheet traveller is anchored on the cockpit seats and runs from coaming to coaming, with a ball-bearing car and block-and-tackle adjustment to cleats on both sides.

The moulded GRP pedestal for the 1600mm diameter steering wheel provides a very handy and well-positioned foot brace for both the mainsheet trimmer and the steerer when the boat is heeling. Considerable thought has gone into the ergonomics of the steerer's area in general, with a variety of comfortable driving positions both seated and standing, whether to windward, leeward or on the centreline.

When the racing is done, the transom can be converted by dropping down the teak-laid boarding platform, using a block-and-tackle system in the aft locker. A bathing ladder is attached, and a cockpit shower is also provided.

Large lockers are provided around the cockpit for boating equipment, liferaft and gas bottles.

SPACE AND PACE
Like its smaller sister the 40.7, the First 47.7 is a racer with a cruising interior, but here the emphasis falls more heavily on the cruising part of the equation.

The 47.7 really is a big, sumptuous craft below decks. Lashings of cherry-type woodwork provide a rich, warm feel, while the headroom of more than 2.1m throughout most of the interior combines with large number of portholes and opening hatches to give a feeling of substantial space, light and air.

Four different versions of the interior layout are available. The forward owner's cabin has a double berth to starboard (2m x 1.4m) and a settee to port, finished in soft white leatherette. There is storage underneath the mattress, plus a hanging locker and armrest stowage unit to port and lockers along the hull. Two opening hatches are overhead and there are fixed hull portholes.

Forward is an ensuite bathroom, with a marine toilet, washbasin with pressurised hot and cold water via mixer tap, shower seat folding down over the head with hand-held shower unit, hose and holder, electric sump pump, storage cupboard and overhead opening hatch for ventilation and light.

Provision for sail storage is in the forepeak ahead of the ensuite and aft of the anchor locker.

An optional layout positions two separate cabins in this forward area, each with upper and lower single bunks, stowage cupboards on the central partition wall and access to the forward bathroom, which is retained.

Two alternative versions of the main cabin are available. Trieste is set up with what Beneteau calls the lateral galley version, which as its name suggests has the galley running along the side of the hull, in this case the forward port side, opposite the dining area with its island seat for two, adjustable table and settee seating for four or five. Behind the galley is the main bathroom compartment, set up with the same equipment as the forward bathroom, while opposite that is a nav station of generous dimensions and comfort.

The alternative layout leaves the dinette area and main bathroom where they are, while swapping the nav station with the galley. The nav station seems to lose some adjacent storage space but the cabin gains a port-side settee in this arrangement, while the galley is repositioned into an L-shaped area which, while still adjacent to the dining area, is perhaps a little more private, compact and self-contained.

In both layouts the galley is well-equipped with a front-opening 12V refrigerator of 100lt volume, top opening icebox, gimballed two-burner stove and oven protected by a stainless safety rail, double sink with hot and cold pressurised water supply via mixer tap, plus a seawater foot pump, a hidden rubbish bin and lots of cupboards and storage space.

Moving aft, there are once again two options for the layout. Trieste has two aft cabins, basically mirror images of each other, with double berths measuring 2m x 1.5m, hanging lockers and cupboards along the hull, and access to the engine compartment. The alternative is a larger double cabin on the portside, leaving the starboard side available for stowage.

EFFORTLESS PERFORMANCE
We sailed the 47.7 around Sydney Harbour and outside the Heads in a moderate southeasterly breeze gusting to 15kt and primarily flat water, even offshore where there was only a slight chop and negligible swell running.

It was a magical day for sailing and the 47.7 did not disappoint, reaching effortlessly along under main and No 2 headsail at speeds up to 10kt. When we came onto the wind offshore we found the boat would sit happily at speeds of seven to eight knots at an apparent wind angle of around 30°, according to the B&G instruments. In these conditions it basically steered itself, with only minor corrections required from time to time.

The balance of the helm was quite remarkable upwind, while downwind it required more work to avoid over-steering. It's a big boat which likes to track straight off the breeze and takes a while to respond to a command from the helm, which can encourage you to turn the helm further - and slip straight into the over-steering cycle.

The cockpit arrangement seems user-friendly; apart from the headsail winches, which require a substantial burst of muscle power to trim on in fresher breeze. That's one job I'd be trying to avoid around a racecourse... I wonder how many owners will contemplate electric winch power here.

Peter Versi said that so far he has been very happy with the sailing performance of his new boat, particularly compared to the his previous experiences sailing older racing hullshapes which were encouraged by the IOR handicapping system.

"This is a piece of cake compared to that nightmare," he said.

THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Beneteau has come up with the goods once again, producing a handsome, modern yacht with a racing pedigree and cruising style.

Yes, it's an expensive package. For buyers in this price range, though, it offers a huge amount of performance and features.

Although it bears many similarities to the First 40.7, I suspect the 47.7 will attract a different following from its smaller stablemate, with the cruising side of the package taking precedence.

Racing this boat seriously around the buoys will require a bigger, more experienced crew, simply because it's a much bigger boat with bigger loads.

On the other hand it could be raced to Hobart more comfortably than the 40.7, but I'm not sure why you'd want to inflict on that nice interior the sort of punishment the southern races can dish out.

Club racing, twilights, family weekend and holiday outings, coastal passage races and northern race weeks will probably be the core business of the 47.7, and I expect it will carry out that business very successfully.

LOWS