Beneteau MonteCarlo 37

Beneteau has been exceptionally busy over the past few months, introducing the First 50, Oceanis 40 and 46, Antares 6 and 7 boats at the 2006 European autumn shows, followed by the winter launch of the Oceanis 43. The First 50 has already been voted ‘Sailing Boat of the Year’ in Italy.

On the powerboat side, the arrival of the new MonteCarlo 37 is the first of a new range of open powerboats with a Mediterranean flair, from the hand of the Italian designer Pierangelo Andreani, developed in conjunction with the Beneteau powerboat design office, using the latest Catia Smarteam software.

The new MonteCarlo takes the Beneteau boat range of power and sail craft to eight segments, covering 51 models.

Andreani’s great knowledge of the open boat market and his talent as a designer in many industrial fields are combined in the MonteCarlo 37.

The challenge was to incorporate a large forecabin, a saloon, a galley, an aft cabin with two berths and a head compartment inside a sporty 11.28m hull.

Andreani has created surprisingly generous surroundings, where colour and shape are used to ‘create’ space. The cocoa-toned timber cabin sole contrasts with light, honey-coloured furniture that graduates into an off-white deckhead lining.

Andreani and the Beneteau design team played with the natural light through the hull ports, controlling it with specially designed blinds and preserved that ambience with the positioning and intensity of the LED, halogen and deckhead lights.

The choice of materials continues the impressions of luxury and spaciousness, blending wood, soft covering textures, stainless steel and glass.

Standard equipment is comprehensive for a cruiser and almost unprecedented in a sports boat: microwave oven, air conditioning, refrigerator, and DVD player with LCD screen.

The Beneteau design software helped enormously in utilizing every space inside the boat and there are ‘tricks’ such as ‘secret’ drawers and foldaway doors.

The steering station is comfy, with a plush bucket seat for the pilot and a two-seat bench for passengers. Immediately aft of these forward-facing seats is a U-shaped lounge and centre-pedestal table. The boarding platform is huge, with a lidded, recessed swim ladder set into the upper surface. From the platform, moulded steps lead to sidedeck walkways that have full rail protection.

Going below is a breeze, thanks to a curved roller shutter in the companionway. Broad stairs lead into the galley and dinette that seats six in comfort. The forward berth features a huge wedge-shaped bed and two wardrobes, while aft of the dinette is a large cabin with two berths. The head and shower compartment can be accessed from the saloon or from the aft cabin.

But the new model wasn’t designed just as a poser’s boat. The Monte Carlo 37 employs the ‘Air Step’ hull, patented by Chantiers Beneteau. This unique hull shape promotes early, lower-speed planing, for reduced power consumption and improved fuel economy.

Power comes from a pair of Volvo D4 turbo-intercooled diesels, rated at either 260hp or 225hp each, driving through twin-prop Volvo Stern Drives.

Laurent Fabre, the project director of Beneteau’s power boat range told Trade-A-Boat that the Monte Carlo 37 is the spearhead of the company’s drive into a new segment of the powerboat business.

“The Monte Carlo 37 is indicative of Beneteau’s strength and the company’s desire to expand in the powerboat market,” said Fabre.

“Combining the talent of a well-known Italian designer, Pietrangelo Andreani, with Beneteau’s R&D know-how, this boat is much more than just a new, single product.

“The MonteCarlo 37 announces the birth of a whole range that three years from now will comprise five models.

“Beneteau expects to set a new benchmark in this market.

“Revolutionary technology through the Air Step patented hull design, sleek lines, a sumptuous interior, total comfort, sea keeping qualities without compromise, are all combined in this new Beneteau model range,” Fabre said.

ON THE WATER
We didn’t have time for a full test of the Monte Carlo, because we had to evaluate three new Oceanis yachts at the same time (see Trade-A-Boat 361 issue), but we did spend some time below decks while the boat was underway and we had a steer for around half an hour.

There was an old sea running off Valencia, so the conditions were perfect for judging the MonteCarlo’s abilities in rough, choppy water.

We also conducted a number of standing starts, to check on how quickly the Air Step hull climbed up on the plane – the average planing threshold was a creditable 12kts.

Ride quality was superb through the choppy conditions and there was very little thumping discernable below deck.

When flung through some tight, high-speed manoeuvres the MonteCarlo felt decidedly smaller than its 11.3m length and radical turns didn’t upset the boat’s balance or disturb the passengers.

Top speed on the day was 32kts.

The main difference from normal ‘stepped hulls’ and Beneteau’s Air Step system, is the way air is channelled under the boat. In the MonteCarlo 37 air is fed from two tubes, directly under the boat. The air intakes for the Air Step are on each side of the deck, in front of the windshield.

Beneteau has been using the Air Step system on its smaller power boats for the past two years, but is now confident enough in the design to utilize the system on larger power boats.

BENETEAU SWIFT TRAWLER 52
This new Beneteau design is due for European release in late 2007.

The Swift Trawler 52, a Joubert-Nivelt design developed by Beneteau, features three huge double cabins with en suites on the lower deck, plus a single-berth cabin. The main deck houses the steering station and chart table, with a step-down saloon that features a large U-shaped galley and dinette, plus additional lounge seating and interior access to the lower deck. The lounge converts to a double berth, giving a total of nine sleeping places.

The flybridge has another U-shaped lounge area and ample stowage space for an inflatable and water toys.

According to Adam Waters from JW Marine, the importers of Beneteau power boats, the first of these will arrive in Australia in early 2008.