Beneteau Oceanis 45 -- First sail
The new 45 rewrites the Oceanis design book and is a worthy winner of Europe's yacht of the Year in the family cruising category.- Powered, fully-opening transom/swim platform
- Below decks space
- Awkward mainsail stowage
- Small opening ports in the aft cabins
OVERVIEW
The exciting part of the equation is that this level of performance comes not only without a cruising compromise, but with a cruising benefit. A dart-shaped hull with broad transom means greatly increased cockpit and aft deck space for lounging and sufficient beam to accommodate two large aft cabins.
The bottom line is that this boat can be used in a total cruising style or as a cruiser/racer with very little compromise.
The injection-moulded deck is FRP-balsa sandwich, bonded and screwed to the hull and fitted with an almost full-length teak bulwark. Keel structure is cast iron, attached through stainless-steel backing plates and the rudder stock is composite material.
A pre-bent mast looks the part, stayed by discontinuous stainless with two wide spreaders and twin fixed backstays. Running rigging and sheets all lead back to the cockpit and twin mainsheet blocks are mounted on a Targa bar. Rope bags aft of the halyard winches -- one of which is powered -- keep tails tidy and also serve to restrain the twin companionway doors.
Lifting helm seats aft of the sheet winches hide rope lockers for sheet tails.
The Oceanis 45 has a low-profile deck house, flush deck hatches and moulded-in anti-slip surfacing that invites safe deck lounging. Aft of the chain locker is a huge storage bin for sails or a deflated tender. Twin anchor rollers are integrated into a stainless bowsprit that keeps a weighing, swinging pick clear of the plumb stem and serves as a tack point for an optional gennaker.
The cabin sole is finished in Beneteau’s favoured smooth, satin varnish that looks very homely, but we’d prefer a finish with more grip. On the plus side, virtually the entire cabin floor is made up of hatches to access vital bilge-mounted components.
Beam equals interior space and the Oceanis 45 packs 60-footer accommodation into its relatively compact LOA. Layouts include four cabins, two heads; three cabins, two heads; three cabins, three heads; and two cabins, two heads with a vast aft storage area.
A thruster positioned relatively close to the leading edge of the keel made manoeuvring out of a very tight berth quite controlled. This location eliminated much of the stern ‘kick’ that’s characteristic of bow thruster action.
Under power, the Oceanis motored happily at seven-plus knots, with its ‘green’ engine in run-in mode and steered forward and aft without any rudder vice.
Making sail was easy, thanks to roller mainsail slides with a single-fall main halyard. Our test day was blessed with a Sydney westerly that gave us a series of puffs and lulls, between two knots and 20 knots.
At up to around 12 knots of true wind the fat-beamed, hard-chined hull stood up to the breeze, translating pressure into boat speeds of around 8.5-9.5 knots reaching. Hard on the wind the boat betrayed its cruising roots, with less ‘point’ than a First 45, but driving at an impressive six-plus knots.
The broad stern sends the helmsperson high off the water when the boat heels, but once used to the altitude we had no problem sitting on the gunwale and steering racing-style. There’s a moulded floor chock, but another further inboard would be handy.
The genoa furled easily and the main dropped safely inside its lazy jack restraints, but packing it into its zippered bag is best done by clambering onto the arch and to that end the arch needs improved surface grip.
The manoeuvrability of the boat, easy of sail handling and vast storage space makes it a good choice for the cruising couple.
Design: Finot-Conq & Associates
LOA: 13.85m
Length hull: 13.50m
Beam overall: 4.49m
Draught max: 2.15m
Displacement: 9550kg
Mainsail: 50.00sqm
Furling Jib Area: 50.00sqm
Spinnaker Area: 156.00sqm
Power: Yanmar 54hp
D’Albora Marina,
New Beach Road,
Rushcutters Bay 2027
Tel (02) 9327 2088
Email: info@vicsail.com
Web: www.vicsailsydney.com.au
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