The Publisher
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Jun 16, 2011, 10:58 AM
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Beneteau First 35
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Initial Sailing Impressions of the Beneteau First 35, by Don Finkle, RCR Yachts: Last Sunday we took the proud new owners of the First 35 “Double Black” out for the initial sea trial on Lake Erie. None of us had sailed the boat before that day. It was one of those experiences that brought a smile to everyone’s face. We started in about 7 knots of breeze and ended in 17. The boat sailed beautifully throughout, it was well balanced and steered with little effort.
We set the boat up with a mainsail on a Tides luff track and a Dutchman system as well as a low-profile Facnor jib furler so the owners can sail it easily as couple. The rig is proportioned with large mainsail and 108% fractional headsails, with both fractional and masthead spinnaker halyards. As this was mostly a social commissioning day session we did not set a spinnaker but look forward to the first opportunity to do so.
I’ve been sailing a Beneteau First 36.7 now for ten seasons straight, I’m on my fourth one and we love it. That design has been great for us, an excellent all-around boat that allows us to do many different things. So the following comments are made using the F36.7 as the benchmark of comparison. As much as I like the 36.7, the F35 is an improvement in many areas.
The First 35 feels like a larger boat than the 36.7, and in terms of beam and freeboard it is. The extra beam aft, coupled with a wide-open transom, make for a roomier cockpit that is easier to move around in. The floor-mounted traveler helps in this regard also. The wheel is very large and mounted in a trough, the exact same wheel arrangement that is also used in the First 40, winner of the Sydney-Hobart race. The large diameter wheel allows one to sit further out for a good view forward. Traveler and backstay controls are mounted just forward of the wheel where either the driver or main trimmer can easily reach them. The deck hardware is all Harken, and the cars for mainsheet and jib tracks move much easier than they do on the 36.7. The mainsheet on the 36.7 is a tackle and can be a bear when it blows, and there is a lot of mainsheet to feed in and out at the corners. The F35 mainsheet is a 2:1 double-ended sheet led to a large winch on either side, just forward of the helm. The sheet comes in or out a lot faster and the winch gives you a much more mechanical advantage.
The engine installation is a similar saildrive set up as we have on the 36.7, but it is smoother and quieter on the 35. Maybe this is because the 35 uses a Yanmar diesel and the 36.7 has a Volvo, but it is really noticeable. Lots of power through a geared folding prop too.
Another nice feature of the F35 is the forward end of the cockpit, with a nice place to stand in the “pit”, a protected area in between the port and starboard aft cabintop sections. You are out of the cockpit traffic flow here during tacks. On the 36.7 you stand on the top companionway step, on the F35 you are actually standing in the cockpit to control cabintop winches and clutches. Forward of that there is the companionway step itself, which is larger than on the 36.7, so you could stand there also. Two opening ports on either side, just below the cabintop winches, allow the halyard tails to fall out of the way so long as it is not raining.
The interior of the F35 is more wide open than on the 36.7, there is more room to move around. On the 36.7 there are two aft cabins and a head forward. On the F35 there is one large aft cabin to port and a head aft to starboard. Being located in a wider part of the hull the F35 head is larger than that of the 36.7. The other benefit is that with no head forward the V-berth area is noticeably larger than on the 36.7. So the 36.7 has one more sleeping cabin but the berths on the F35 are larger. The extra beam on the 35 provides enough room to easily pass by the centerline table on either side, even with people sitting on the settees.
There is a general feeling of “upscale” on the First 35, and this can be felt inside and out. The deck hardware, rigging, interior appointments and finish combine to give this boat a sense of being special. The interior is light and airy, the light colored joinery contributes to that sensation. We had a little party below after sailing and it was most enjoyable.
The F35 comes with no instruments as standard, which is good because racers often want different electronics, just as they like to select different sailmakers. We are outfitting both of ours with large format mast mounted Raymarine ST70 Plus displays in a cool carbon fiber pod. At the helm there is a remote keypad that you use to scroll through the many pages of available screen configurations. The large numbers are easy to see from the helm or anywhere aft of the mast.
Our boats have the Regatta Pack which includes a carbon spinnaker pole and all the rigging and deck hardware to readily control everything. There is a bit of a spaghetti farm at the aft end of the coachroof on either side but it is all logically laid out, colored coded and labeled. Once used to it the crew should not have a problem. Vang and pole downhauls are double-ended, there are jib in-haulers, spinnaker twings and jib car adjuster lines on either side too. Because the mainsheet leads to P&S winches there are 6 winches total, and the mainsheet can be locked off with a stopper. One thing I really like is that the intermediate D2 shrouds can be adjusted form the deck, unlike the 36.7 where you have to go aloft to adjust them.
OK, so how does it sail? The knotmeter was not yet calibrated so we can’t give you speed numbers but the boat felt very good. We have been told that the overall performance is similar to that of the 36.7. You need to consider than the F35 has 108% headsails versus 155% on the 36.7, and the 35 is beamier and has more freeboard. However the 35 has masthead spinnakers. In Seattle they have rated the F35 at 78 PHRF. We will be able to say more after sailing it for awhile and gathering some results.
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