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What year does Beneteau start using a bridge?

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  wopalx 
#1 ·
The late model Oceanis uses the bridge. I don't particular like it. It seems that the mechanical advantage is almost non existence for the main sheet. Without a traveler, making it more difficultly to obtain sail shape.

Does anyone have any experience with this design, any pros and cons for this?

 
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#2 ·
I ordered mine last year after seeing hull number one on the hard. Quite nervous until I saw a very positive review in Practical Sailor. This is my first boat without a traveler. Don't miss it.

Last boat was a Beneteau 473. Much prefer sailing the 41.

No problem with sail shape.

Boat sails flatter.

But it is what it is. Large, comfortable cockpit. Below feels bigger than a 41. Very easy to sail. As I said in a different thread, it's a coastal cruiser. Great for weekend and vacation sailing. No muss or fuss.

Sails well in winds up to 25 knots. Not yet been out in more.

Not a rtw boat, though. But perfect for just getting out and sailing.

I saw a similar Bavaria recently. Also very nice.
 
#3 ·
I raced on a 50.5 from the Moorings fleet with the owners for the BVI Regatta in 2012. It's a much faster hull than the 51.5. I guess I'm old school but there were many times that I could have tweaked the sail shape more effectively with a traveler by keeping the main flatter and easing the traveler down in puffs. Despite that, the boat had no problem doing 8+ knots to windward in relatively flat seas (1-3') and tacking well inside of 90 degrees (I don't recall what we were actually doing) with about 15 knots of wind. The 3 days of sailing we never saw any sustained winds much more than that. Some gusts made her hard to control upwind making her want to round up quickly if the main trimmer was a nanosecond slow easing the main sheet. For a cruising boat it probably all works OK. I do know a Moorings charter mono is not outfitted like most private Benes. The one HUGE negative that I noticed was during a jibe. There is a bunch of line hanging down in the cockpit when the boom passes over the centerline of the boat and it wants to catch on everything!!! People, the winches on the cabintop, the handles on the line clutches, hats on heads, sunglasses on faces, etc. Everything I listed happened at least once in the course of the regatta. In a cruising situation of course one would tighten up the main sheet before jibing the main and that wouldn't be an issue. What about an accidental jibe? I know there are about a zillion Hunters running around with a similar setup. I've sailed on them. Typically it seems the mainsheet stays on top of the bimini and out of the cockpit. Maybe that would be the case on the Bene too. I do not know, we had the bimini off for racing. Even looking at the photo above, imagine a gob of line dropping down about where the lady is sitting and then snapping back up quickly during an accidental jibe. Maybe it we were just unlucky but I didn't like it. With enough time I'm sure one would learn how to deal with it.
 
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