[FlyinNOE]

jgrasell,

We have a 1996 Beneteau Oceanis 400. Our boat is the 3 cabin 2 head layout. My wife and I bought her over a year ago now. When I'm home (not deployed in your part of the world) we sail her constantly.

She has crossed the Straits of Juan De Fuca several times and brought us through in winds at or near 40 knots or a little more with me single handing her. We have an 11 month old and my wife is usually busy taking care of her.

We have taken her on a few 15 day trips and a bunch of week long and long weekend trips in all types of weather.

Before we bought her we looked at almost 100 boats of comparable length from 38-45 feet and from 1975-new. We like our decision but there were other boats I enjoyed sailing including Catalinas,J boats, a beautiful Moody and a few other Beneteaus.

Since we bought her I have installed or purchased:
A Boom Break
An Asym. Spinnaker
Engine Insulation
Increased the sail inventory
Flexofold prop (made a .5 kts difference in anything below hull speed)
Davits

What we like:
She sails to weather extremely well for a “performance cruiser”.
She reaches hull speed (7.3ish kts) with little effort. For a cruiser she is a good light air boat.
The Pullman berth is outstanding.
When trimmed correctly she has a light responsive helm that is well balanced.
The inside is beautiful with plenty of room, a good galley and a comfy living space (the extra cabin becomes storage when no one is using it).
Light and airy interior

What we don’t:
Like a lot of the newer, lighter boats she’s not as sea kindly as a full keel boat weighing twice as much. This boat is not as happy in a following sea as a boat without the suger scoop stern.
With three cabins she could use more tankage.
She’s loud when motoring (hence the insulation which helped).
The aft head has a shower but is only really usable as a head and wet locker (too cramped to shower in).
I wish she had a few more handholds down below for heavy seas.

Hope this helps you make a decision. Feel free to ask for pics if you want them.
Brian-