Beneteau 473

[johnny333]

iam thinking of buying a Beneteau 473 2002 or 2003.i will be living aboard in the islands with my girl and dog for 3 to 4 years.my budget is 200.000 .you get alot of boat with the 473 and strength,for the money??
iam then sailing through the canal into the pacific and eventually to australia were iam from,let me know your thoughts on the 473 please thanks. johnny

[max-on]

Johnny, read this: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/sailnet-faqs/39379-newcomers-get-more-out-sailnet.html and then edit your post; many here will be happy to provide you some input, make sure to include some info about you, your skills, type of sailing, expectations from a boat, priorities, your sailing area, your goals, what other boats you have considered, your budget, and why you are choosing the bene over the others to meet the aforementioned.

Other than that, it's a beneteau.

I'm being short, I'm just short on time.

Wlecome to the board!

[johnny333]

thanks not enough info i got it.johnny

[JohnRPollard]

Johnny,

I agree, the 473 looks like a lot of boat for the money. I'm sure it would be fine for the first part of your plan, i.e. Carribean/Bahamas island hopping. And I will be interested to hear what others think about it's suitability for ocean passagemaking like the Pacific crossing you have in mind. I would not be surprised if these boats have completed more than a few successful ocean passages, so I hope we'll hear from owners that can give us some insight as to how well the 473 behaves off-shore.

One place you might do a little research is at the website for the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (the "ARC"). They usually list the boat models that have participated in each year's trans-atlantic rallies. This might give some indication of whether other folks are choosing the 473 for serious ocean work. Good luck!

[johnny333]

thanks john,for your info on the 473,i will check out the ARC,johnny

[sailingdog]

A Benny 473 might be a bit big for just the two of you. Just remember, if you're cruising as a couple, much of the time you're actually sailing single-handed, since the other person will be sleeping, cooking, reading, etc.

My general recommendation is that you get the smallest boat that will work for you, rather than the largest boat you can afford. The running costs go up with boat size, as do the maintenance costs.

You could probably find a very nice 37-40' boat that would suffice for the two of you. Traveling with a dog is doable, but you will find that the restrictions on dogs will limit your choices in where you can go. For more information on the pet issues, you should check out www.noonsite.com, which has a lot of information on the various countries that you are interested in visiting, including, IIRC, pet restrictions.

Another recommendation I usually make is that you should reserve 15-20% of your boat buying budget for refitting, upgrading, modifying and repairing any boat you buy. No boat is going to be setup exactly the way you want and you'll generally want to modify it or upgrade it in some way prior to leaving—so leave yourself some funds to handle this.

The last recommendation I generally make is that any boat you buy should be setup for the way you will be using for the majority of the time you're using it. This comes from the advice a friend gave me that said, "The primary use of a boat is primary." In other words, if you're mainly sailing as a couple, chances are likely that you don't need a three-cabin, two-head boat. By going with a two-cabin, single head boat, you will reduce your maintenance costs and the complexity of the systems on-board... although, with an extended cruise a two-head boat might be nice, since it gives you a backup head.

[sailortjk1]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

A Benny 473 might be a bit big for just the two of you. Just remember, if you're cruising as a couple, much of the time you're actually sailing single-handed, since the other person will be sleeping, cooking, reading, etc.

My general recommendation is that you get the smallest boat that will work for you, rather than the largest boat you can afford. The running costs go up with boat size, as do the maintenance costs.

.

Especially for that run across the Pacific.
I would concider it a great boat for Costal Cruising and Island Hopping.
Not sure how she would do as a Blue Water Vessel. Some other boats would be better suited foe that purpose.

[johnny333]

thanks sailing dog for info, i just looked at noonsite.com,that is a great site.the reason i need a 47 foot yacht is i have a lot of gear as iam a photographer/film maker so i dont want to be to cramped down below.also having friends coming aboard,for a couple of weeks at a time.johnny

[johnny333]

thanks for your info sailorTJK1,johnny

[sailingdog]

Yes, I can understand the need for the gear and such, but you also don't want to get a boat that you can't handle when the going gets rough. Making a trans-Pacific passage is likely to find you out at odds with a storm, as is living aboard the boat in the Caribbean. Getting a smaller boat will make it a bit more cramped, but may increase your ability to handle the boat in bad conditions by an order of magnitude.

Another possible option, which you may or may not have considered, is going with a 35-40' catamaran. These are often easier to handle short-handed and will give you an incredible amount of space. Many are quite capable of bluewater passages, since many of them are made abroad and come to the United States under sail. You'd probably have to go with an older boat though, since very recent model larger cats are very expensive.

I am a bit curious as to what your previous boat ownership and sailing experience is. Even some of the more experienced here were caught by surprise at the costs of owning a larger boat.

Beth Leonard says that boat costs double with every 10' of length... I think that's a bit low, at least until you get to the truly ridiculously large boats, since boats tend to grow exponentially....with a 40' boat being not 33% larger than a 30" boat, but more like 136% larger, since it grows in length, width and depth.

Originally Posted by johnny333

thanks sailing dog for info, i just looked at noonsite.com,that is a great site.the reason i need a 47 foot yacht is i have a lot of gear as iam a photographer/film maker so i dont want to be to cramped down below.also having friends coming aboard,for a couple of weeks at a time.johnny