beneteau first 30 half-tonner (1980) info?

[sailor_ben]

hello,

i have recently started crewing on a Beneteau First 30 half-tonner built 1980 (or about that time).

the owner has been rebuilding the boat (interiors etc) and we''ll start racing it soon on club races etc.

have checked the beneteau web site but the model is not even listed (too old probably).

we would be gratefull to hear from anyone that has experience with this boat, opinions etc about its behaviour, rigging guides etc. Is it a good boat after all? what reputation did it have in its days?

Moreover, if any of you has pollar diagrams, tunning guides, manuals, plans or whatever else documentation please let me know. i am willing to discuss paying for any such documents + your time for scanning etc.

thank you for your help

regards,

ben

[jimdew]

Are you sure it isnt a DS30 1/2 tonner? Open transom.
Berret designed I think, only 2 made.
I sailed one briefly in UK called Electric Air.

Really fast boat, but quite fragile I think. Certainly was about 1980.

[sailingfool]

If its a 80 maybe a First 30E, that was its first year. Does it look like this Beneteau First 30E For Sale yacht boat for sale If so, I owned and raced one back when. Generally a nice sailing boat, well made, raced competitively in moderate to high wind. Probably a great boat for the North Sea, but something of a dog in light air as the rig is too short, and a double dog under spinnaker, where the small foretriangle and short mast result in an utterly too small a spinnaker. We had many a race where a horizon job on the windward leg ended with the other 30's with larger spinnakers re-appearing from astern and passing us. UGHHHH!
If you have generally 8-10 knots or more wind, good luck, if you have a light air venue, get on a different boat.

[sailingdog]

If he doesn't know about the boat in the three years he's had to research it, he probably doesn't much care.

Originally Posted by jimdew

Are you sure it isnt a DS30 1/2 tonner? Open transom.
Berret designed I think, only 2 made.
I sailed one briefly in UK called Electric Air.

Really fast boat, but quite fragile I think. Certainly was about 1980.