ANYONE FOR T?
Beneteau’s new First 34.7 opts for a T shaped keel. Andi Robertson finds it to be a cruiser with racing in its blood, which may spark a new One Design class. FOLLOWING in the successful wake of the First 36.7, 40.7, 44.7 and 47.7, the new Beneteau 34.7 is a different animal. It is the first time that the combined efforts of Farr Yacht Design and Beneteau have collaborated on a boat which addresses performance under IRC as its primary target. Previously it was an IMS/IRC mix and while all of them performed well under IMS initially, they all subsequently did well under IRC too. But this boat is a step up in terms of IRC dedication while remaining very much a straight down the line cruiser/racer, just as the rule favours. It is a commercial success already. Launched in Paris last year, the first test sails only started in the early spring, but Beneteau have already sold 70 boats. Some of these sales from the plan are accounted for by the strong worldwide Beneteau dealer network, but Italy, France, Spain and the UK have all pre-orders of six or seven boats apiece, mostly from boat shows. The 36.7 and 40.7 are still strong performers. The 40.7 in particular has a great reputation as a benchmark cruiser/racer at the 40ft mark. Popular with charter companies who offer race charters, there are even OD classes springing up. Appealing to a theoretically bigger market, it is reasonable to assume that the 34.7 will go on to be a best seller. The 34.7 has a narrower waterline beam than its bigger sisters, proportionately, a slightly finer entry and stretched lines, minimising wetted surface. IRC does not actually measure stability, unlike IMS, so Farr and Beneteau made a concerted effort to lower the centre of gravity, keep the build weight as low as possible and therefore get as much weight into the keel bulb as possible. The carbon rig option will be chosen by the more competitive racers. The T-shaped keel is something of a departure for a production cruiser racer like this, with a relatively long torpedo bulb and quite slender foils. The build method was the subject of a long period of research and development by both Farr and Beneteau. The objectives are an efficient and quick production, reducing weight where possible by carefully controlling the resin content, and producing boats which are near identical in weight as possible. There is no direct strategy to have the 34.7 as a specific One Design class, but there is a definite feeling that this will grow organically as fleets build up. The hulls and decks are close moulded. The deck is injection moulded with a resin infusion technique which was developed for the Beneteau Figaro II. This makes the deck and liner in one piece as opposed to moulding a deck and liner and then bonding them together. And the hull is manufactured using a relatively advanced vacuum bagged resin infusion process which utilises a semi-rigid internal mould. Below the waterline it is a solid resin/fibre laminate and above the waterline it is balsa cored. All of the internal structural frames, the lateral and longitudinal stringers, are moulded in the one hit. This requires a accurate measuring, cutting and placement of the stringers, since every void will be filled with resin, extra weight, but Beneteau say this has been accomplished. The net result is that hull and structure should be one solid laminate. That there are significant improvements in the emissions is not just a bonus but keeps the builders ahead of increasingly tough environmental laws. The collaboration between Beneteau and Farr has been ongoing and close. Farr president Russ Bowler is a world renowned engineer when it comes to fibre reinforced plastics and he and the Farr team worked hard with the builders to perfect this new technique which should ensure that the integrity of the design is maintained right through to finished product, something which is often not evident with a boat destined for high volume production. Too often the designer provided the basic hull/deck shape and dimensions, and put their name to it, leaving the house engineers to look after the detailing. The end result is a boat which comes in over-weight and performing nowhere close to the expected marks. Below decks the balance is quite clearly towards performance, but this does not mean Spartan. It means the laminates are light, the joinery is specially optimised to reduce weight. Two features set the boat apart. The port side double aft cabin is open to the saloon. This was a design feature which was market tested, with the customer asking for one enclosed double aft for the owner and his or her partner. The other feature is the underdeck knees which prominently support the shrouds. The advantage is obvious in bringing the shroud base in and keeping the sheeting angle narrow. These are moulded in one piece and foam cored, which effectively makes them lighter and stiffer than the conventional solid tie-bars. The boat looks true to the First genes, but on closer inspection offers different lines and dimensions. The forefoot and entry are more slender and the aft section slightly more turned with longer effective waterplane when heeled, but with a much reduced wetted surface. The boat is reputedly dynamite in under nine knots of breeze. The deck layout is kept as simple, but workable, as possible with no obvious compromises. Farr chose to keep the rig base as narrow as they could. They use decent sized overlapping headsails, preferring the punch and acceleration which they perhaps felt was important in this type of boat with relatively slender foils. The carbon rig is by Hall Spars with twin spreaders swept aft to 20° and a simple cascade multi-purchase backstay arrangement. The carbon rig adds nearly £9,500 to the price, but most will see the advantage over the alloy Sparcraft mast as well worth the extra. The cockpit is a good size with a definite performance layout. The coamings are low but supportive enough and run only three quarters of the way back, leaving the helm and mainsheet person plenty of scope to sit outboard. The big wheel splits the cockpit and leaves the helm enough room. In the sole of this little enclosure there is a big trap door to access the liferaft stowage which is exemplary. It is an interesting and exciting blend, the 34.7. It is certainly a boat which is designed for the accomplished cruiser-racer owner moving up to a slightly more demanding allrounder. This boat is in the moderate displacement IRC frame, but it does reward good helming and sail trimming and will win races with the right crew, however anyone looking for a handicap bandit to simply sit on and let it do your bidding should look elsewhere. We sailed the 34.7 twice. In 7-11 knots in La Trinite, France with the works prepared race boat, and then again in Valencia, Spain and the conclusion was the same. Here is an excellent performance cruiser which will tax and reward in equal measure. With an IRC of 1.018, the 34.7 has proved competitive, regularly putting in podium positions and top fives on the south coast and in France. It will be interesting to see how the 34.7 of Nick Spurr does at the Scottish Series. There are two cockpit sole depth lockers either side and the gas locker is aft and to starboard. The cockpit sole and seats are teak finished. It is all pretty standard to a proven set up. All the deck hardware is by Harken – 40.2s on the genoas and 32.2s on the halyards/spinnakers. Similarly the main and genoa tracks are Harken as is the foil. Halyards are all Dyneema as standard. Farr and Beneteau chose to go all asymmetric on the 34.7. There is still a slight IRC gain, but mostly it is the user friendliness and advances in A-sail design which prompted this, and the boat is almost certainly the better for it. Sailing upwind the boat is close winded, using a single line inhauler on the jib sheet to close down the sheeting angle. It accelerates well and feathers well in the puffs. What it does like and needs is to be steered through the gusts and lulls with a little anticipation. That is to say it is not enough to simply let the keel area work for you, it does need to be kept driving most of the time. It has a definite groove and when that is achieved it is a rewarding and quick boat to sail for its size. Height is built through speed and making the foils work efficiently and it is a boat which requires a degree of cohesion between the mainsheet trimmer and the helm. Optimum tacking is also worth practising to keep the foils powered up as long as possible, especially when the breezes are lighter, and at busy mark roundings. Certainly the rudder is deep and high aspect so there is plenty of control and feel. Downwind it seemed to have a good balance with no obvious weakness and tracked really happily in the mid 7 knots with apparent going right down to 152 or 153° before it became a little stalled and twitchy when the pressure dropped away. For those not used to the downwind angles and A-sails, it would be well worth Beneteau or more especially the main sailmakers just producing a few words to support the VPP targets, or to give some initial support. Stepping from a boat with conventional symmetrical kites can start with some obvious punishment. Down below there is an appealing interior. Up forwards is the large heads which has a full 1.75m of headroom. There is a shower with tray, heads and a good sized wet hanging locker to starboard. Forward of the bulkhead there is an open locker for occasional sail stowage. In the main saloon there are two settee berths (1.93mx0.5m) and a good sized central table which has bottle stowage as well as useful open shelves. The galley to port is a good size with plenty of stowage. Standard is a twin burner stove with grill, but there is clearance to have a full cooker with oven. There is also a decent sized 70 litre icebox. Opposite is the nav station which has ample stowage in all available spaces as well as good shelving on the outside of the table plinth as well as under it. The nav table top is split to allow a laptop to sit in rather than on it, with the top wrapping around it. Also at the outer edge it is open for a few cms just to allow access to the small fiddly things that inevitably end up in there. To port, the double berth is open to the main cabin which keep this part of the interior a little more spacious. Opposite the owners cabin is a good size with a hanging locker and there is plenty of natural light. In conclusion the 34.7 is a worthy addition to the First range which, at its size and price, almost guarantees to build success upon success. It is not a hard boat to sail by any stretch of the imagination, but it does set a standard for reward and it will be well suited to the owner who is moving up from the stock production cruiser to a boat which races with distinction, but which will still happily go cruising. Beneteau First 34.7, Price: £96,085 delivered Clyde, incl VAT, ex sails.