FIRST TEST - BENETEAU OCEANIS 37.1

Can a smaller boat pack in more space and more performance than her predecessor? Theo Stocker went to sail Beneteau's latest cruiser

- Theo Stocker

SPECIFICATIONS

MAKE/MODEL Beneteau Oceanis 37.1

PRICE FROM £164,223 ex VAT

DESIGNER Marc Lombard

BUILDER Beneteau

The Beneteau Oceanis brand is one of the best-known and recognisable in cruising yachts today. Sixty different models or variations have been built over a span of nearly 40 years, ranging from 28ft to 62ft, and in large numbers, making Oceanis almost ubiquitous in virtually every harbour and marina. The Oceanis 38.1, the predecessor of the Oceanis in question today, reached 800 hulls built in just under a decade of production of this one model. That's some serious output. Some of this is driven by demand from the charter market, with its insatiable appetite for boats that are modern, spacious, easy to sail and affordable, but those characteristics also make the boat appealing to private owners.

Most sailors don't, it transpires, aspire to round Cape Horn or to reach the Arctic in a hurricane, preferring pleasant harbours, swimming off the boat, and cruising when the forecast suits. While Marc Lombard and Beneteau know how to make a boat that appeals to this majority of cruising sailors, to suggest that Oceanis yachts are only good for fairweather sailing would be doing them a serious disservice. There is a reason no fewer than nine Beneteau Oceanis boats were entered for the 2024 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. When Yachting Monthly tested the Oceanis 38.1 in 2014, we concluded that Beneteau had built a sound and surprisingly pleasant boat to sail, with just a couple of oversights in her deck layout. I was keen to see what 10 years of refinement has done.