Designed by the Italian duo Argento and Biscontini, Bénéteau’s new fourteen-metre is quick and fun to sail, even in light Mediterranean winds. It is available in both racing and pure cruising versions
by Barche – photo by Gilles Martin-Raget and Nicolas Claris
Without much wind, you get plenty of speed and a lot of control. And voilà, you have a Mediterranean fast cruiser. It’s a proven formula, as shown three years ago with the First 53. Again, working with the Argento-Biscontini Italian design duo, Bénéteau has now extended the sportiest of its ranges with a fourteen-metre that is the perfect sailing craft to have fun, even when you are in cruise mode. It is not just a boat/house, which is what the market demands, but also a genuine boat/boat, something that the First name guarantees.
I quickly realised that the First 44 was true to the faith just off Port Ginesta, a few miles from Barcelona, on a day with a typical summer breeze: 8 to 10 knots, a few gusts of up to 12, and long waves. It reacts well, and you can sail it with just a finger. And it’s fun, and quick too. To be honest, in the kind of conditions we had, I would normally have turned on the engine and automatic pilot. But in this case, with the Code 0 on the bowsprit, I stayed above eight knots. Against the wind (very much so, with 33 degrees apparent wind) I was doing 7.3 knots.
The interior layout is traditional and extremely functional. The master cabin is in the bow, and there are two matching double rooms in the stern. There are two bathrooms, and an L-shaped galley below the companionway.
Even when true wind speed went down to 7 or 7.5 knots, we did at 6 knots with the Code 0. It is always a nice way to sail. This is not so much because of an especially low displacement (to get an idea, it weighs 1,000 kilos more than the old 44.7 from 2004), or of an exaggerated sail plan (the same number of square metres as the Studio Farr-designed 44.7 when close hauled), so much as the waterlines. The lines are distinctly open high up in the stern section, and the chine, which is very soft, doesn’t stretch too far aft.
It is a design that means that when the boat heels, which happens fairly quickly, the area in contact with the water is cut right down, and only a minimal part of the windward rudder is submerged. In addition, both the stern post and the stem are vertical, thus increasing the waterline length and critical speed. In other words, they have managed to keep high average speeds by fully exploiting the size of the hull, even when there isn’t a lot of wind. And what happens when it increases? To increase the counterbalance, besides obviously working on the shape and size of the sails, you can also load, in around three minutes, 350 kg of ballast in the sides (this is not fitted as standard); that is the equivalent of having five people on the gunwale. This is done by activating an electric pump, that can be controlled from the helm. The two water tanks, when full, stabilise the boat when at anchor.
There are two base versions, the Cruising and the Performance. The latter has more sail area, greater draught, ballast tanks, carbon rig and a series of things that have been optimised for racing.
Essentially the design has been created for limited wind conditions, but it is ready to cope with anything. Something else that I liked about the First 44 is that there is a good choice of set-ups for the deck layout. There are the Cruising and Performance models, and a third hybrid solution – the one we tried out – which I felt was the most interesting one. The interiors and waterlines stay the same, but the First 44Cruising is clearly the version which is most comfortable and “calm”: the mast is in aluminium, it has a teak deck, there is a table in the cockpit, no mainsail traveller and just four winches within reach of the helm. All of the riggings also ends up there including the halyards, having run under the edge of the deckhouse.
THE FIRST 44 IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE “E” VERSION WITH A TORQEEDO 12.0 ELECTRIC CRUISE POD AND A 48-5000 BATTERY.
With the Performance model, there is a carbon fibre mast and greater sail area, with half a metre longer bowsprit, the floor surface is foam rather than wood (which is 500 kg lighter), the keel is longer and 300 kg lighter, there are ballast tanks, there is no table in the cockpit, but there is a mainsail traveller, an additional two winches and lots of ways to fine-tune the running rigging. The hybrid version is essentially the Cruising, but this does have the larger carbon fibre mast which helps, and considerably so, in reaching the speeds that I mentioned earlier when there isn’t so much wind.
IT IS A QUICK BOAT AND IS FUN TO HELM. YOU JUST NEED A FEW KNOTS OF WIND TO REALLY EXPERIENCE THE PLEASURE OF SAILING.
The interiors of the First 44 are in line with the rest of the design. There is no lack of room, but they haven’t gone over the top. Everything is extremely functional, there is nothing showy or inventive. It is a boat that has been designed starting from the waterlines, and not from the areas below decks: as I said earlier, it really is a proper modern boat/boat. Overall, I liked it a lot. It reflects a very “eco-logical” way to sail: using the engine as little as possible, being comfortable, going fast and enjoying the pleasure of sailing.
BÉNÉTEAU
2 rue du Grand Large
F-85805 Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie Cedex
www.beneteau.com
PROJECT
Roberto Biscontini (naval architecture) • Lorenzo Argento (interior and exterior design)
HULL
LOA 14.15m (14.65 Performance version) • Length 13.17m • LWL 12.82m • Maximum beam 4.25m • Draft 2.15 m, (2.60 Performance version) • Ballast 3,300 kg (3,000 kg Performance version) • Light mass displacement 10,660 kg • Fuel tank volume 200 l • Water tank volume 370 l • Main sail surface 53m2 (61 m2 with the carbon mast) • Genoa sailing surface 53 m2 (60 m2 with the carbon mast)
MAIN PROPULSION
Sail Drive Yanmar 57 hp/42 kW at 3000/min • Swept volume 2.19 l • Dry weight 220 kg
EC CERTIFICATION
A 12 – B 12 – C 14
PRICE
Starting from 343,200€, Excl. VAT
(Bénéteau First 44 – Quick, as they always are – Barchemagazine.com – May 2023)
