Performance cruisers: How Beneteau wants to renew the First series

The fact that the global market leader has ambitious plans is clear from the acquisitions announced by the shipyard group this summer alone. Beneteau first acquired a majority stake in Seascape, and then the French company also signed a contract with Delphia Yachts in Poland. Both acquisitions are related: they are intended to help reorganise the once highly successful, but recently severely thinned-out First series.

And this is how it should look in future:

1. The entry-level segment consists of the already familiar Seascape models 14, 18, 24 and 27 - all trailerable and fully planing. They will be renamed First 14, 18, 24 and 27 with immediate effect. An initial presentation took place last week in Newport/Rhode Island, where the partnership with North Sails for the sports segment was also announced. Delphia is being considered as a possible production site for the compact and trailerable Firsts; a decision on this will be made in the coming months as soon as the takeover is finalised.
2. New models are to be developed in the mid-range that will fulfil the requirements of ambitious owners for high performance, while at the same time offering more comfort than the existing Seascape fleet. According to as yet unconfirmed information, the first boat, the design of which is already in full swing, will be around 35 feet - a potential bestseller, as the market offers little variance in this range from large-scale production.
3. A higher-quality range of luxury performance cruisers is also planned. It will be positioned as a kind of sub-brand and introduced as the "First Yacht", analogous to the Oceanis yacht series. This will start with a 53-foot boat that will compete directly with X-Yachts, Grand Soleil and Solaris. Gianguido Girotti wants to offer "the same or better sailing performance, the same comfort, comparable aesthetics, but all at a 30 to 35 per cent lower price". A challenge.

Both new developments - the First 35 and the First Yacht 53 - are set to make their debut in mid/late 2019 and will be joined by further models in quick succession.

As the Figaro 3 will also be officially launched on the market next year and will be actively sailed internationally, Beneteau is making a vertical take-off, so to speak.

After a long phase without any real news or significant sales figures, the industry leader has become one of the dominant forces in the performance cruiser segment with the First series.

As Andraz Mihelin, one of the Seascape founders, said in a YACHT interview about the takeover by Beneteau: "We want to reinvent sailing, especially sporty cruising sailing."