Beneteau Oceanis Yacht 54: A racer in the hull: Beneteau's new Oceanis Yacht 54

Last autumn, the world market leader quietly turned one into two: while the First Yacht 53 was making its debut in Cannes as the first model in the revived First series, the boatbuilders in Saint Gilles Croix-de-Ville were already working on a fraternal twin sister: the Oceanis Yacht 54, which we are presenting here in detail for the first time.

It is an unusual, but entirely sensible product strategy. After all, modern performance cruisers offer more than enough volume to satisfy the comfort requirements of cruising sailors thanks to their high freeboards and wide sterns. So why not use a hull twice - especially in the high-priced segment of large yachts, where the quantities remain manageable and a laminate mould is good for several years of production?

Beneteau's unorthodox decision means that with the Oceanis 54, owners now have a hydrodynamically highly sophisticated "chassis" - the AMG version of a Mercedes S-Class, so to speak, albeit with a less powerful drive.

When it comes to the rig, the sisters differ significantly. This starts with the fact that the Oceanis comes with a furling mast and self-tacking jib as standard, as well as a bracket above the cockpit that serves as an attachment point for the mainsheet.

Despite some conceptual parallels, the deck has also been redesigned. The superstructure is higher than that of the First Yacht 53, offers four additional sunbeds next to the companionway and in front of the mast as well as a more enclosed aft cockpit with additional storage compartments and seating.

A clearly pronounced bulwark encloses the wide running decks up to the height of the mast base, ensuring safe accessibility. The cockpit is on one level and merges into the deck aft without steps - a kind of walk-around cockpit like Jeanneau's new Sun Odyssey series, only visually more impressive.

Below deck, the layout and layout variants aft and forward remain identical to those of the First 53, but the Oceanis Yacht 54 differs significantly from its sporty sister in the saloon. Instead of a large L-shaped sofa to starboard and a small dinette to port, it has a classic seating area and a dedicated navigation area in front of the main bulkhead (see gallery for views).

There are still no dates and prices for the new addition to Beneteau's cruising yacht programme. We will update them here as soon as they are available. What is certain, however, is that the Oceanis Yacht 54 will be a good 100,000 euros cheaper than the First Yacht 53, which suggests a base price of between 450,000 and 500,000 euros. Considering the design effort that Lorenzo Argento and Roberto Biscontini have put into the development of the First 53, this appears to be a highly attractive offer.

Read the detailed test of the Beneteau Oceanis Yacht 54 from YACHT 23/2020 here!

Downloads:

First Yacht 53 (pdf)