Design and Construction
The Blue II is built predominantly of glassfibre with wood trim, carrying solid fibreglass hulls and deck rather than a cored laminate. Philippe Briand shaped each hull with plumb stems and reverse transoms that incorporate steps down to swimming platforms, a layout gesture that still reads as practical today. Twin fixed fin keels and twin internally mounted spade-type rudders controlled by a wheel give the boat her twin-hull footprint and a helm station suited to close-quarters handling. At a hull speed of 7.24 knots and a displacement-to-length ratio near 130, she is a light, beamy cruiser rather than a racer, with a capsize screening value of 4.06 and a comfort ratio of 6.95 that place her firmly in the coastal-cruising camp.
Rig and Handling
Up top, the Blue II carries a fractional sloop rig on a keel-stepped mast, with one set of unswept spreaders and aluminium spars tensioned by stainless steel wire standing rigging. The fractional configuration and single spreader pair keep the rig simple and manageable for a short-handed crew, while the twin rudders and wheel steering let the helmsman feel both hulls through a single station. A 699-square-foot sail plan over that 7,275-pound displacement yields a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 29.78, enough to drive the catamaran readily in a breeze without demanding heavy crew work.
Accommodations
Below, the Blue II sleeps four people with a double berth in a cabin in each hull, separating the sleeping quarters so that a two-couple crew has real privacy. The main salon holds a U-shaped settee, and the practical spaces are split by hull: the galley sits aft in the starboard hull as an L-shaped work area equipped with a stove and a sink, while the head is located in the port hull. That division keeps cooking and washing clear of the sleeping cabins and means each hull carries a defined function rather than a compromised shared space.
The Verdict
The Beneteau Blue II is a straightforward 1980s cruising catamaran: Briand gave her clean plumb-stem hulls, reverse-transom swim steps, and a simple fractional rig that a small crew can handle, while the twin-hull layout delivers genuine separated accommodation for four. She is light and beamy rather than offshore-rugged, and the galley-down, head-in-opposite-hull plan is a period solution that suits coastal cruising more than liveaboard density.
Pros
- Twin fixed fin keels and twin wheel-steered spade rudders aid maneuvering and grounding tolerance
- Separate double berths in each hull give true privacy for four
- Simple fractional sloop rig with single unswept spreaders is manageable short-handed
- Reverse transom steps to swimming platforms ease water access
Cons
- L-shaped galley confined to aft starboard hull limits crew flow under way
- Head isolated in port hull means crossing the salon at night
- Solid-glass construction leaves little known about structural refinement
