Beneteau Evasion 36 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Bénéteau organised the Evasion 36 around a full, shallow-bodied hull fitted with a shallow-draught wing keel, a combination that keeps her comfortably shoal-minded for a 36-footer of her length. The hull itself was built solid, while the deck is a sandwich with a balsa wood core — a material that must never be allowed to get damp, because once water reaches it the core rots away very quickly. Every example left the yard with that wing keel and a furling mainsail as standard. At 5,500 kg displacement with 2.1 tonnes of iron ballast (about 38 percent of her weight), she sits firmly for a cruiser of this type, and the 9.7-metre waterline supports a theoretical hull speed of 7.6 knots.

Rig and Handling

Her rig is a masthead sloop with two spreaders and a roller-furling main as standard, described in period testing as a manageable setup with little rig trim required. Sail shape is handled through a traveller, a foot stretcher, and genoa rails, and the test boat carried large winches. On the water, in 16 knots of wind she could manage a turning angle of just under 95 degrees on smooth water without current, and drove along at 5.9 knots — respectable close-windedness for a shallow-keeled cruiser. One noted refit improvement on a surveyed boat moved the mainsheet from the cabin superstructure down to the cockpit, tidying the helm workflow. The steering, however, drew a criticism: the wheel is stiff.

Accommodations

The wheelhouse layout places the galley, dinette, and steering and navigation station together under the trunk cabin, with a double cabin in each end. The inside steering position lets the helmsman leave the cockpit and steer from the saloon, where a small navigation table forms part of that interior driving station; the indoor wheel is linked to the quadrant by a hydraulic system. The galley sits to starboard, the large cosy settee to port with two moveable stools, and almost all the windows open — a real virtue for ventilation and light, though leaks are possible at the many superstructure windows. A standout feature is the wet room, reached from both the saloon and the forward cabin, though its doors are narrow at 1.60 metres high by 40 centimetres wide and the standing height there is 1.72 metres. The forward berth is a generous 2.04 metres long and 1.70 metres wide at the shoulder, narrowing to 71 centimetres at the foot, but a structural arch crosses the bunk at knee height, only 33 centimetres tall, and ventilation comes only from a deck hatch. The aft berth mirrors the forward dimensions without narrowing, its lowest height a usable 48 centimetres, though again vented only by small hatches. Saloon standing height is 1.90 metres — not generous by modern measure — and the port settee, at 1.80 metres, is rather short as a sea berth.

Known Issues

The most serious structural concern is below the waterline: the keel fasteners employed corroding washers, and the bolts themselves were driven into the keel, which makes replacement almost impossible. Above deck, the many windows in the superstructure are a potential leak path, and the steering is reported stiff. The wet-room door is too narrow for comfortable use, and the boat as surveyed drew a note on one-handed suitability — the indoor/outdoor steering handoffs and rig controls not ideal for singlehandler work.

Refits and Ownership

Beyond the mainsheet relocation already noted, the indoor hydraulic steering system is something later owners have had to contend with, since it needs to be moved or serviced even though it duplicates the cockpit steerage. The large factory tankage — 459 litres of fresh water and 170 litres of diesel — gives long-range cruising autonomy, and the passage to the bathing platform, lots of storage space, and view from the deck saloon are enduring pluses. With about 50 built, she remains a low-production take on the wheelhouse cruiser.

The Verdict

The Evasion 36 is a distinctive, shoal-draught wheelhouse cruiser that blends Océanis breeding with an enclosed pilothouse layout rare in her size. Her accommodations are genuinely innovative for the era, but the keel-bolt detail and window-leak tendency demand a careful survey.

Pros