With a displacement of 1,245 kg and a 300 kg iron keel, the First 21.7 is a small, high-performance cruiser. Beneteau describes it as safe and family oriented, but its numbers and layout point to a boat designed more for responsive sailing than cushioned cruising.
Design and Construction
The hull is a monolithic polyester shell, with buoyancy foam sections distributed throughout to render the boat unsinkable. Structural inner mouldings form the cabin structure without a conventional bulkhead. Instead, a circumferential ring stiffens the structure beneath the mast step, chainplates, and keel mounting.
The deck is an injected-moulded balsa sandwich, a method Beneteau used here for greater strength. The cast-iron keel is epoxy coated and pivots within an FRP trunk that projects into the cabin. A winch-handle screw raises and lowers it. Folded flat, the keel lets the boat float in just 0.7 m of water; fully lowered, it draws 1.8 m and provides the stability owners praise when the boat is pressed hard.
Rig and Handling
The rig has a single pair of swept-back spreaders and carries a furling jib. Its sheets lead inboard through cockpit-adjustable cars to a pair of Harken aluminium winches on the cabin top, which also handle the halyards. The four-batten mainsail drops into a lazy-jack boom bag and has two single-line reefing points.
The short boom is mid-sheeted through twin blocks to a ring bolt in the cockpit, with no traveller. For easier trailing, the aluminium mast pivots in an open stainless-steel box on the cabin top.
Twin drop-in FRP rudders hang almost centrally beneath the open transom. They’re linked to a teak tiller with a leather extension through a noticeably Ackermann tie-rod, allowing the blade angles to change through the steering arc. Owners report that the First 21.7 outpoints most J/24s they encounter. However, it’s very sensitive to weight placement and tends to drag its stern off the wind.
Accommodation and Cockpit
A broad companionway leads below. It’s closed by a plywood storm board and a hatch that slides forward on over-centre legs; a plexiglass window admits light.
Inside the small cabin, two vinyl-covered quarter berths double as lounges. Forward, there’s a comfortable vee-berth beneath a round, clear hatch that’s well placed for ventilation. The boat has four berths and an EC rating for six people, although the cockpit is really suited to four.
A pair of aft wet lockers hold portable petrol tanks for the outboard. The engine mounts on a bolt-on stainless-steel transom insert, which accepts motors up to 10 hp and 30 kg.
Known Issues
Without a structural bulkhead, all fore-and-aft loads pass into the circumferential ring and keel trunk. The pivoting keel’s FRP moulding also penetrates the cabin, where water intrusion around the screw or pivot can go unnoticed.
The balsa-sandwich deck is stiff, but any breach can allow moisture into the core. The open transom and bolt-on insert require careful inspection of their bedding. The plywood storm board and plexiglass companionway hatch are practical, but both are prone to ageing from sunlight and flex.
Verdict
The First 21.7 is a clever, trailerable Finot design that fits unsinkable construction and sharp handling into a 21-foot footprint. In return for launch-ramp freedom and racing bite, it gives up some interior solidity and offwind composure.
Pros
- Unsinkable, foam-filled hull and injected-moulded balsa deck
- Lift keel draws 0.7 m when raised and 1.8 m when lowered, helping with trailering and shoal access
- Twin-rudder Ackermann steering and a pivoting mast ease trailing
- Owners report that it outpoints most J/24s
Cons
- No structural bulkhead; the circumferential ring and keel trunk carry all fore-and-aft loads
- Sensitive to weight placement and tends to drag its stern off the wind
- Balsa deck core is vulnerable to moisture from any breach
