Beneteau First 345 Buyer's Guide
The Beneteau First 345 is a Jean Berret-designed performance cruiser built from 1984 until 1988, with 460 completed and the large majority finished in France. On the brokerage market it appears both as ex-charter and private examples, and its two factory interior layouts mean a buyer should look carefully at which version is offered. This guide focuses on what to expect and what to inspect.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available. The two configurations from new were a single aft cabin with a larger forward owner’s berth and walk-through head, or two tiny quarter cabins aft with the head forward of the main cabin. The saloon carries dual settees and more than six feet of headroom, and the L-shaped galley forward of the head was equipped with a three-burner propane Electrolux stove and an icebox for refrigeration. A wet head shower drains to a sump forward and expels gray water overboard, and a double overhead sliding hatch serves as a spinnaker launching area. Ex-charter examples are common, so wear patterns in the quarter-cabin or aft-cabin layouts should be expected.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Commonly fitted equipment on the used market includes autopilot, bimini, radar, solar, asymmetric spinnaker, furling main, dodger, swim platform, and chartplotter. Often seen are electric winches and cockpit shower. Less commonly, as owner upgrades or occasional factory fit, are gennaker, spinnaker, and hot water. The boat’s standard Volvo Penta MD2003 diesel and balsa-cored deck are original-design items rather than market upgrades, and the racing-versus-cruising package difference (tiller or wheel, mast height, traveler position) is a factory split rather than a typical refit.
What to Inspect
The decks of the First 345 are balsa-cored, and a surveyor should be retained to check for soft spots and delamination. On virtually all First 345s the adhesive holding the vinyl headliner fails and the liner falls down. The 345’s iron keel seems to require ongoing maintenance, and many production boats in the mid-1980s had issues with hull blisters, with Beneteau models of this era no exception. Some owners report that plywood was used for core in high-stress areas such as under winches, which warrants targeted deck testing.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The First 345 typically appears on the used market in the United States, Türkiye, France, Greece, Netherlands, and United Kingdom. For a buyer, the short checklist is: confirm which interior layout is present, verify deck-core condition with a surveyor, budget for iron-keel maintenance, expect headliner failure, and check for hull blistering. With those addressed, the 345 remains a certified-offshore, genuinely quick Berret design.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Beneteau First 345. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 6 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 8 | $ 43,460 | — |
| Feb 26 | 1 | $ 33,763 | -22.3% |
| Apr 26 | 4 | $ 21,245 | -37.1% |
| May 26 | 1 | $ 19,457 | -8.4% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 52,075 | +167.6% |
| Jul 26 | 2 | $ 34,481 | -33.8% |
Where they're listed
Beneteau First 345 listings appear across 7 countries. France has the most listings with 3 (18.8%), followed by Turkey and United States.
Country view
16 listings · 7 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | $ 33,763 | 3 | 2 | 18.8% |
| Turkey | $ 47,172 | 3 | 0 | 18.8% |
| United States | $ 44,000 | 3 | 0 | 18.8% |
| United Kingdom | $ 16,167 | 2 | 0 | 12.5% |
| Greece | $ 20,029 | 2 | 0 | 12.5% |
| Netherlands | $ 36,624 | 2 | 1 | 12.5% |
| Sweden | $ 38,266 | 1 | 0 | 6.3% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
11 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance Sun Odyssey 45 | 45.01' | $ 165,923 | 95 | 36 |
| Hanse 345 | 34.12' | $ 134,726 | 40 | 16 |
| Beneteau First 405 | 40.67' | $ 59,000 | 33 | 10 |
| Beneteau First 375 | 37.08' | $ 43,160 | 26 | 8 |
| Elan 45 | 44.03' | $ 88,111 | 24 | 3 |
| Beneteau First 325 | 32.48' | $ 27,434 | 21 | 8 |
| First First 42 | 42.92' | $ 49,500 | 21 | 9 |
| Beneteau First 305 | 30.5' | $ 22,908 | 19 | 4 |
| Beneteau First 345You are here | — | $ 38,268 | 17 | 4 |
| Tartan 3400/345 | 34.42' | $ 179,900 | 16 | 5 |
| Frers 45 | 45' | $ 57,646 | 6 | 0 |