Beneteau First 42 S7 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The hull carries a 35-foot-9-inch waterline inside a 42-foot-6-inch overall length, with a 13-foot-6-inch beam and 18,220 pounds of displacement balanced by 6,283 pounds of lead ballast on the standard keel. The Beneteau First 42 S7 subscribes typically to Beneteau construction ideology with both hull and deck reinforced structurally by interior fiberglass liners, and bulkheads are slotted and glued into grooves molded into the deck liner anchor. A lower rudder bearing is set into the hull bottom, while the other sits in the top of a large fiberglass cone built up from the boat's bottom. The mast is stepped through the deck for extra stiffness and security. Cruising World's tester found the boat well built, and even with its subdued cruising rig she sailed better than many of the cruising boats tried in the 1995 Boat of the Year competition.

Rig and Handling

The cruising version carries 771 square feet of sail area on a fractional sloop rig with a full-battened mainsail on conventional slides and lazy jacks, while the jib runs on a manual-control furler. The aluminum Blue Label mast by Sparcraft features slightly swept-back double spreaders and discontinuous rod rigging; the cruising mast is stiff enough to make runners unnecessary. All halyards, reefing lines, the mainsheet, and traveler run through stoppers to Lewmar 44 self-tailers at the aft end of the cabin, and Beneteau color-coded the control lines. Lewmar 52 self-tailing primaries sit well forward on the cockpit coamings. Testers found the boat easy to handle, and in 10 to 15 knots of wind with a full main and number 1 genoa they coaxed her along at seven knots at 20 to 25 degrees of heel. A racing version, selected by only a few owners since 1994, adds about 85 square feet of mainsail, a spinnaker package, and a lead bulb keel drawing 7 feet 6 inches.

Accommodations

Both interior plans are styled by Philippe Starck and finished with varnished pearwood molded into the curves typical of modern French production interiors. The airy layout features double staterooms fore and aft, each with a dedicated head, giving nice cruising accommodations for two couples. The owner's version places a double stateroom aft with adjoining head and a double forward with its own private head, and its U-shaped galley sits beside the engine compartment. In the three-cabin arrangement, a pair of aft staterooms divide a single head between them, while the bow cabin and a second head lie forward. Ventilation comes from two Dorade boxes, four opening Lewmar hatches, and four large opening portlights per side. The ladder descends at a user-friendly 30-degree angle, and its step edges curve up to 27 degrees to keep a foot from sliding off when heeled. Aluminum handrails run well placed along the interior cabin sides. The galley itself benefits from excellent execution with lots of counter space, a notably large icebox, a propane stove that gimbals to 40 degrees on either tack, and a recess fitted with a stove protection bar for the cook's safety.

Cockpit and Deck

The aft cockpit is compact but very comfortable, with good foot bracing for the crew when the boat heels, and the cockpit lockers are very large. Beneteau's no-snag locker latches lock automatically when closed. On the foredeck, a flush anchor locker encloses a manual anchor winch and gives access to the under-deck roller furler. Stainless cabin-top handrails are low maintenance but unfortunately do not extend forward of the mast. As standard equipment she carried jack-line-attachment pad eyes on the foredeck and side decks aft—one of the few boats sailed in 1995 so fitted—though safety harness pad eyes were not provided in the cockpit.

Known Issues

The opening portlights deploy outboard, so lines and crew feet are apt to catch on them when left open under way. The absence of cockpit safety harness pad eyes is a gap for anyone sailing short-handed in lively conditions. The rudder bearing arrangement concentrates load in a fiberglass cone built up from the hull bottom, a structure worth inspecting for stiffness or weeping.

The Verdict

The First 42 S7 is a thoughtfully executed performance cruiser that punches above its cruising-rig comfort brief. Farr's hull and Starck's interiors produced a boat that is genuinely quick, well built, and livable for two couples, with a deck plan that anticipates offshore work in small but important ways.

Pros