Beneteau First 44 Performance Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

The First 44 was imagined with two deck layouts from the factory. The cruising version is optimized for shorthanded sailing with two pairs of winches either side and a 1m bowsprit with integrated anchor stowage; the performance version carries three pairs of winches around the cockpit plus two extra in the pit for cross winching and a longer 1.5m carbon sprit. Below decks, all examples share a three-cabin, two-head plan derived from the First 53, with a six-seater salon table opposite the couch and nav station and a 1.9m starboard settee. The forward cabin uses a peninsula double bed but lacks stowage. Keel choice splits between a standard 2.15m draught and a deeper 2.6m iron-fin-with-lead-bulb keel; the deeper keel is fitted on performance-flavored boats.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

Factory equipment includes a 57hp Yanmar with saildrive to a three-bladed folding prop, Seanapps connectivity, and an optional carbon two-spreader mast with discontinuous rod rigging and textile backstay with Harken hydraulics. The optional carbon mast is 1.8m taller than the standard aluminium rig and adds 11m² to upwind sail area. Twin 80-gallon water ballast tanks are a notable fitted option, equivalent to 350kg of rail meat or four people per side, filled and emptied individually from the helm stations in three to four minutes. The performance version's weight-saving specification — smaller tanks, no windlass, lithium service batteries — is a factory configuration rather than a typical owner upgrade.

What to Inspect

Documented accommodations note is the forward cabin's lack of stowage despite its peninsula berth, a design trait rather than a defect. The water ballast system should be cycled from the helm stations to confirm the electric pumps fill and empty each 80-gallon tank in the stated three to four minutes and that no leakage traces the hull sides. Confirm which keel is fitted — standard 2.15m or deep 2.6m with iron fin and lead torpedo bulb — and whether the rig is the aluminium standard or the optional carbon mast, as these define the boat's true performance envelope.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

Typical markets for the First 44 are not separately characterized in the available brief. For the shopper, the practical checklist is short: verify cruising versus performance deck layout, confirm keel draught and rig material, exercise the water ballast pumps, and inspect the forward cabin for the known absent stowage. A clean example with the deeper keel and optional carbon rig represents the boat's full race-oriented factory configuration, while the cruising layout serves the shorthanded voyager with its integrated bowsprit and twin winch pairs.