Design and Construction
The hull is a solid fiberglass molding with an inner liner, while the deck and house are built as a glass-and-balsa sandwich for stiffness without excess weight. Berret-Racoupeau shaped a canoe-style hull with a performance-looking profile and a long waterline, paired with a dead-vertical spade rudder and a choice of a deep 6-foot-10-inch or shallow 5-foot-9-inch bulb keel. The interior wood is Alpi, a reconstituted mahogany-stained veneer free of natural flaws, set against laminate non-skid flooring and unique bulkhead fabrics. At press time she was the largest Beneteau built at the Marion, South Carolina, plant, and new manufacturing processes employed in her construction helped lower her selling price anchor.
Rig and Handling
Her tall 9/10 rig carries swept-back spreaders and a powerful main on a perfectly integrated arch that places the traveler forward of the companionway, clearing the cockpit of running lines. A 140% overlapping genoa is standard, and the standard furling mast carries a 53-foot I measurement, with a classic optional mast near 60 feet. Sail-control lines lead aft under the deck through Spinlock turning blocks, and the test boat showed a Selden furling mast with a rod-kicker vang. With a long waterline and easily driven, well-balanced hull, she proved responsive to faint puffs and light on the helm anchor.
Accommodations
Below, the layout is built around optimized space ergonomics. The saloon holds long, deep settees and a huge offset port table that drops to form a double berth, with moveable stools amidships. A port-side U-shaped galley steps in with Corian counters, twin centerline sinks, a three-burner stove, and a 3.7-cubic-foot front-opening fridge beside a 2.8-cubic-foot top-loading freezer. The forward owner's cabin has an almost-queen lozenge berth on a pedestal, a desk, and a large en-suite head with a folding-door shower. The aft cabin mirrors the scale with an angling almost-queen and private head access through the shower. Two U.S. versions offer two or three cabins; outside the U.S., four- and five-cabin charter layouts sleep up to ten. Headroom runs 6 feet 7 inches throughout.
Cockpit and Deck
The wide cockpit typifies the roomy new trend, with twin leather-wrapped Goiot wheels, great back-support seating, and a center table with storage and a handrail. A large walk-through gate and wide decks ease movement, while a hinged drawbridge transom folds away for swim access yet seats the crew behind the wheels. Life-raft storage tucks low and out of sight, and robust double lifelines frame the perimeter. A teak-planked transom platform and optional teak sole and deck dress the working areas.
Power and Systems
A Yanmar 110-horsepower diesel turns a three-bladed Max prop through a 62-gallon rotomolded tank, burning about two gallons per hour at 2,200 rpm and 7 knots. The bow fitting carries twin rollers and an asymmetric-spinnaker chainplate, served by a vertical Lewmar windlass with gypsy and warping head. Winch placements include an optional electric Harken 46 to port and manual to starboard, with self-tailing sheet winches aft on the coaming.
The Verdict
The Oceanis 50 is a high-performance cruising design that balances volume, light, and easy handling with a slippery hull and arch-driven sail plan. She suits owners who want a modern, elegant 50-footer with serious accommodation flexibility and a forgiving helm.
Pros
- Easily driven, well-balanced hull with light steering and responsive feel in faint breeze
- Integrated mainsail arch clears cockpit lines and simplifies canvas
- Optimized, flexible cabin layouts from two to five cabins
- Balsa-sandwich deck and solid hull with flaw-free reconstituted veneer
Cons
- Aft cabin head access requires passing through the shower
- Deep or shallow keel choices still fix draft at near 6 or 5.75 feet, limiting shoal exploration
