Beneteau 38

[mstrebe]

So there's a buyer in San Diego who has ordered an Oceanis 38 with only performance options, and will be fitting his boat out for racing. It'll be interesting to see what the hull can do when rigged and fit out for speed rather than comfort.

[danstanford]

How about handling in the marina? I have read some criticism of the dual rudder boats and how they suffer from the inability to give her a blast in forward and rotate the boat by sending water over the rudder. Any complaints at the handling? Will they back and fill like single rudder inboards?
Dan

[tuffr2]

Just looked at this boat yesterday. It is on my short list. I looked at a dozen boats and this one stood out. The deck is nicely done and loved the swim platform.

It is kinda opposite the used 35' Island Packet that I also saw which looked like a tank. No swim platform, a keel that would never break off, a real old school boat. My brain is telling me the IP is a much better boat but how would I get into and out of the water.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[ssscruz]

Originally Posted by mstrebe

So there's a buyer in San Diego who has ordered an Oceanis 38 with only performance options, and will be fitting his boat out for racing. It'll be interesting to see what the hull can do when rigged and fit out for speed rather than comfort.

Wow, racing! I would like to see how rigid that hull is under load.

[RKsailsolo]

Originally Posted by danstanford

How about handling in the marina? I have read some criticism of the dual rudder boats and how they suffer from the inability to give her a blast in forward and rotate the boat by sending water over the rudder. Any complaints at the handling? Will they back and fill like single rudder inboards?
Dan

After haunting this forum for months and benefitting from its deep content, I went and bought a Jeanneau 349. It was close but I got the deal I could not refuse. To your point on close quarters maneuvering, during sea trial last Monday after the dealer showed me how, I spun my 349 around in its length while in reverse. The Oceanis is sail drive vs my shaft drive but I think the principle is the same. Get some weigh on and the dual rudders really bite in. It does not take much. The trick is to add some short bursts to get the water moving past the blades and it is surprising.

[Fluer de Mer]

Danstanford, Yes the O38 will back and fill in tight quarters as I've done it many times. Although her prop walk is negligible (slightly to port on my 3 blade flexofold), the twin rudders track like rails and bite in so that when the boat is shifted into reverse she has an extremely/notably tight turning radius at slow speeds. Our slip is located in the middle of a tight fairway in a 100% full marina that also has a busy public dock at one end where many visitors don't seem to know either boating etiquette or law ... and it runs perpendicular to the often strong Bay Area wind and the currents. I entertain a great deal and so in order to use the drop down transom for boarding, I always back into my slip. I've had little problem docking unless the wind is really blowing up against the freeboard of the boat, in which case I do use the bow thrusters once the boat is 1/4 of the way backed into the slip. I've never had bow thrusters before, but they have come in very handy multiple times at the dock and when trying to avoid obstacles and inebriated/bone-headed boaters in tight quarters so I would highly recommend them - they are an essential safety feature IMHO (you will need to use spring lines in some situations if you do not have the thrusters). Hope this helps. FdM

[Fluer de Mer]

FYI, And per my 10/21/15 post above, as a measure of good faith, in addition to repairing the SD20 that came with the boat, the President of Yanmar also sent me a new SD25 because of the issues I experienced both in terms of the failure and the warranty-process-from-hell. I will keep it in storage.

[Fluer de Mer]

Tuffr2 Regarding O38 transom: 1) easy to get on and off boat (most boat injuries happen while stepping on/off), 2) great for swimming and sunbathing (see photo), 3) useful in calm waters at retrieving MOB --- we pulled an inebriated MOB that had fallen out from a motor cruiser with our Lifesling via the platform (see photo of authorities interviewing us post rescue).

[Fluer de Mer]

RK, Congratulations on your purchase! She is a beautiful boat! FdM

[mstrebe]

Originally Posted by Fluer de Mer

FYI, And per my 10/21/15 post above, as a measure of good faith, in addition to repairing the SD20 that came with the boat, the President of Yanmar also sent me a new SD25 because of the issues I experienced both in terms of the failure and the warranty-process-from-hell. I will keep it in storage.

Well. All is forgiven!

[mstrebe]

I have to say, the swim platform is a huge feature for us. Makes it super simple to board the boat when backed into a slip (and looks fantastic), and we swim and paddleboard off of it all the time. So much safer and easer to get into and out of the Dinghy when we're anchored out. If there's too much chop to put the platform down, the flat transom still works very well for safely boarding the dinghy.

With the fold-up helm seats, I can inflate the dinghy and the paddle-boards right in the aft cockpit and push them into the water. So simple. I won't have another boat without one. Way too useful.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by mstrebe

So there's a buyer in San Diego who has ordered an Oceanis 38 with only performance options, and will be fitting his boat out for racing. It'll be interesting to see what the hull can do when rigged and fit out for speed rather than comfort.

When the boat come out in Europe there were many that would like to have a true sports version of the boat, made with infusion processes, cored hull and vinylester to be lighter, with more ballast (more hull reinforcements) and a bigger mast and sail area. Demands were made on that sense to dealers and through them to Beneteau but it turned out that such a boat would be very expensive to produce and Beneteau was not interested since the buyers, regarding the price would not be many.

Not that the boat could not have a good price for what it offered and sell in small numbers but that is just not the Beneteau market that is interesting in big production numbers.

One of my friends was interested at the time on that possible version of the Oceanis 38 and I agree that the hull as the potential for that.

[RKsailsolo]

Originally Posted by mstrebe

Well. All is forgiven!

Yes, congrats to fluer on resolution.

[UPSPEED]

Dear Gents and Ladies,

This is my first post on CF and although I have been quietly following different threads and subjects along these last few years, I have to say that I'm yet to find another thread as informative, constructive and pleasant to follow as this one! Thank you all for your valuable contributions and willingness to assist both current and prospective O38 owners!

After contemplating the purchase of my own first boat for a few years, reading and re-reading all 43 pages about the O38, as well as other threads and forums, I finally got myself to visit an authorized dealer (in southern Holland) and to take a closer look at the vessel. The decision has been about the purchase and the we'll be ordering a new hull from France within the next few weeks.

I see this thread has been inactive for since Nov 2015, but I'd would appreciate any info you could share about a few details:

1. Engine: has anyone opted for the Yanmar 21HP instead of the 29HP? If yes, then what kind of average speeds are you reaching at both cruise and max RPMs? Any difficulty in fighting stronger than normal currents and winds?
2. Other than the need to haul out for oil change any issues with the SD20? Has anyone installed the SD25 and how does it perform?
3. Any significant performance/handling issues with the shallow keel and it's heavier ballast?
4. Any overall major issues (hull or components) which have been addressed by the manufacturer these last 2 years and which have possibly been incorporated/changed for newly built hulls?

Thank you!

Upspeed.

p.s. I've applied to join MSTREBE's Facebook group and I'm looking forward to participating over there as well.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by mstrebe

So there's a buyer in San Diego who has ordered an Oceanis 38 with only performance options, and will be fitting his boat out for racing. It'll be interesting to see what the hull can do when rigged and fit out for speed rather than comfort.

When the boat come to the market there was some expectations that Beneteau would make also a performance cruiser based on the 38. I had a friend very interested and I knew that there was some potential clients.

It turned out that Beneteau was not interested and probably for good reason: the 38 would have become a very expensive boat. My friend worked with a dealer to see about the possibility of having one modified and the price went way ahead of the cost of a Dehler 38, that had already all those "modifications."

The Oceanis 38 to be really interesting as a performance boat would have to have a bigger B/D ratio (better performance upwind and on a beam reach) but that would have implied the reinforcement of all boat structure and as that one is monolithic, probably a new one.Too much hassle to very few of those boats eventually sold (at a considerably superior cost).

A pity since the hull deserved that.