Jeanneau VS. Hunter or Bene?

[jzk]

Overall, I would rate the boats Beneteau, Jenneau, Catalina, then Hunter. However, as posted above, each has produced a wide range of models, so any given model could be on a different side of the line. The First Series are significantly better constructed than some other Beneteaus.

[bottleinamessage]

FWIW, I have a 91 Jeanneau SO42.1. Bought it in 98 and worked pretty hard for about 5 years outfitting it for full time cruising. I believe that the Jeanneau's of that era were of better quality and stronger than most of their competitors in the price range. It's one of the reason they went belly up. That said, we love ours. It sails well and reasonably fast even with all the "stuff" we've loaded aboard. Jeanneau America has been very helpful providing us with spec's, blueprints and hardware. Kudo's to them for great support for a boat they didn't sell!

Travels of SV Far Niente

Here's the link to our blog which details some of the changes and additional equipment we've added. Also some info on some of our travels.

[jzk]

Here is a pic of our bene taken last saturday:

[jayncee]

We purchased a new 2003 Jeanneau 43 DS and thought it was our final boat. We really liked her and put a rubrail and new batteries on her last summer never thinking that would buy another boat We never thought we would be interested in a Hunter, but at the boat show were extremely impressed and purchased a 49. We continue to be happily surprised at the thought and construction put into the boat. There are so many things about it that impress us -- we find that the construction and finishing of the lockers and hull areas are done very well as is the execution of the interior and the sail handling, etc.

[Joli]

47.7? No rod?

Originally Posted by jzk

Here is a pic of our bene taken last saturday:

[jzk]

You know what the nice thing about these boats is? For the most part, they really seem to hold their value. I remember a Catalina 42 going for $130 - 140k new. All this time later they are like $110k.

Yes, our beneteau is a 47.7. Are you asking why it doesn't have rod rigging? I think that is standard on the tall rig only. Ours is the regular rig.

[Joli]

I like the 47.7, lovely boats. I thought they all had rod. The rigging made me wonder if it was what it seemed to be.

Originally Posted by jzk

You know what the nice thing about these boats is? For the most part, they really seem to hold their value. I remember a Catalina 42 going for $130 - 140k new. All this time later they are like $110k.

Yes, our beneteau is a 47.7. Are you asking why it doesn't have rod rigging? I think that is standard on the tall rig only. Ours is the regular rig.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by jayncee

but at the boat show were extremely impressed and purchased a 49.

The 49 and the 54 are sweet boats for sure.

[Knucklehead]

I am not sure I will be successful in my sending this message directly to JZK - so I thought I would open this up to this thread - comments??

JZK

What is your draft for your 47.7? I am considering the purchase of a 47.3, 47.7 and a Jeanneau 52.2. The 47.7 seems to be (stats) a strong sailor in most weather.
My intent is to cruise the Caribbean for several years (pending the insurance BS (stipulations)). All three seem to be excellent for my intended purpose.
My real concern is the draft, thinking that less is better for the shallow waters of the Caribbean. 5'6" for the 47.3/52.2 and up to 9' for the 47.7.
The location of the traveler and a single helm are also considerations.

karl

[jzk]

7'7". The boat sails great (points nicely), but I am not sure I would want to cruise the bahamas with it.

[Rhosyn Mor]

As the Owner of a very early Jeanneau ketch (1979) I might make some comments
Pre Beneteau Jenenneaus were IMHO built sturdier than newer ones. below the water line my hull is over an inch thick ( I know cause I put in a new thru hull)
The coring on the deck has stood the test of time well, and I have no deck leaks or soft spots. The fin keel and skeg hung rudder have taken a bashing many times.
She does pound slightly going into weather, but not unacceptably so- she has been in 20 foot seas with not an uncomfortable motion.
THere is no liner so access is very good.
THe aft cabin and forepeak came from the factory lined with carpet on the ceiling........?
as did the original cabin sole- now changed.
Massive water tankage, decent fuel capacity. Built for blue water this is a well thought out, well laid out boat, the woodwork down below is not of the higfhest quality, but its not bad either, and once again has stood up well thru the years. THis is a 30 year old boat that has done 4 Transatlantics, two Transmeds, and has needed not much in the way of a rebuild, other than a repower.
Of course I love my boat but I hope that I have enough realism to see its faults. 30 years after leaving the factory She is still out cruising and making major passages.

[btrayfors]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

So there I set, just spending my hard earned money for a boat that I had dreamed about, and this guy just told me My boat was built by screw-ups.

Nice story, Randy.

However, it must be said that the Catalina 22 was perhaps the most popular small one-design ever. They sold about 18,000 of them, I think, including one I had for over 10 years. It was a great little boat, and I know many of them have bashed about the Chesapeake in bad weather for some time.

So.... maybe boats built by 'screw-ups' aren't necessarily a bad thing!

Bill

BTW, after watching the charter fleets and private vessels sailing the BVI for many years, and hearing all the stories, I'd rank the four builders as: Jeanneau, Catalina, Beneteau, Hunter. Exception: the Bendy Toy First's were better built than most and, as was said, the early Jeanneau's were better. I saw three Hunters dismasted once coming out of Road Town (whaat? no backstays?). Nuff said!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Knucklehead

I am considering the purchase of a 47.3, 47.7 and a Jeanneau 52.2.

Hi Karl,

No matter what the boat is: Jeneau or Beneteau, for long time or distance cruising you will find every inch very important - on LOA.

Have a good look at the 52 and see what extras you get from the 47. If you can squeeze the extra bucks for the bigger boat you will appreciate it

We were looking at the 36 (Bene 361) but were very glad to get a 39. We would love a boat a little bigger too.

The difference between a cruising design and the racing designs become apparent when you see how much time you spend in the cockpit in the Caribbean. A cockpit clear of mainsheets etc and with twin wheels will provide much more space

Mark

[ZARYA]

Originally Posted by johnbenq

The first problem that you have is that all three companies have been building boats for many years and have changed their methods of construction over time. The other problem is that there is variation between models (eg Jeanneau's 29 footer has a completely different hull construction method to the 32i, 36i and 39i).

If, for the purposes of this exercise, you divide a boat into Fittings, Motor, Hull and Deck, this is what I have found out in relation to the latest models.

Fittings

All three manufacturers use brand name fittings for many items such as winches, jammers, masts and so on. Accordingly, these will not be distinguishing factors (except where a particular manufacturer uses fittings that are only just adequate for the relevant boat).

Motors

You will find that all three manufacturers use either Yanmar or Volvo shaft drive or saildrive. There are pro's and con's with each manufacturer and with shaft versus sail drive. There are lots of forum articles that cover this.


Hull

All three use grids which are bonded to the hull (instead of more traditional glassed in wooden stringers or even steel frames which are used in some very expensive boats).

As far as I know, Hunter and Beneteau (Oceanis models) only bond the grid, while Jeanneau yachts with the "3rd generation" hulls bond as well as glass the grid in.

Hunters have solid glass below the waterline with cored topsides. Jeannea and Beneteau (Oceanis) are solid glass all the way.

Deck

The Decks on all three are cored with wood. Jeanneau uses an injection moulding process to produce its decks which may result in more evenly distributed resin which may result in less voids in the glass. A lot of "mays".

Beyond this, it is difficult to get actual facts from any forum (including this one) as to how well built these different model boats are as you will struggle to find hard data.

Most of what you will read will be anecdotal (my mate said) and usually hearsay (my mate knew a guy who said ...). You will also get statements put as though they are fact without any evidence to support them.

You will also see fallacies of extension (eg one Hunter / Beneteau / Jeanneau has problem x therefore all Hunter / Beneteau / Jeanneau's have problem x.

The other problems that you get are patent bias (from people who love their boats and will not hear a bad word about them) or agenda posts (for example where a new boat owner thinks they are not being treated well by their dealer or the manufacturer and want to use a forum to get some action.

The best type of post is one from an actual owner who has had an actual problem. These can be found in the various HunterOwner, BeneteauOwner and Jeanneau Owners websites.

Good luck. You will need it.

In very expensive and cheap one to

[ZARYA]

Originally Posted by harryrezz

You've gotten some great replies! For mid-80's boats I think it can safely be said that the Jeanneaus werer built a tad better than the Hunters and Benes IN GENERAL, but as was pointed out, there are so many models from each builder that one can't really extrapolate build quality from one to another across the whole line. From my admittedly limited personal experience (I chartered a 38' Bene in the BVI about 10 years ago, and have been aboard a couple of older Hunters in the Chesapeake), none of these builders made really rugged boats at that time. The Bene shuddered and shook when we took her out of the channel (they didsn't earn the name "Bendy Toy" because they were so strong!) and the Hunters seemed, well, a bit flimsey to me. That said, they ae fine for what they were intended for - coastal and lake boats which don't encounter heavy weather and wshich are not asked to carry typical cruising loads. Are there exceptions? Sure ... but one also sees cars whizzing down the turnpikes which were eally intended th spend their lives shuttling between the grocer's and the soccer field. Personally I wouldn't touch any of them ... but that's just me, and that's just for my use in my cruising area. The big charter boat fleets are full of Benes and Jeunnaus, and they seem to work for them ... kinda like Hertz buying lots of Tauruses.

I woudn't trade a nenetau for a csy 44?