Beneteau Oceanis 440 questions

[Steelshooter]

We just recently have contracted the purchase of a Beneteau Oceanis 440 and are waiting on a weather window for the survey to be completed. We felt that this boat with its two-cabin layout would be a better fit for us than our Catalina 34. As the gray hairs appear more and more we are finding ourselves spending more time sailing and plan on doing much more extensive cruising in the very near future. We anticipate that the survey will go well and are looking forward to closing on this boat.

With that being said my experience has been with Catalinas for the most part and my first sailboat was a Catalina 30. The support network for Catalina is pretty extensive and I've never had a question I couldn't find and answer to in minutes. There isn't a part, wiring diagram or a manual that isn't avalible at the click of a mouse. Unfortunately that same support does not seem to be avalible for Beneteau. For instance I contacted Beneteau directly to see about getting an owners manual and they said they thought they had a scanned version around and would send it to me which they did. But this manual is about as basic as it gets, there is no wiring diagram, rigging sizes/ tensioning,or engine information and it's frankly nearly useless.

I quess my question is where do I find more detailed information and support for Beneteaus?

[robert sailor]

I'm sure if you look around the net you'll find some owners groups...these tend to have quite a bit of info you may be looking for.

[Steelshooter]

Robert,

I have spent weeks looking around the internet for information and have drawn a blank. When I talked to Beneteau directly they didn't seem to have any idea where I could find more information either.

Like I said coming from the Catalina world this is a bit of a culture shock.

[billknny]

Originally Posted by Steelshooter

Robert,

I have spent weeks looking around the internet for information and have drawn a blank. When I talked to Beneteau directly they didn't seem to have any idea where I could find more information either.

Like I said coming from the Catalina world this is a bit of a culture shock.

I was service manager for a charter fleet that had a lot of Catalinas, and a few Beneteaus. My experience was very much as you described. Catalina was endlessly helpful stocking spare parts through Catalina Direct, and helpful with technical assistance from the factory if there was a problem.

With Beneteau (and sister companies Jeanneau, and Lagoon) you buy the boat and here are the keys--thank you very much, goodbye! I think that attitude comes very much from the fact that so much of their business is more or less captive sales in to the charter business where customer support is not a priority.

My current boat is an Amel. They stock spare parts, and even continue to manufacture consumable parts, for boats that are 30 years old. When you buy one, you get ALL the design and build drawings, and about 3 linear feet of shelf space of manuals and information and a written manual that is detailed and complete for all the bespoke systems. Customer service as it should be for such a purchase.

It used to be boats were basically an assembly of standard parts. Builders could set themselves apart by going for low cost, or high end, but everybody used the same suppliers. That is much less true now. Boats have many more custom designed parts. The low cost builders don't concern themselves with the long term maintenance of their products. That is a problem for the second, or the fourth, owners and they aren't considered important to the business plan.

[Steelshooter]

An Amel you are talking about my dream boat. Honestly, if I had the money I wouldn't look any farther.

For years I basically looked at Beneteau, Catalinas, and Hunters as the big three, not that they build the best boats but that they built a lot of boats and sold a ton of them. I mean every marina you go to you see a ton of these mostly because they are affordable (if you can say that in the boating world). Not really based on anything but my own perception I've always put Hunter at the bottom of that list, Catalinas as the middle of the pack and kind of the chevy of sailboats and Beneteau on the top. It seemed as though the Beneteau had a little more polish in the details.

The truth be told the only sailboats I've ever owned have been Catalinas and I've been very happy with them. I've sailed a number of other boats and of course have friends that own and love their Hunters, Beneteau's, C&Cs, etc. What I am really surprised by is I guess I never really understood the great support of not only Catalina but Catalina owners as well.

We are looking forward to sailing the 440 but I'd be lying if I told you that I'm not a bit apprehensive owning one mostly based on the support.

[billknny]

Steel,

I think you'll find that the vast majority of systems on your new (to you) Beneteau will be pretty standard, and generic help will be... well... helpful. Just because they are so common, most mechanics will have experience wityh Beneteaus that will be relevant.

There will be an occasional trim part that you'll have to be creative about sourcing, or improvising that will leave you cussing, but you'll figure it out.

[Fbfisher]

There is a very robust Beneteau 423 owners forum, with some participation of those with other models. I’ve found the staff in Beneteau USA parts Dept also very helpful. I bought my boat used from a non Beneteau broker/dealer, yet both Beneteau USA (ask for Todd) and my local dealer have been great.

Cheers