Beneteau Oceanis 38 Review

A few weeks ago we were sailing off Long Beach, California and noticed a new Beneteau Oceanis 38 sailing along on a similar course to ours. It was the first time I had seen one under sail and I must say it moved along nicely on a close reach in about ten knots of wind. We bore off onto a parallel course and sailed for a quarter mile or so with them. The boat looked good and moved well under what appeared to be a 105% jib and roller furling mainsail. I regretted that I didnt have my camera at the time.

In studying the hull, the first thing I noticed is that its quite beamy and slab sided with hard chines running nearly the length of the hull. The sheer is straight and it appears that the waterlines below the chines are finer than the plan view of the boat would suggest.

With its straight sheer,  vertical transom and stem, the Oceanis 38 looks husky and seaworthy. Unless otherwise noted, all photos courtesy of Beneteau.

The hull was designed by the firm of Finot/Conq which has vast experience with this basic hullform, including the Pogo 12.50 and other very successful offshore racers with very wide beam and hard chines.

Pogo 12.50, also designed by Finot Conq.Notice that the boat is heeled about 15 degrees and the starboard rudder is almost completely out of the water. Photo courtesy of Finot-Conq.  

The stern of the Oceanis 38, a more conservative approach to hard chines than the Pogo.

The Oceanis 38 is offered with shoal, deep and lifting keels. Upwind performance will suffer with the shoal version. Both of the fixed keels are cast iron with a molded-in bulb. This is another boat with a very large fold-down transom panel. I like the looks of the Pogo a bit more, but given the intended purpose of the 38, its probably better to have the "Tailgate".

This view shows the slippery proportions of the hull below the waterline along with those of the shoal keel. The rudders look bigger than shown in the drawing. I like the way the boot stripe is terminated about four feet forward of the transom.  Photo courtesy of Yachtworld.com

The deck design of the Oceanis 38 incorporates some interesting innovations. The cabin trunk is fairly low and sleek, with hard edges and squared off windows that complement the squarish proportions of the hull. The arch at the aft end of the cabin trunk provides a base for the mainsheet and support for a dodger and bimini. With this arrangement there is no need for a mainsheet traveler and the sheet is led to a cabintop winch.

The Oceanis looks husky under sail. I think it will show good speed reaching and running, but suffer a bit going hard on the wind.

With over 13 feet of beam there is lots of room on deck and the cockpit is huge.

The cockpit is a study in straight lines and hard edges. Notice the cockpit table. Its massive and incorporates large drop-leaves and plenty of storage capacity. Instrument displays and engine controls are located at the helms. Having the mainsheet blocks located up on the arch opens up the cockpit for lounging and entertaining. It could also be considered a safety feature since there is no chance that a guest would get fouled in the mainsheet or hit by the boom. Jib sheeting angles are wide, but thats probably alright on this boat because its proportions are designed more for comfortable cruising than sailing hard on the wind.

The mast is deck stepped and, with the chainplates out at the sheer, it will accommodate jibs of up to about 105%. The standard mainsail is set up with a stackpack arrangement, with in-mast furling optional. Notice that the backstay is split with an adjuster on the port side. The stemhead fitting is designed with the anchor roller about 18 inches forward of the stem of the boat,  which probably isnt far enough to prevent the anchor from bouncing off the hull occasionally.

Beneteau offers three main interior options, Daysailer, Weekender and Cruiser. The daysailer includes a V-berth, galley sink and refrigerator but no stove, a head, chart table, a large quarter berth platform without a mattress and plenty of storage space. There are no bulkheads between the companionway and the forward end of the v-berth, so the boat is pretty wide open. Im not sure who this configuration would appeal to, but it does offer the possibility of starting out with a bare bones interior and adding more later.

The Weekender comes in two or three cabin arrangements. The galley is the same as the Daysailer, but I believe you can order the stove with this version. The major difference is the inclusion of the quarterberth. Again, this is a wide open layout.

Weekender version is wide open from  the companionway to the bow.

Two-cabin Cruiser version incorporates a bulkhead between the salon and V-berth as well as a full galley

The cruiser version also comes with a single aft cabin or twins. Im not sure who would buy the fairly sedate Daysailer version of this boat. At 38 feet, I would want my boat to be capable of spending at least a week at the island, and I dont see why you couldnt day sail the Cruiser just as easily as the Daysailer. It would be interesting to know which version of this boat is the best seller.

In the Oceanis 38 Cruiser version a bulkhead divides the forward cabin from the salon. 

The Oceanis 38 offers an interesting contrast to the Varianta 37. In this boat Beneteau seems to be trying to appeal to a variety of customer types, ranging from bare bones to full cruise by the use of multiple furnishing and outfitting options. The Varianta went for a basic but fully outfitted boat with much more limited options. As the number of choices for boats in this size range increases, each brand must find ways to differentiate itself from the competition. It will be interesting to see how the Oceanis fares in this competitive market segment.

Morris 29 Review

As you may know, Morris Yachts was recently acquired by the Hinckley Company. When I learned of the sale I thought it was another example of smaller boatbuilders in the US being swallowed up by the bigger ones. In  my opinion this is a necessary evolution, a sign of the changing economic times. It takes deep pockets to survive in this business, and this is true not just because boatbuilding is becoming more and more technology driven. These days environmental regulations demand expensive equipment and methods, the cost of industrial space continues to rise, qualified labor is both scarcer and more expensive, insurance costs are going up every year, and the list of challenges for boatbuilders continues on. So I was not surprised to see that Morris was taken over by a bigger and financially stronger company. In fact, you may recall that Hinckley itself was acquired a few years ago by Scout Partners, LLC an investment firm based in New York. It could be argued that absentee ownership of these companies does not bode well for the creativity and innovative drive of these companies, but I dont think that is necessarily so. It takes money to innovate, experiment and develop new products, and I think enlightened ownership that is dedicated to preserving and supporting companies like Hinckley and Morris can help them maintain the levels of excellence they have been known for. At least thats my hope. 

I thought it would be fun to take a critical look at one of Morriss current products, the M29. This boat was designed by Sparkman & Stephens in 2008 and is the smallest of Morriss M line, which includes 36, 42 and 52 foot models. I have to say Im partial to this baby sister of the bunch because in  my opinion, it comes closest to delivering the pure, undistilled essence of sailing pleasure.    

Morris 29
Could anything be sweeter than sailing this little gem on a Sunday afternoon?

Here are some numbers:

LOA:         29-2"
LWL:         20-10"
BMAX:      7-4"
Draft:         4-6" or 3-8"
Disp:          4,735 lb
Ballast:      1.958 lb
Sail area:    395 sf
D/L:           214
SA/D:        23.6

In studying the hull of the M29, notice that the waterline length is about 70% of the overall length. Those long overhangs in the bow and stern, combined with the narrow beam will give this boat a very easy motion in a seaway, but more importantly in a boat of this type, give it lovely proportions. It will not sail nearly as fast as a modern 29 footer with a plumb bow and wide transom, but it will sail more beautifully. And while speed is important, so is beauty.

M29 reaching under mainsail and asymmetrical spinnaker.
Photos courtesy of Morris Yachts

The M29 looks like a classic yacht above the waterline, but below it has fairly racy features including a deep fin keel and carbon fiber spade rudder.  The mast is also made of carbon fiber, clear indications that Morris is taking performance seriously in this boat.

The deck is of classic proportions, with a short cabin trunk and graceful coamings around the generously proportioned cockpit. With such a small cabin trunk, a sliding companionway hatch becomes problematic.  Theres just not enough room for it, so it has to be made removable. Ive grappled with this problem on several of my smaller designs over the years.

Morris has done away with winches on the M29, using 2:1 purchase on the main halyard and a block and tackle system for the jib sheets. This limits jibs to the small self tacking unit shown in the drawing above. This is probably a good trade-off, given the boats very generous sail area. The jib sheet is led under the deck to a bank of cam cleats built into each cockpit coaming. I have not used this type of arrangement before so I cant attest to its efficiency, but it does make for a very clean deck layout.

Headsail controls built into the cockpit coamings

Back in the 1970s, when I was in the early years of my career as a yacht designer, I was commissioned to design a similar boat and it was amusing to pull the old drawings out of my archives and compare them to the M29, The design brief was for a traditional sloop of 26 feet, to be built of cold-molded mahogany. The client wanted the boat to have classic lines but was not particularly concerned with what it might look like below the waterline. So I designed the boat with traditional looks and a fast underbody. 

Gryphon 26, "Cinnamon Girl" circa 1979

The M29 embodies the same approach as the G26 about thirty years later.

The Morris M29 has a basic accommodations plan that includes a pair of settee berths and a Porta-Potty, which is all thats necessary for this daysailer. I like the reliability of the inboard diesel.

Just enough accommodations for an overnight

Cinnamon  Girl
The boat was given a deeper keel and rudder in 2003

Cinnamon Girl
Still going strong in 2014

M29x
The deep keel is probably a bit much for this boat. 

Morris also offer an M29x version, which includes a bowsprit, deeper keel and more sail area. According to data Ive seen, the model x is about 18 seconds per mile faster than the standard M29. This boat reminds me of 1969 Jaguar XKE roadster. Its exquisitely beautiful with plenty of horsepower straight out of the box. The extra deep keel and tall rig are a bit like replacing the Jaguars beautiful 3.8 liter engine with a Chevy 327 V-8. Itll be faster but not quite as perfectly balanced as the original.

The M29 a wonderful example of classic design and very high quality execution. Its expensive, but what a sweet ride!