Beneteau is scheduled to premiere its First 36 sailing boat at Boot Dusseldorf, which will be held from January 22-30, 2022. The First 36 is designed for planing in medium winds by short-handed or fully crewed teams and to be an all-round boat, able to perform as a club racer and family cruiser.
Due to a wide hull, the builder says the First 36 has the largest living space in its class and will offer comfort comparable to the First 40.7 “with plenty of smart solutions to make living onboard a great experience”.
The new racer-cruiser marks an expansion of the new generation of First, which began when Beneteau teamed up with Slovenian builder Seascape in 2018, since creating the First 14, First 24 and First 27 sport-cruisers.
The First 36 is a collaboration between international designers and studios including Italian Lorenzo Argento following his work on Beneteau’s First Yacht 53 and Oceanis Yacht 54, which both recently debuted in Hong Kong through Simpson Marine.
Naval architecture is by France’s Sam Manuard, who has worked on all the seventh-generation First and First SE designs from 14-27ft, and has experience in Mini, Class40 and IMOCA 60.
Slovenia’s Gigodesign worked on design research and innovation insights, while structural engineering is by New Zealand’s Pure Design & Engineering, which has worked on TP52, AC75 and IMOCA 60 designs.
“The Beneteau First 36 is going to be much livelier and lighter than most of the boats you can buy,” said Giovanni Belgrano of Pure Design & Engineering. “It bridges the gap between sport boats and family cruisers.”