SAIL - April 2015

36

APRIL 2015 IMAGES COURTESY OF BENETEAU

Beneteau Oceanis 35

A versatile cruiser that follows closely in the wake of its big sister By Charles J. Doane

B

eneteau’s groundbreaking Oceanis 38,

which featured a dramatic new approach

to accommodation space in a cruising

monohull, scored a host of awards during its

2013-14 debut season, including a Best Boats

nod from SAIL. Now comes a slightly smaller

sibling, the new Oceanis 35, with the same sort

of flexible modular interior.

The question raised is, why would you want

one boat as opposed to the other? The new

boat, not counting the fixed bowsprit available

on some versions, has an overall hull length

of 32ft 9in versus a hull length of 36ft 6in in

the larger boat. In boats with more traditional

interiors this extra length might count for a lot,

but in boats like these, with striking open-plan

interiors, the differences may be more subtle.

CONSTRUCTION

The new 35’s build regimen is identical to that

of its larger sibling. Its hull is solid fiberglass

laminate set in polyester resin. The injection-

molded deck is cored with Saerfoam, and is

screwed and bonded to the hull. Where more

traditional boats rely on fixed interior bulk-

heads and furniture to help stiffen their hulls,

most of the interior support on these open-plan

boats comes from a large solid-laminate struc-

tural hull liner that is bonded in place.

The beamy, hard-chined hull can be ordered

with a deep T-shaped keel, with a shoal-draft

L-shaped keel, or with a centerboard housed

in a keel/trunk below the hull. As with many

European cruisers, ballast is iron. The rud-

derstocks (one for each of the two rudders) are

stainless steel.

ON DECK

The cockpit on the Oceanis 35 follows the cur-

rent trend in modern boats, with twin helms

and a fold-down transom that allows immedi-

ate access to the water. To further improve ac-

cess, there are fold-up helm seats on both sides

that can flipped out of the way when desired. A

more unique feature that has become de rigeur

on Beneteaus of late is a cockpit arch forward,

to which the mainsail is sheeted, with a bridle

rather than a traveler.

The cockpit is very wide, so I was happy to

see a fixed table with folding leaves to brace

against while sailing. I was also impressed by

the amount of storage space. There are two

large lazarettes aft, and our test boat, which had

only one aft cabin, also had a truly enormous

locker space under the starboard cockpit seat.

All control lines are led aft, with most, in-

cluding the mainsheet, coming to two banks of

Spinlock clutches on either side of the compan-

ionway that are serviced by a pair of Harken

winches. The only lines you can reach from the

helm stations are the jib sheets, which are led to

two Harken winches on the cockpit coamings.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Like the Oceanis 38, the 35 has five different

layout plans, with three different designa-

tions—Daysailer, Weekender and Cruiser. All

three plans feature tremendous amounts of

open space from the companionway forward

to the bow, with removable forward bulkheads

available in the four different Weekender and

Cruiser plans. Various modular furniture com-

ponents can also be added as upgrades during

the boat’s service life.

The most popular layout on the 38, by far, has

proven to be the Cruiser, which, tellingly, is the

only one that includes a proper stove. I expect

this trend will continue, as the 35 builds its own

NEW BOATS

TWIN HELMS

AND RUDDERS

CHINES RUN

WELL FORWARD

MAINSAIL

ARCH OVER

COCKPIT

SIZEABLE

BOW

ROLLER