# beneteau vs. jeanneau



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I am interested in understanding the difference between the beneteau oceanis 311 and jeanneau sun odyssey 32 now that both are made by the same parent company. which of the two boats is a better performer? Has anyone sialed the beneteau oceanis 280?
thanks


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## doubleplay (Nov 9, 2001)

if you are really after performance check out Jeanneau Sun Fast 32.
Larger sail area,deeper keel and traveler is where it should be... in the cockpit.


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## bubb2 (Nov 9, 2002)

Please take a look at http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/
Looks like a Beneteau First 40.7 by the name of First National is going to take the handicap honors in the Sydney Hobart race


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## bubb2 (Nov 9, 2002)

.. 30 December, 2003 2:43:00 PM AEDT | Racetime 04:01:43:00
Beneteau 40.7 First National Real Estate wins IMS and IRC




Winner of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Handicap Trophies 
Daniel Forster 

First National Real Estate, a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Michael Spies, has been declared the provisional Overall Winner of the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, winning both the IMS and IRC divisions of the great ocean classic.

When First National Real Estate crossed the line at 5:32am this morning, only one yacht still at sea had a realistic chance of beating her on corrected time.

The 34-footer Impeccable, sailed by 81 year old John Walker, the oldest skipper in the fleet, had to finish by 2.45 this afternoon but was still some 15 miles from the finish of the 628 nautical miles race when time ran out.

Officially, First National Real Estate’s victory is provisional until all yachts finish, but the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Race Committee this afternoon confirmed that the boat could not be beaten.

For 44 year old Michael Spies, the win caps off a remarkable Sydney Hobart Race career. This is his 27th race south, with the highlight in 1999 when he co-skippered the Volvo 60 Nokia on her record-breaking line honours victory. 

Spies describes this win as just as sweet. “This is up there with 1999. It’s hard to compare. With line honours only two or three boats can win, but on handicap twenty or thirty boats are a chance.”



Michael Spies, skipper of First National Real Estate 
CYCA Staff 

For 44-year-old Michael Spies, the win caps off a remarkable Sydney Hobart Race career. This is his 27th race south, with the highlight in 1999 when he co-skippered the Volvo 60 Nokia on her record-breaking line honours victory. 

Spies describes this win as just as sweet. “This is up there with 1999. It’s hard to compare. With line honours only two or three boats can win, but on handicap twenty or thirty boats are a chance.”

Spies put the win down to sticking to a fairly simple game plan.

“Push the boat, keep her pointing to Hobart at 95% of her maximum speed, 100% of the time. We were tactically sound. We didn’t go out on any limbs. A couple of boats took a flyer here and a flyer there and they paid short dividends but then the next flyer they took came back to bite them.

“Yesterday we had 12 hours of hard spinnaker running and for six hours we were right on the edge. We knew we had to keep pushing it to stay with the boats we had to beat.

“We stopped for a couple of hours in Bass Strait when the wind died, and we thought we had lost it, but the rest of the fleet stopped too. We stopped again at Tasman Island and coming into Storm Bay but finally got an early morning breeze that carried us up the river,” he said.

Spies singled out 19-year-old navigator Andrew Joyce for special praise. “The guy’s 19 years old and he acts as though he’s been doing this all his 19 years. He’s obviously a name you’re going to hear a lot more of. I’m honoured to have spotted that talent earlier this year.”

It has been quite an introduction to ocean racing for the co-owner of the boat, Peter Johnston. This is his first Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and he’s won it!

First National Real Estate is a Beneteau 40.7, the hugely popular Farr design that has sold some 500 boats worldwide. Spies has heavily optimised the boat though. 

“We’ve worked hard to get the rating down. If I listed all the changes we’ve made it would take a couple of foolscap pages,” he said.

“I like to think she is the fastest of the 500 of her type,” he said, “but we can take her back to Sydney and it will only take us two hours to transform her back into a boat you’d happily cruise for a week in. If there is such as a thing as a freak boat these are probably it.”

So will Michael Spies be back for Hobart number 28? He doesn’t even take a breath. “Yeah. Of course.”


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Looks like Bubb2 is in love with his 40.7 or his friends. 

Review your orig. question before it got off the track to a 40.7. I would just keep looking at those two boats for yourself and don''t forget to think about overall service potential, not just warrenty. Ask your prospective salesman how issues, after-sale problems, follow-up, etc, are handled. Don''t forget the big picture as you have a hard decision ahead of you as both of those boats are similar, and + or - 5K in cost isn''t going to mean much in the big picture. Subscribe to both email lists and ask the people that actually own the boats to comment on that boat (without saying A vs. B, etc) Owners will know the most about their boats but will have some bias. 

Have fun


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