{"id":160195,"date":"2025-10-08T06:40:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T05:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?post_type=review&p=160195"},"modified":"2025-10-08T08:54:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T07:54:01","slug":"beneteau-first-30-review-the-affordable-planing-cruiser-thats-fun-and-fast","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/reviews\/boat-tests\/beneteau-first-30-review-the-affordable-planing-cruiser-thats-fun-and-fast","title":{"rendered":"Beneteau First 30 review: The affordable planing cruiser that’s fun and fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you consider how you got into sailing<\/a> and how the next generation might do so, it prompts some searching questions. Is sailing dying as a sport and a pastime? Does our increasingly time-precious world demand a rethink, some sailing saviours, and if so, in what form?<\/p>\n

Think back to the emergence of snowboarding. Skiing looked endangered. The glory days of Klammer and Maier\u2019s downhill racing were being elbowed out by a young baggy-pants-wearing brigade. Then something glorious happened \u2013 carving skis were invented.<\/p>\n

These hourglass-shaped planks seemingly changed the game overnight. What the rad folk were doing on boards, whether in powder or parks, could now be done on skis. It got cool again and hasn\u2019t looked back since.<\/p>\n

Perhaps sailing needs its own carving moment. Is this it? The world\u2019s largest yacht manufacturer thinks so, with the launch of this exciting new model.<\/p>\n

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Relatively narrow beam (under 3m), low wetted surface, and weight kept to just over three tonnes means the F30 rises onto the water easily and is sporty in breeze. Photo: Uro\u0161 Keku\u0161 Klev<\/p><\/div>\n

The plane phenomenon<\/h2>\n

Why plough through the water if you can glide over it? Whether by power or sail, if you could free yourself of your own wake to go faster with less noise and wash, you would, wouldn\u2019t you? That feeling of lightness and speed is addictive.<\/p>\n

Yet how many planing yachts<\/a> have you sailed? The answer is likely very few. In terms of the offerings from production yards over the last two decades, I can count them on one hand.<\/p>\n

They need certain physics on their side, the right hull shape combined with sufficiently light construction. The Pogo 30 was a groundbreaker in that respect, and in some ways, what we\u2019re seeing here is replicating that concept, 10 years later, with an updated and skinnier hull shape.<\/p>\n

The Beneteau First 30 takes Sam Manuard\u2019s brilliance and adds Seascape\u2019s proven lightweight construction methods (keeping it to three tonnes), building on the First 36 they created two years ago.<\/p>\n

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Direct tiller steering and long, smooth streaks rather than wake, means grins of joy for Toby. Photo: Uro\u0161 Keku\u0161 Klev<\/p><\/div>\n

It also benefits from Beneteau\u2019s<\/a> industrial scaling and resultant pricing. And, crucially, it makes the sailing bit easy.<\/p>\n

Just look at it: an unassuming white boat, modern without being overtly broad or racy. It\u2019s a cruising yacht after all, with a two-cabin interior, a saloon, galley, heads, hot water, cockpit benches, a swim platform etc \u2013 so it\u2019s easy to picture yourself spending time aboard.<\/p>\n

However, the vast majority of cruising yachts, while pleasant to sail, rarely offer the excitement of a sportsboat. To get that, you generally need to pay big sums for exotic composite construction (and then put very little inside them).<\/p>\n

Article continues below…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Beneteau First 36 review: Is this the best First yacht in years?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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You might not appreciate it at first glance, but this could well be the best performance production yacht we\u2019ll see…<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

£<\/span>277,098.00<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t