Beneteau Antares 7 Buying Guide, Price, Specs and Generations

The Antares 7 Beneteau sells today

The Antares 7 is now the smallest model in Beneteau's Antares range, below the Antares 8, 9, 11 and 12. Beneteau unveiled this version at the Southampton International Boat Show in September 2022, describing it as a new generation Antares 7 that follows in the footsteps of the Antares 8 and borrows its modular ideas: a side boarding gate, a wide starboard walkway, equipment built into the hardtop, a separate head and generous berths and storage.

The name has history. Beneteau has sold three different boats called Antares 7: a diesel shaft-drive boat in the 2000s, an outboard Antares 7 OB from roughly 2016 to 2022, and this one. Listings mix them freely, so this guide covers the current boat first and then shows how to tell the older two apart.

Dimensions and the trailer question

Overall length is 7.48 m (24 ft 6 in) with options on a 6.48 m (21 ft 3 in) hull. Beneteau's site lists a 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) beam and its North American equipment list gives 2.53 m (8 ft 4 in) overall width, either way inside the 8 ft 6 in US trailering limit. Light displacement is 1,651 kg (3,639 lbs) without engine and 1,886 kg (4,157 lbs) in EC trim. Draft is 0.50 to 0.80 m (1 ft 8 in to 2 ft 7 in), and bridge clearance is 2.30 m (7 ft 7 in).

Tankage is 170 liters (45 gallons) of fuel and 50 liters (13 gallons) of water. Certification is C8 / D8 for eight people, and the maximum power is a single 200 hp outboard on a 25 in shaft. With a 200 hp engine, fuel and a tandem-axle trailer, expect a towing weight of roughly 6,000 to 7,000 lbs by our estimate, which calls for a three-quarter-ton truck or a heavy SUV rated for it.

Cruising, Fishing, Standard and Weekender explained

Two choices define every Antares 7. The deck is either Cruising, with a sliding three-seat aft bench and storage under the port seat, or Fishing, where the bench gives way to a fishing station with rod holders, cup holders, a cutting board, a tilting seat, lure and bait storage and a hand rail, plus a circulating live well to port and a raw water deck wash. The interior is either Standard, where a large space to starboard of the cabin holds storage and a chemical toilet, or Weekender, where that space becomes a closed head with a door, sink and toilet and 1.33 m (4 ft 4 in) headroom.

Our advice is simple: buy the Weekender unless the boat will never be used overnight. Resale buyers look for the separate head, and the Full Water System pack (electric fresh water toilet with 17 gallon holding tank, galley and head sinks, cockpit shower) requires it.

• Cruising: sliding aft bench, optional cockpit sunpad and table
• Fishing: fishing station, live well, deck wash, optional hardtop rod holders, spotlight and second 9 in display
• Standard interior: storage with chemical toilet
• Weekender interior: separate head with door and sink

The starboard gate and the offset cockpit

The most useful change from the previous Antares 7 is the layout of the deck. The cockpit is shifted slightly to port, which frees a broad walkway on the starboard side to the bow sunpad and anchor locker, and a gate in the starboard topside lets you step aboard from a dock, climb in from a swim or haul in a fish. The U-shaped cockpit seats five, a folding bench sits in the port topside and a forward-facing bench can hold a cooler, and all of it converts into a sunpad with the folding table.

Inside, the helm has a one-piece black dashboard, a swivel pilot seat and a co-pilot bench that flips to face the second bench or makes a berth. The galley sits behind the pilot seat with a sink and options for a 42 liter fridge and a gas or 110 V electric hob. Forward, the double berth measures about 1.95 m by 1.65 m. Wheelhouse headroom is 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in), the salon 1.73 m, and the cabin is low at 0.98 m, a sleeping space rather than a room.

Power, speed and what Beneteau claims

Beneteau states that with a 200 hp engine the Antares 7 reaches up to 33 knots, while the hull is optimized for a stable cruise at 21 knots. Those are builder figures; we have not found an independent instrumented test with fuel flow, so we do not publish a fuel curve. In the US the boat is pre-rigged for Mercury, either a mechanical F150 or a Verado from 150 to 200 hp, while European boats often carry Suzuki or Yamaha engines.

Choose the 200 if you carry six or more people, tow toys or run open water. The 150 saves money and weight and is adequate for two to four people. Options worth having are a bow thruster, Lenco tabs or Zipwake automatic trim, and a 320 W electric windlass. Seanapps telemetry is fitted for remote monitoring of batteries, tanks and position.

The two older Antares 7s and how to spot them

The outboard Antares 7 OB appeared on Beneteau's website in 2016 and was sold until the current boat replaced it. It shares the 7.48 m length, 1,886 kg EC weight and 170 liter tank, but its maximum power was 175 hp and it has no starboard boarding gate or offset cockpit; it does have a starboard swim access with a security door. Its North American equipment list (November 2021) offered Mercury F150 or Verado 150 to 175 pre-rigging and a separate head version. These boats are the value choice, asking around 55,000 euros in the listings we saw.

The original Antares 7 of the 2000s is a different boat altogether: 7.07 m overall (7.84 m with platform), 2.77 m beam, 2,170 kg EC, 200 liters of fuel and a Yanmar 4BY 150 hp diesel on a shaft, with an oval saloon forward that converts to a double and a toilet compartment under the helm. Motor Boats Monthly tested one in April 2008, recorded a 20 knot top speed, praised how it punched through a Force 4 with very few slams, and noted one of the biggest toilets on a 23-footer.

Antares 7 price and the cost of keeping one

Beneteau's US price starts at $85,500 for the hull without engine, the same base for Cruising and Fishing. Add a Verado 200, rigging, electronics, the US Pack (extended swim platform, 42 liter fridge, opening wheelhouse panel, horn) and freight, and most new boats land between about 120,000 and 160,000 dollars by our estimate, before a trailer. In Europe the hull starts from 45,000 euros excluding VAT.

Annual costs depend on storage. A trailered or dry-stacked Antares 7 costs roughly 7,000 to 15,000 dollars a year in insurance, outboard service, bottom care if kept afloat, electronics updates and fuel. Gasoline use is the wild card: with no verified fuel data we suggest logging your own burn at 21 knots during the first season.