Antares 880 Review, the Beneteau Antares 8.80 Outboard Pilothouse

Why the Antares 880 matters in Beneteau history

The Antares 880, written Antares 8.80 by Beneteau, arrived at the Paris Boat Show in December 2010 as a 28-foot entry-level cruiser, and Motor Boat and Yachting reported at the time that it was the first Beneteau boat to use the Air Step hull. That patented stepped bottom went on to shape Beneteau's outboard boats for the next decade. In the Antares 8.80 it was matched to a classic Antares package: an enclosed wheelhouse, a cockpit for fishing, and two cabins for a family weekend.

Beneteau's heritage archive groups the 8.80 with the fourth generation Antares (2001 to 2011), but the boat itself is newer than that bracket suggests. The equipment list we used is dated 26 October 2016 and includes 2017 electronics and audio packs, so the 8.80 was still being offered for the 2017 season. It was one of the longest serving models of its era.

How the Air Step hull works

Beneteau credits the Air Step patent to Maud Tronquez, Patrick Tableau and Remi Laval-Jeantet. The idea is a set of forward facing steps that feed air under the aft part of the hull, creating what the yard calls an air cushion effect. Beneteau's promises were quicker acceleration, a higher top speed and lower fuel consumption on the performance side, easier passage through waves and better behavior in turns on the safety side, and progressive acceleration and responsive handling for comfort.

In the 8.80 the hull is described as a floating lower hull with an extended V bow, built in polyester sandwich with a fully laminated counter-molding. Beneteau quotes a maximum speed of about 30 knots and a cruising speed around 20 knots. Those are factory figures, not an independent test; we could not find a published speed and fuel table for this boat, so we have left fuel burn and range blank.

Single 300 or twin 150s

At launch MBY described a top speed of 30 knots with a single 250 hp outboard or twin 150s. By the 2016 equipment list the maximum single engine had risen to 300 hp, and Beneteau offered factory pre-rigging for a Suzuki 300, 250 or twin 150s, Yamaha singles from 225 to 300 hp or twin 150s, and Honda singles of 225 to 250 hp or twins from 115 to 150 hp. A Suzuki holiday pack was part of the European offer, and the steering is hydraulic.

Which to choose depends on use. A single 250 or 300 is lighter, cheaper to service and frees up transom space, and the boat's extended swim platforms run either side of it. Twins add redundancy, which matters if you fish well offshore, and make the boat easier to turn in a tight marina, although Beneteau also offered a bow thruster. On the used market, check that a twin boat has matching engines of similar hours; mismatched pairs are a sign of a replacement after failure.

Two cabins and a separate head in 29 feet

The interior is the 8.80's strongest card. Through a three-leaf glazed door from the cockpit, the wheelhouse has a U-shaped saloon to port that seats four and converts to a double, and the helm and galley to starboard. The galley has a sink, a two-burner gas hob and a 42 liter fridge. Light comes from the panoramic one-piece windscreen, two glazed sliding roof hatches and hull ports. Headroom in the wheelhouse is 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in).

Forward, the owner's cabin has a 1.98 by 1.50 m double, a small hanging locker, shelves and a curtain for privacy. A separate mid cabin holds a second double of 1.86 by 1.33 m. The head is separate, with a shower, washbasin, marine toilet and an 80 liter holding tank, and 1.75 m of headroom. That gives up to six berths, which is a lot for a 29-foot outboard boat.

Sarrazin Design styled the interior in Alpi walnut with brown oak laminate floors and beige upholstery, and gave the hull a red decorative line. It looks dated now but holds up well when kept dry.

Cockpit, side decks and the folding bench

The self-draining cockpit measures 1.60 by 2.55 m. A three-seat bench across the transom lifts on gas struts so the outboards can tilt, and an optional L-shaped extension and a solid wood table turn it into an outdoor dining area. A large lockable locker in the cockpit floor, again on gas struts, swallows fenders and gear, and a gas locker is built into a step in the starboard side deck. Two rod holders came standard, with optional cockpit controls for a second helm position when fishing.

Forward, a stainless pulpit runs back to the cockpit steps, with handrails on the wheelhouse, and the self-bailing anchor locker accepts an optional 700 W vertical windlass. An optional sun mattress goes on the foredeck. The three trim levels in the 2017 list, called Essential, Confort and Nordic, bundled the fridge, windlass, sun mattress, curtains and bow thruster in various combinations, with Nordic aimed at cold-water buyers.

The Barracuda 9 shares its hull

In 2012 Beneteau spun a sportier wheelhouse model, the Barracuda 9, from the 8.80's hull, and MBY tested the two together. For a buyer, that link is useful. Barracuda 9s are more common on the used market, and their asking prices, recently about 59,000 to 80,000 euros for 2012 to 2016 boats in Europe, are the best guide to what an Antares 8.80 should cost. The two share running gear concerns, so the Barracuda owner community is a source of practical knowledge too.

The difference is the mission. The Barracuda puts more into the open cockpit and fishing, while the Antares 8.80 keeps the two-cabin cruising interior. If you want to sleep four adults aboard, the Antares is the right one.

Owning an Antares 8.80 in the United States

The 8.80 is principally a European boat, so many American buyers will be importing one or buying one of the few that dealers brought over. The good news is that outboard power makes parts and service easy anywhere: Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda dealers are everywhere on US coasts. Check for 230 volt systems such as the battery charger, water heater, heating or air conditioning, which may need converting or replacing.

Running costs are moderate. A slip, insurance, outboard service, bottom paint and winter storage typically put a single-engine boat around $8,000 to $16,000 a year, more with twins and heavy use. Without a published fuel curve, log your own burn with the engine's fuel computer during the first season, and remember that a stepped hull is sensitive to trim and load: weight aft and too much trim tab can cost speed and efficiency.

Antares 8.80, Antares 8.8 and Antares 8 are three different boats

Beneteau's naming invites confusion. The Antares 8.8 of 2006 is a twin inboard diesel boat with an 8.60 m length, a 7.49 m hull and 2 x 160 hp maximum, designed with Patrick Sarrazin for the fourth generation. The Antares 8 is a separate outboard pilothouse of the 2012 to 2022 generation and its 2022 successor, shorter and narrower than the 8.80. The Antares 8.80 described here is the 29 ft 3 in, 2.96 m wide outboard boat with two cabins and the Air Step hull.

If a listing just says Antares 8, confirm the overall length and whether it has one cabin or two. An 8.91 m boat with a mid cabin is an 8.80.