Beneteau First 345 Review, a 1980s Berret Racer-Cruiser for Today's Buyer

Why the Beneteau 345 First still shows up on start lines

Practical Sailor put it neatly: the Beneteau First 345 is a racing boat that contains a cruising interior. Designed by Jean Berret, whose office also drew the 1985 Admiral's Cup winning Beneteau one-tonner Phoenix, it was built from 1984 to 1988 as a moderate displacement racer-cruiser for owners who wanted to win on Wednesday night and take the family away on the weekend.

It arrived just as a strong US dollar made French boats look like bargains, and it helped establish Beneteau in the American market. Practical Sailor reports that more than 500 were sold, all but about 20 built in France; sailboatdata gives 460 and Yachting Monthly says over 400. Whatever the exact number, the 345 was common enough that parts knowledge and owner experience are easy to find, and searches for beneteau 345 first still turn up boats racing in PHRF fleets.

Masthead power, running backstays and a PHRF of about 120

Unlike the fractional Firsts that followed, the 345 carries a masthead sloop rig, with a mainsail of about 258 sq ft and a genoa of about 431 sq ft. Sailboatdata lists 12,125 lb of displacement and 4,409 lb of cast iron ballast, a ballast ratio of about 36 percent, and a displacement to length ratio of about 217, which is moderate for its era. Practical Sailor's figure of 12,600 lb suggests a typical boat in cruising trim.

Practical Sailor gives a PHRF rating of 120 in four of the largest US fleets, which made it about 20 seconds a mile faster than a Tartan 34 or Pearson 34 and quicker than the Cal 34 and Catalina 34. The rig carries running backstays as well as a permanent backstay, apparently to steady the tall mast going to windward in heavy air. Racers accept them; a cruising couple will find them a chore.

On Practical Sailor's test sail out of Narragansett Bay, the boat sailed close to its 7.1 knot hull speed on a close reach and ran at close to seven knots. Owners reported a tendency to round up in gusts and some weather helm, and the review notes the boat flattens out when reefed before 20 knots of wind.

Cruising package or racing package

The 345 was sold with either a cruising or a racing package. Practical Sailor explains that the racing version has a mast about a foot taller, a tiller in place of the wheel and the mainsheet traveler across the after end of the bridge deck instead of on the cabin top. The magazine's view was that unless you insist on a wheel, the racing version makes more sense because the traveler is easier to reach.

Sailboatdata also records a tall rig with an I of 45 ft and P of 38.7 ft, and Practical Sailor heard from the owner of a 1987 boat with a cutter rig who reported excellent heavy weather performance under staysail and reefed main. Check exactly which rig a listed boat carries, because it changes both rating and handling.

One aft cabin or two, the layout decision

Yachting Monthly notes that the 345 was designed with one eye on the charter market and was an early example of offering one or two aft cabins. The owner's layout has a single aft cabin to starboard, the head aft to port, an L-shaped galley, a good-sized chart table, a saloon with twin settees and a surprisingly roomy V-berth forward, which most owners use as the master cabin. The charter layout squeezes in two small quarter cabins, a smaller forecabin and moves the head amidships.

Practical Sailor preferred the single aft cabin for ordinary cruising, and so do most US buyers. Headroom is a little over six feet in the saloon. Natural light comes through a one-piece smoked acrylic panel over fixed ports, which looks sporty but does not open, and owners on the test boat found the original fluorescent lighting dim. Fresh water capacity is generous at about 100 gallons in tanks under the settees, though some boats have flexible bladder tanks that will eventually need replacing.

What the surveyors found in the build

Hulls are solid fiberglass laid up with chopped strand mat and woven roving in polyester resin, reinforced by stringers, structural bulkheads and an interior liner. The deck is balsa-cored, and on the 1985 boat Practical Sailor inspected the surveyor found water-saturated core visible from the chain locker, a warning sign for delamination. The rudder also showed excessive moisture.

The hull to deck joint uses an inward flange bedded in 3M 5200 and an aluminum toe rail that is riveted rather than bolted, which Practical Sailor disliked because it complicates repairs. The cast iron keel is attached through a laminated plate, and the keel bolts on the test boat were rusty. The surveyor also found non-marine gate valves on the galley drain and engine intake, which should be replaced on any boat that still has them.

Blistering is the other historic concern. Beneteau told Practical Sailor that a defective catalyst affected several models built between 1983 and 1985, which overlaps the first 345s, so ask about blister history and any repair records on early hulls.

Under power, the weak spot owners mention

The most common complaint in Practical Sailor's owner survey was poor speed and maneuverability under power, with owners of boats fitted with the standard Volvo 2002 describing a strong helm and marginal performance. The owners of a boat with the three-cylinder Volvo 2003 of about 28 hp had no complaints. Engine access, through the aft cabin and behind the companionway steps, is very good.

Many of these original Volvos are near the end of their service life, so a repower is a realistic line item. A modern three-cylinder diesel transforms the boat's handling under power and is one of the best investments an owner can make, but it adds $15,000 or more to the cost of a boat that may only be worth $30,000.

Value then and now

Practical Sailor called the 345 good value when new, priced somewhat above a Hunter 34 and slightly below a comparable Tartan. That logic still holds on the used market. Our 2026 estimate for US asking prices is roughly $20,000 to $45,000, and Yachting Monthly's 2009 UK price guide of 35,000 to 42,000 pounds shows how far values have since eased.

Yearly costs of about $5,000 to $13,000 cover a slip or mooring, haul-out, insurance and maintenance. The big swing items are the ones identified above: deck core repair, keel bolt and keel fairing work, a repower and new sails. Price those before you make an offer, not after.

The 345 and the Berret boats that followed

The 345 belongs to the first wave of Berret Firsts that also included the First 35 of 1980 and the First 38 of 1982. It was followed by the First 375 of 1985 and then by the First 35s5 of 1988, a Berret design with an interior styled by Philippe Starck and a fractional rig. If you like the 345's sailing but want a more modern interior, the 35s5 is the logical next step, though it is a different boat with different specifications.

Within the 345 class itself, there is only one hull. Variations come from keel (deep or shoal), rig (standard, tall or the occasional cutter conversion), steering (wheel or tiller) and interior (one or two aft cabins).