Beneteau First 38, a 1980s Berret Masthead Classic Worth Knowing

The Beneteau 38 First in plain terms

Searches for beneteau 38 first usually lead to one boat: the First 38 that Jean Berret drew for Beneteau in 1982, which American dealers sold simply as the Beneteau 38. Beneteau's own archive describes it as a powerful offshore sailboat, handsomely fitted out and finished to a standard rarely seen on series-built yachts, laid out for comfortable cruising with eight crew. The same text says it was the ideal boat for rental and charter companies, and a 38S version let offshore racers enter the big international classics.

That charter link is real. Sailboatdata lists a Moorings 38, first built in 1985, based on the First 38 with a shoal keel, a shorter rig and an interior adapted for charter work. If you are looking at a 1985 Beneteau First 38, ask whether it started life in a charter fleet.

Fine ends and a 1980s masthead plan

Berret gave the First 38 fine ends, a sweeping sheer and a low coachroof, and Yachting Monthly's Dick Durham called it a thoroughbred the moment you see the racy shape and lofty rig. The hull is about 11.75 m (38 ft 7 in) long, with sailboatdata quoting 12.25 m overall, a 10.32 m waterline and a 3.90 m beam. Displacement is about 8,000 kg (17,636 lb) with 3,000 kg of iron ballast, which gives a ballast ratio of 37.5 percent.

Those numbers make it a moderate, slightly heavy cruiser-racer by modern standards. Sailboatdata calculates a displacement to length ratio of about 203, a sail area to displacement ratio of about 20 using the reported sail area, a Brewer comfort ratio near 25.6 and a capsize screening value of 1.97, just inside the 2.0 offshore threshold. Hull speed is about 7.8 knots.

• Standard rig: I 14.71 m, J 4.40 m, P 12.90 m, E 4.22 m
• Tall rig: I 15.30 m, P 13.50 m, about 62 square meters of foretriangle and main
• Short rig: I 14.33 m, P 12.98 m
• Genoa about 48.5 square meters and a spinnaker of about 109 square meters, per Yachting Monthly

How it sails, according to an owner and a tester

Yachting Monthly took the 1986-built Siesta out of Brighton Marina in an 18 to 20 knot apparent northeasterly. Close-hauled she made 6.2 knots once in the groove and tacked through about 90 degrees, an angle the owner said improves by 10 degrees in racing trim. With the wind over the quarter she ran at 7.4 knots, and dead downwind she made 6.5 to 7 knots. She heaves to, but only after some trial and error.

The tester found her fast, sea-kindly and very maneuverable, able to sail upwind in strong winds without slamming, and steered by a balanced spade rudder that gives excellent control downwind. The same rudder, unprotected by a skeg, is a weakness if you hit something, and the boat has noticeable prop walk going astern. The masthead genoa is a handful in a breeze and the big spinnaker is not something most couples will set shorthanded. Many First 38s have crossed the Atlantic, and Yachting Monthly reported at least one circumnavigation.

A U-shaped saloon and a hidden second head

Down the steep companionway the saloon is framed by a cutaway bulkhead. A U-shaped settee to port converts to a double with the drop-leaf table, and to starboard there is a straight settee and a pilot berth. The large forward-facing nav station sits to starboard with a deep chart locker, and the galley, small but well designed for use at sea, has a double sink, a top-loading fridge and a gimbaled two-burner stove with oven and grill. Forward is a V-berth cabin with a hanging locker and, to port, a head with shower.

Aft, two double cabins flank the engine. The clever detail is a second head on the centerline between them, behind the companionway steps and in front of the engine, which also gives access to the front of the motor. Yachting Monthly singled out the cherry and oak sole and real timber trim as aging well, and the padded vinyl headliners in the aft cabins and forward head as aging badly. The boat sleeps nine comfortably and ten at a push.

Teak decks, a grid and a removable cockpit sole

Construction follows the Beneteau pattern of the day. The hull is hand laid over a structural grid of floors and stringers glassed directly to it, about 2 ft high with limber holes so bilge water drains, and the bulkheads are glassed and bolted in. The deck is a balsa sandwich with the aluminum toerail forming the hull to deck joint, and the iron keel is attached with bolts incorporated into the liner. Many boats have laid teak decks, which the owner Yachting Monthly sailed with found less work than cleaning fiberglass, though the seams need periodic attention.

On deck, the mainsheet traveler sits on the coachroof forward of the companionway, out of the way of the cockpit. Winches on the test boat were Lewmar 30 halyard winches, Lewmar 46 self-tailing primaries and a second pair of 30s for the spinnaker. The cockpit is not deep but feels secure, and its sole lifts out so the engine can be craned out, a feature that makes a repower far easier than on many boats of the period. There are bow and stern cleats but none amidships.

What a First 38 costs to keep

Because the purchase price is low, running costs dominate. Expect roughly $7,000 to $16,000 a year in the US excluding depreciation for a slip, insurance, haul-out and routine maintenance. The real money goes into deferred projects: a repower, new standing rigging, sails, a teak deck rebuild or modern electronics can each cost a significant fraction of the boat's value.

The original engine was a Perkins 4-108 of about 45 hp according to sailboatdata, and Yachting Monthly's test boat had a 50 hp Perkins. Many boats have since been repowered with Beta, Volvo or Yanmar units, which is generally a plus. Engine access is excellent from the aft head, both aft cabins and the cockpit sole.

First 38, First 38s5 and the Moorings 38

Do not confuse this boat with the First 38s5, a later Berret design with a Philippe Starck interior built from about 1989 to 1994. The 38s5 is shorter overall at 11.66 m, lighter at about 6,586 kg and fractionally rigged, and its hull was also used for a later Moorings 38 built at Beneteau USA. The earlier Moorings 38 of 1985 is the one based on the First 38 hull.

The Jean Berret First 405 of 1986 is a larger sister in the same style and is the natural step up for buyers who like the First 38's character but want more length.