Beneteau 47.7 Buyer's Guide, the Farr First That Crosses Oceans

A Beneteau 47.7 where the word racer comes first

The Beneteau 47.7, properly the First 47.7, followed the enormous success of the First 40.7. Yachting World's Matthew Sheahan noted in early 2001 that more than 300 of the 40.7 were already afloat, and Beneteau clearly expected the big sister to repeat the trick. Bruce Farr drew the hull and rig, Beneteau spent a full year just tooling the molds, and the boat went into production in 2000 with a menu of rigs, keels, engines and interiors that let one hull serve club racers and charter-minded cruisers alike.

It worked on the racecourse. Three First 47.7s placed second, third and fourth overall in IRC Class 1 at the Hamble Series, and Practical Sailor found the model among the most common boats in recent ARC rally fleets. Beneteau later filed it under its 1992 to 2004 First generation, and the Farr-designed First 50 took over as the brand's big performance cruiser in 2006. Today the 47.7 lives entirely on the used market, which is where its value story begins.

Rigs, keels and a Commodore cruising spec

No two 47.7s are quite the same. Sailboatdata lists the standard rig at about 1,033 sq ft of sail area across main and foretriangle, while the race version carries a slightly taller mast and roughly 1,093 sq ft. Keels are both lead: a shallow version drawing 2.30 m (7 ft 7 in) and a deep option at 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in). Beneteau's own figures give a light displacement around 12,045 kg (26,555 lb) and a ballast weight of 3,976 kg for the shallow keel.

The Commodore specification from 2004 shows how far Beneteau pushed the cruising side: a 100 hp shaft-drive engine with a three-blade Max Prop, a retractable bow thruster, teak cockpit and decks, a 1.7 m leather-wrapped wheel, Raymarine instruments and autopilot, and a carbon spinnaker pole. The race boats went the other way, with taller rigs, deep keels and stripped interiors. When you read a listing, the rig and keel line tells you more about the boat than the year.

The single wheel cockpit and the traveler in the middle

Unlike most modern 47-footers, the 47.7 steers with one big wheel on a low pedestal. Practical Sailor's reviewer liked the simplicity of one steering system, but the wheel blocks the walk aft to the stern gate and the small fold-down boarding platform. The mainsheet traveler runs across the cockpit where a racing skipper wants it and where guests trip over it. Four Lewmar self-tailers on the coamings handle headsails and two more on the coachroof take halyards, with control lines led openly down the cabin top rather than under panels.

Yachting World marked the boat down for the lack of foot braces, especially for the helmsman, since the single wheel makes it hard to sit far out to weather. Owners commonly add a raised teak block or chocks. The cockpit is narrower at the transom than modern twin-wheel boats because the maximum beam draws in toward the stern, which also makes the boat easier to handle off the wind.

Three factory layouts and the pullman owner's cabin

Beneteau offered three layouts. The D9 version has three cabins and an L-shaped galley to starboard; the IF5 version keeps three cabins but moves to a fore and aft galley along the port side; the DQ version swaps the forward owner's cabin for two forward cabins with over and under bunks, creating four cabins for charter or a large race crew. All share symmetrical aft doubles of 2.00 m by 1.50 m and two heads.

In the three-cabin boats the owner's cabin forward has a double berth offset to starboard, a small settee to port, a hanging locker and its own head with shower. The saloon has a curved settee and an oval table for six, and the nav station is notably large, with the table extending along the back of the settee. Headroom is about 2.02 to 2.10 m. Light comes through opening ports and narrow hull windows rather than big glazing, which makes the cabin a little dimmer than newer boats but is much easier to keep watertight. Woodwork on the Commodore spec is pear-colored mukali.

How the 47.7 sails and why it is noisy under engine

Under sail the 47.7 earns its reputation. Yachting World found it slippery even in light air, well balanced and forgiving, the kind of helm that lets you push hard without frightening anyone. The swept triple-spreader rig keeps the foredeck relatively uncluttered, and the secondary winch positions make shorthanded sailing realistic. Practical Sailor's reviewer summed it up as feeling like a big Laser while still being a comfortable place to live at anchor.

Motoring is the weak point. There is no engine room; the diesel sits under the cockpit and companionway, and Yachting World measured noise and vibration over 6 knots that bordered on excessive, partly blamed on an over-pitched two-blade Max Prop. Sound insulation upgrades, a correctly pitched three-blade feathering prop and fresh engine mounts transform it. Access is reasonable from behind the companionway steps and through panels in the aft cabins.

Latticework liner, teak decks and twenty-five years of wear

Beneteau built the 47.7 with a single-skin GRP hull and a bonded latticework inner molding that has no floor pan between the longitudinal and transverse members, so each element can be glassed into the hull. That was a response to criticism of earlier tray liners in performance boats, and it has held up well on most hulls. The deck is a balsa sandwich, and the hull to deck joint sits under a bonded and screwed teak toerail.

Teak is the issue now. Most boats came with teak decks and the substantial teak toerails, and at 20 to 25 years old many decks are thin, leaking at fasteners or already replaced with synthetic teak. A boat with a recently redone deck is worth a real premium. Opening ports and hatches are another routine resealing job.

Shopping a Beneteau 47.7 for sale in 2026

The Beneteau 47.7 for sale market is international, with boats in the Caribbean, both US coasts, the Great Lakes, Europe and New Zealand. Practical Sailor compared it directly with the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 and 43 DS, which sit in a similar price bracket: the Jeanneau wins on comfort and light, the First on speed and handling. If you plan to island hop and occasionally join a rally, the First is the more rewarding boat.

Budget beyond the purchase. A typical cruising upgrade list includes an arch with davits and solar, a dodger, new running rigging and possibly a repowered engine. Racers will spend on sails and on bottom fairing. Either way, the starting price leaves room for that work compared with a newer 45 to 48 ft boat.

• Ask which layout code (D9, IF5 or DQ) the boat was built to
• Ask for keel draft and rig height, then confirm with a survey
• Check engine hours and whether the original Yanmar has been repowered