Beneteau Flyer 12, the Hardtop Cruiser Built Around Volvo IPS

Why Beneteau bet early on pods with the Flyer 12

Plenty of people type benetau flyer 12 or beneteau 12 flyer into a search bar, and both point to the same boat: a 41 ft 5 in hardtop sportscruiser that Beneteau designed around Volvo Penta's then brand-new IPS pod drives. Laurent Fabre, Beneteau's director of project management, told Power and Motoryacht that he oversaw the collaboration with Volvo, and that the hull spent nine months being tested and tweaked in Beneteau's own tank. The launch brochure is dated February 2005; YachtBuyer gives 2004 to 2009 for the model, and the earliest boats we found for sale are 2005 builds.

The pitch was performance, range and maneuverability. Beneteau claimed 30 knots from just 310 hp a side with IPS 400s, 20 percent more speed, 15 percent better acceleration and half the noise and vibration of a conventional installation, and it gave the boat a 1,200 liter fuel capacity in two 600 liter aluminum tanks, far more than most rivals. Beneteau's archive credits the design to Andre Beneteau and Patrice Sarrazin.

A hull drawn for the drives

Fabre would not reveal the entry deadrise, but he did tell Power and Motoryacht that the hull has variable deadrise with the aftmost seven feet nearly flat to suit the pods. Construction is balsa sandwich below the waterline with single-skin fiberglass topsides and a balsa-cored deck, all finished inside with an inner molding. Beneteau's 2007 specification lists a 12.62 m length including the bathing platform, an 11.96 m hull, a 3.99 m beam, 1.16 m of draft and a light displacement of 9,240 kg.

Pods sit well aft, which changes how the boat trims. Motor Boat and Yachting found its IPS 500 boat ran more bow-up than the shaft-drive Antares 12 it had tested in 2005, and that a little more trim tab brought the fine forward sections down to restore a smooth ride across ship wakes in the Solent.

Speed and fuel on IPS 400 and IPS 500

Power and Motoryacht tested a boat with twin 310 hp IPS 400s on the Severn River off Annapolis and recorded an average top speed of 38.9 mph, about 33.8 knots. At a 28 mph (24.3 knot) cruise at 2,750 rpm it burned 19.8 gallons per hour, better than one mile per gallon across the range, and the magazine calculated more than 400 statute miles of range, roughly 350 nautical miles. It came fully around at top speed in just over two boat lengths with little loss of rpm, and the helm measured 78 dBA at 3,000 rpm with the roof open.

With twin 370 hp IPS 500s, Motor Boat and Yachting reported a maximum of about 35 knots and comfortable cruising up to 29 knots, and its RYA trainer reckoned the boat kept pace with a Sunseeker Superhawk 34 up to 30 knots. The magazine noted that the shaft-drive Antares 12 with similar D6 engines managed only about 30 knots flat out.

A sliding roof, a hidden galley and two en suite cabins

The main deck is one bright space under a hardtop with an electrically opening roof, which Power and Motoryacht measured at 4 ft 2 in by 5 ft 5 in. A C-shaped settee to starboard faces an extendable, height-adjustable table, and the galley hides in a sideboard to port: single sink, two-burner glass-ceramic hob, microwave, an 80 liter fridge and shallow drawers fitted for plates and glasses. Motor Boat and Yachting liked the red leather and woodwork but warned that the saloon turns into a greenhouse on a hot day, so air conditioning is close to essential in the South, and it recommended fixed seating in the aft cockpit.

Below are two double cabins, each with its own head and shower. Power and Motoryacht measured 6 ft 4 in of headroom in both and 6 ft 7 in in the master's shower, though it found the cabins smaller than on some rivals of similar length. Beneteau's specification gives the forward berth as 2.00 by 1.40 m. Interior joinery was Moabi on the boats tested, while Beneteau's literature also describes a pear-tinted Mukali finish.

• Electric windlass, bow thruster and Volvo EVC electronic controls
• Optional Volvo joystick with the IPS Yacht Club pack
• Teak bathing platform, cockpit and side decks as options
• Optional 9.5 kVA generator, washing machine and dishwasher

What MBY learned in 170 hours

Motor Boat and Yachting ran a Flyer 12 for a season and its findings are a useful guide for buyers. Halfway through, performance dropped because barnacles covered the bronze IPS legs, which had been expected to resist fouling; once cleaned and antifouled the speed returned. The port engine sometimes refused to engage gear at low speed, which the Volvo dealer traced to Beneteau wiring the bow thruster and engines to a common ground; a separate ground for the thruster cured it. Like all early IPS boats, it was recalled for a free upgrade that added anodes on the transom and inside the IPS exhaust plus corrosion primer and antifouling on the legs.

Service costs were reasonable. MBY averaged a little under 600 pounds a year for both IPS drives, against about 815 pounds for comparable sterndrives, and concluded that fuel savings more than covered the extra pod servicing. Team members with little boat handling experience found that the joystick made berthing easy.

Running a 41 ft diesel cruiser

Two diesels, pods, a generator on many boats and a long equipment list make this a more expensive boat to keep than its price suggests. A US owner should budget roughly $22,000 to $45,000 a year excluding depreciation for slip, insurance, haul-out and bottom paint, engine and pod service, and fuel for about 100 hours at around 20 gallons per hour. Pods need specific antifouling and anodes, and Volvo support for these first-generation drives should be confirmed locally.

The upside is efficiency. Around 29 knots the Flyer 12 used roughly a quarter less fuel than its shaft-drive sister in MBY's comparison, and the 317 gallon tank gives genuine coastal range.

Flyer 12, Antares 12 and the later Flyer 10

In 2004 to 2009 Beneteau sold two 12 m boats: the Flyer 12 hardtop with IPS and the Antares 12, a flybridge cruiser on shafts. The Antares name has since moved to a completely different outboard boat launched in 2023, so check build years. The modern Flyer range is outboard only, topped by the Flyer 10 and the new Flyer 30, and shares nothing with this diesel sportscruiser except the badge.