Beneteau 351 Oceanis and Oceanis 352 Used Buyer's Review

The Beneteau 351 Oceanis, Jean Berret's wide-body family boat

Yachting Monthly sets the scene for the beneteau 351 oceanis well: in the 1990s production cruisers got fatter and faster, and Beneteau joined the trend by relaunching its Oceanis range. The 351 was considered particularly beamy at launch, which gave wide berths, a spacious saloon and galley, and plenty of interest at boat shows. Jean Berret drew the hull with styling by Armel Briand Concept, and Beneteau asked for a yacht that could outperform other production cruisers of the time.

Beneteau's heritage site places it in the 1991 to 1994 Oceanis generation, sailboatdata lists the first boats in 1994, and European listings include hulls dated 1993 and 1994. It followed the Philippe Briand Oceanis 350, whose production ended in 1993. Because of its generous accommodation it was popular in charter, and sailboatdata notes the two-cabin version was also sold as the Moorings 352 and the three-cabin as the Moorings 353.

Two spec sheets, and where the Oceanis 352 fits

Beneteau's own paperwork contains two sets of numbers. The launch brochure gives 10.62 m overall, a 10.37 m hull, a 9.28 m (30 ft 5 in) waterline, a 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in) beam and 1.53 m of draft, with about 5.3 tonnes of displacement, 1.7 tonnes of ballast, 59 m2 of sail, 100 liters of fuel and 400 liters of water. A provisional specification dated November 1995 lists 10.50 m overall, a 10.40 m hull and a longer 9.48 m waterline, with 90 liters of fuel and a 28 hp maximum engine, while keeping the beam, draft, weight and sail area.

Sailboatdata files that later boat separately as the 1997 version of the 351, also known as the Oceanis 352, built until 1999. Searches for beneteau 352 therefore lead to the same family. If the waterline matters to you, check which version a listing is; otherwise the two are close enough that condition will decide the deal.

A winged bulb and a waterline over 90 percent of the hull

Beneteau's brochure claimed the 351 was so quick that it left well-known performance boats in its wake, thanks to taut lines, a waterline over 90 percent of hull length and wide beam for stability. The keel is a bulb with two winglets, drawn for performance, and a pronounced forefoot helps the bow through waves; the three-blade propeller shaft is protected by a skeg.

Yachting Monthly's Duncan Kent adds the caveats. The sail area to displacement ratio is quite low, but the low-drag hull needs only a gentle breeze to move and the shallow sections aft make for swift downwind sailing. Stability comes more from form than ballast, which is fine in normal conditions but reduces righting moment in a knockdown. With a wide, flat stern and a single spade rudder, steering gets heavy and the boat gripes up if you do not reef in time.

Under sail out of Chichester Harbour

Kent sailed a refitted 1996 three-cabin boat with a new in-mast furling main and a worn 135 percent genoa in a healthy sea breeze. Close-hauled under full sail it made 5 to 6 knots and was happy to steer itself, tacking briskly through 78 to 80 degrees. Its fastest point of sail was around 50 degrees apparent, where it easily passed 7 knots in Force 4 to 5, and under an asymmetric cruising chute in 12 to 15 knots the log stayed above 7 knots.

The owners report that she sails brilliantly upwind in 20 knots on flat water and is totally balanced, but is prone to roll on a reach in a beam sea because of the heavy in-mast furling gear. They swapped the original folding two-blade prop for a fixed three-blade after finding the folder fairly hopeless in close quarters; it increased prop walk but improved handling and dropped the revs.

Only two winches for everything

The deck plan leads all control lines aft under a false deck on the coachroof to a bank of stoppers and two self-tailing winches either side of the companionway; Beneteau's 1995 list specifies Lewmar 44 CSTO, and Kent's test boat had Lewmar 42ST. The genoa tracks and mainsheet traveler are on the coachroof, which keeps the side decks clear and helps pointing. Kent's criticism is that two winches are not enough: with a slab-reefed main or a chute up, the crew ends up doubling lines on one winch, and the genoa sheet jammers cannot be released without winching first. The owners planned to add winches.

Elsewhere the deck is well thought out. The helm seat hinges down to form a gate to the swim platform, ladder and emergency tiller fitting; a solid cockpit table with an integral cool box gives bracing; two deep seat lockers and a lazarette provide stowage; and the furling drum sits below deck clear of the anchor. The masthead rig with two sets of spreaders and twin non-adjustable backstays is robust.

Owner's layout or three cabins

Both layouts share a forward double of about 2.20 by 1.80 m, a saloon to starboard with a U-shaped dinette around an oval table, a linear galley to port and a forward-facing chart table of about 80 by 57 cm. The owner's version has one aft cabin with a 2.00 by 1.90 m double, a deep starboard cockpit locker and a larger head with a separate shower stall. The three-cabin version has two aft doubles; Yachting Monthly measured them at 2.0 by 1.5 m, and the head is a little smaller.

Headroom is excellent at 1.90 m in the saloon, 1.88 m in the aft cabins and 1.83 m forward. The galley has a big fridge and a gimballed cooker with oven, but Kent notes the linear layout is not ideal under way, and the curved dinette makes it hard to create a sea berth. Water is carried in two 200 liter rigid tanks built into the hull frame.

What two surveyors look for on a 351

Yachting Monthly asked two surveyors about the type. Nick Vass warns that the hull's stiffening tray molding is bonded in with paste and is notorious for coming away: look for cracks and gaps at its edges under the saloon and forecabin soles, because left alone the hull flexes and cracks appear outside. He also finds deck delamination as the balsa core shrinks and decays, cracked moldings around keel studs, and the usual 20-year breakdown of keel bedding and window sealants. The original Volvo Penta MD2030 is a good engine, but its cooling system tends to clog.

Ben Sutcliffe-Davies adds stanchion bases that flex unless reinforced, cockpit teak that is often ply veneer now due for replacement, soft cockpit seat moldings, a transom seat that must be tied on, detached bonding paste where the liner is relieved for seacocks, and keel bolts that on several boats needed new bolts and larger backing pads.

What a Beneteau 351 or 352 for sale costs in 2026

A realistic US range is about $35,000 to $62,000, with refitted owner's-version boats at the top. Running costs are about $7,000 to $14,000 a year. Yachting Monthly's verdict is fair: no ocean passage maker, but exciting and safe coastal sailing in reasonable weather, with space for two families below. Its suggested alternatives of the era were the Bavaria 34, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 34.2 and Sadler 34.