Oceanis 38.1 Review, the Beneteau 38.1 Layouts and What to Pay

From the modular 38 to a more conventional 38.1

In September 2017 Beneteau announced four new Oceanis models for that autumn: the 55.1, 35.1, 38.1 and 41.1. The Oceanis 38.1 took the Finot-Conq hull of the 2013 Oceanis 38 and dropped the idea that made the earlier boat famous, the Daysailer, Weekender and Cruiser menu with a removable bulkhead. In its place came a fixed but flexible list of layouts, a mini bowsprit built into the bow, a double door to a private forward cabin and a new L-shaped galley option.

Beneteau describes the boat as following the 41.1, and the logic was the same: keep a proven, quick hull, make the interior easier to sell and to charter. It worked. Practical Sailor's 2025 review featured hull number 700, a 2023 boat, and notes that Beneteau offered the 38.1 from 2017. The Marc Lombard Oceanis 37.1, first built in 2023 for the 2024 model year, took over the slot.

If you are comparing listings, a boat called Oceanis 38 dates from 2013 to 2017, and a boat called 38.1 from 2017 on. The bowsprit and the forward cabin's double doors are the quickest visual tells.

What carried over below the waterline

The hull is the Finot-Conq shape of the original 38: beam of 13 ft 1 in carried almost to the transom, a chine along the topsides and twin underhung rudders. Beneteau's North American equipment list gives a hull length of 36 ft 6 in and a waterline of 35 ft 2 in, with overall length of 37 ft 9 in without the bowsprit and 38 ft 9 in with it. Light displacement is 15,102 lb.

Construction is a solid polyester hull with a bonded structural liner, an injected deck with a Saerfoam sandwich and a screwed and bonded hull-to-deck joint finished by a toerail. The cast iron keel is bolted through stainless steel backing plates. Two keels were standard on the US list, a 6 ft 10 in deep fin with 3,946 lb of ballast and a 5 ft 5 in shoal fin with 4,542 lb. Sailboatdata also records a lifting keel drawing about 4 ft 4 in up and 7 ft 11 in down, a rarity in the US.

Practical Sailor's reviewer noted that 15,100 lb is not especially light for the length, matching some heavier-looking American 38s, and that the wide stern buys huge space at some cost to pointing.

Six interior versions, decoded

Beneteau says the 38.1 came in six versions built from a few choices: one or two aft cabins, one head with or without a separate shower stall, a long galley to starboard or an L-shaped galley to port, and a choice of white oak or walnut joinery. The US equipment list from 2020 lays it out clearly.

With the long starboard galley you get a 34 gallon front-opening fridge, an L-shaped saloon bench to port and a chart table with an opening top. Choose the L-shaped port galley and it replaces the hanging locker and chart table, the fridge becomes a 26 gallon top-loading cool box, and the saloon gains benches on both sides with a retractable chart table. The forward owner's cabin, with its double doors and a centerline bed about 4 ft 11 in by 6 ft 10 in, is common to all.

Aft, the two cabin boat has one double to port and a large stowage space to starboard that opens into the cockpit locker, while the three cabin boat has two doubles and a shallow cockpit locker. Either way the head is aft to starboard, and the space opposite can be a hanging locker or a separate shower.

• Long galley (starboard): front-opening 34 gal fridge, chart table, L-shaped saloon
• L-shaped galley (port): 26 gal cool box, full-width saloon, retractable chart table
• Aft: one cabin plus big stowage, or two cabins
• Option: separate shower compartment instead of a hanging locker

Bowsprit, arch and the sail wardrobe

The standard US rig is a deck-stepped 9/10 fractional mast with two sets of aft-swept spreaders and a bridle backstay, a semi full batten main of 393 sq ft with lazy jacks and a 103 percent furling genoa of 355 sq ft. Options listed a furling main, a 269 sq ft self-tacking jib, a 700 sq ft Code 0 flown from the integrated bowsprit and a 1,227 sq ft asymmetric spinnaker. Winches are two Harken 40 self-tailers for the sheets and one Harken 35 on the coachroof.

The composite arch with built-in LED lighting was an option; without it the mainsheet ends at a single point on the cockpit floor. Practical Sailor's owner boat had the arch, a mid-boom sheet led forward to the mast and back to the cockpit, and every control line run aft, so there is no need to go forward under way. Twin wheels sit far apart and the fully opening transom becomes a swim platform about 8 ft 6 in wide.

The reviewer did find weak spots: low coamings that need cushions for back support, no view forward over the coachroof when seated at the wheel, a throttle only on the port pedestal and genoa tracks too short to flatten the sail in a blow.

First Line, a taller rig for sailors who want more

When it announced the 38.1, Beneteau also promised a performance version for sailors who love sensations: a mast about one meter taller, a lower boom and Elvstrom Windward 300+ sails, along with deck fittings to match. These boats, sold as the First Line or performance version, are the ones to look for if you club race or sail in light-air areas.

Confirm a performance boat by its air draft and mast section on the survey, since a taller rig changes bridge clearance on the Intracoastal Waterway. The standard boat clears about 55 ft 5 in.

In a 25 knot gust off Sidney

Practical Sailor's Bert Vermeer sailed the 2023 hull 700 off Sidney, British Columbia, on a day that turned gustier than forecast. With the roller-furling main and a genoa only just over 100 percent, the boat surged ahead with what he called almost sports car acceleration, then sailed at and beyond hull speed on a close reach with the windward rudder clear of the water and the leeward one giving light, positive control. When gusts went past 25 knots true they rolled away the main and found the genoa track too short to flatten the headsail.

Under power the Yanmar had plenty in reserve and the turning circle was tight and predictable, although the twin rudders get no propwash, so a bow thruster earns its keep in tight marinas. His summary: a fine coastal cruiser for a couple with guests, best sailed flat, and not designed for ocean passages.

Saildrive, tanks and the numbers to check

Power is a 30 hp Yanmar saildrive, a 3JH40 on the reviewed boat, under the companionway with access through the steps and from the aft cabins. Fuel is 34 gallons. Standard water is also only 34 gallons, with an optional 53 gallon tank, and the boat Practical Sailor tested had the extra tank fitted. The holding tank is 21 gallons and the water heater 6 gallons.

Saildrives need diaphragm and seal inspections and regular anode changes, so ask for service records. Check the tank configuration on any boat you view, because a 38.1 with only the base water tank is a weekend boat rather than a cruiser.

Buying a used Oceanis 38.1

In 2026 we expect US asking prices of roughly $140,000 to $235,000, from early ex-charter three cabin boats up to well-equipped 2022 and 2023 private boats. European listings we checked ranged from about 90,000 euros for a 2018 boat to about 185,000 euros for 2021 and 2022 boats, and US prices tend to sit above those once a boat is imported and commissioned.

Budget $12,000 to $24,000 a year in the US once you add up the slip, insurance, the annual haul, saildrive care and money set aside for sails and canvas. The arch, a bow thruster, the separate shower and the larger water tank are the options we would pay extra for.