Beneteau Oceanis 40 CC, the Center Cockpit Oceanis 400 for Liveaboards

Fall 1995, when Beneteau moved the cockpit amidships

In the mid 1990s the big production builders began offering center cockpit versions of their best-selling aft cockpit boats. As Tom Neale put it in Cruising World, you take a proven hull, tool a new deck, redistribute the weight and gain a smooth-sailing cruiser with a new look and much more interior volume. Beneteau did exactly that with the Groupe Finot Oceanis 400, and the center cockpit version was introduced in the fall of 1995.

PBO notes that the center cockpit boat was built on the same hull as the Oceanis 400 and later 411, and that it sold in much smaller numbers; about 1,000 boats in total were built on that hull before the 393 and 423 arrived in 2002. Beneteau's heritage archive groups the 40 CC with its Oceanis center cockpit range of 1994 to 2003, and the Oceanis 42 CC, which sailboatdata dates to 2003, took over.

Oceanis 400 CC, Clipper 40 CC or Beneteau 40CC

Brokers list this boat under several names. Cruising World's test and sailboatdata call it the Oceanis 400 CC. Beneteau France sold it as the Oceanis Clipper 40 CC, and Beneteau USA's later website called it the Beneteau 40cc. Sailboatdata also records a charter version, the Moorings 402CC, first built in 1996.

Whatever the badge, the key facts are the same: a 41 ft center cockpit sloop with a 36 ft 9 in waterline, an aft owner's cabin and two heads. Do not confuse it with the aft cockpit Oceanis 400 or with the larger Oceanis 42 CC that followed.

What changes when the cockpit moves amidships

The trade for the extra volume is on deck. Neale found the side decks narrow for a 40 footer, a compromise to make room below, and the cockpit backrests low, which keeps the profile sleek and makes it easier to step out of the cockpit. Beneteau USA's equipment list adds a teak-capped bulwark around the deck, four Dorade vents, side deck lockers with one for propane bottles, liferaft attachment points on the aft coachroof and a forward cockpit coaming designed to take a windscreen, a rigid top or a sprayhood.

Steering is hydraulic, with the wheel on a pedestal or, as an option, mounted on the aft face of the cabin behind a spray shield, which Neale said pushed the boat toward motorsailer territory. The sugar-scoop stern has a swim ladder, a transom shower and lockers for fenders and lines, and a stainless rub rail protects the topsides, a cruising detail he said many builders omitted.

An aft suite, a forward guest cabin and two heads

The aft owner's cabin is the reason most people buy this boat. Beneteau USA describes a central double berth about 6 ft 7 in by 4 ft 11 in with steps on both sides, two hanging lockers, a vanity with mirror and plenty of opening ports, one of them in the transom. Neale called the berth very low and wide, easy to get into from either side. Its own head with a stall shower sits forward of the cabin beside the engine space.

Forward there is a guest cabin with a double berth to starboard, drawers beneath, a hanging locker and a small settee to port, plus a second head with shower right in the bow. The saloon has a raised U-shaped settee and table to starboard for a view out, and a navigation station with chart table and hinged electrical panel to port. The galley runs along the port passageway toward the aft cabin, close to both cockpit and saloon, with a gimbaled oven, a top-loading 12 volt refrigerator and twin sinks; the test boat had a three burner stove positioned so that cooking heat and smells are channeled up and out of the companionway.

Headroom is about 6 ft 3 in, and the joinery is cherry-stained.

An engine room built for a generator

The test boat in 1996 had a 60 hp Yanmar, and Neale called engine access terrific, with the companionway steps lifting on struts, a hatch in a galley cabinet for side access and easy reach to the stuffing box and transmission aft. Beneteau USA's later list gives a 56 hp diesel and a 46 gallon fuel tank, against 53 gallons in the Cruising World spec box, so check what the boat carries.

Beneteau designed a space aft of the engine for a generator. That suits liveaboards, but Neale warned that a generator there could limit access to the engine and stuffing box. Water capacity is a generous 132 gallons, the standard windlass on later US boats was a 1,000 watt electric unit, and the shaft is protected by a small skeg.

Keel-stepped mast, furling main and how it sails

Unlike the deck-stepped Oceanis 361, 381 and 393, the 40 CC has its mast stepped on the keel. The masthead rig has two sets of spreaders angled aft, discontinuous rigging to the first spreaders, two backstays, an in-mast furling main and a 140 percent furling genoa, with a spinnaker pole track on the mast. Cruising World quoted 687 sq ft of sail on the 100 percent foretriangle and a mast 52 ft 8 in above the water.

Neale sailed it out of Newport in six to eight knots and flat water. He found the Finot hull slippery and well engineered but said the furling main did the boat no favors and that the volume and payload of this big 40 footer limit ultimate speed. For a dedicated sailor he suggested a conventional, higher performance main. The ratios agree: a sail area to displacement ratio of 15.6 and a displacement to length ratio of 169 describe a comfortable cruiser, not a racer.

Tom Neale's quibbles, three decades later

Neale's 1996 inspection flagged details that are worth checking on any boat today. The windlass foot switch sits inside the anchor locker, so the lid must be open to use it, which he thought was a safe arrangement. The chain opening in the deck was rectangular with square corners, and he would have preferred a rounded hawse that is less likely to jam. Through-hulls were well placed but not labeled, and the emergency tiller on the test boat was a loose-fitting pipe that wobbled.

He was more positive about the structure: hand-laid solid glass, an isophthalic gelcoat against osmosis, a bonded fiberglass grid, a balsa-cored deck and a hull-to-deck joint fastened every six inches and sealed with 3M 5200.

• Label every through-hull and check the valves
• Test the emergency tiller fit before going offshore
• Inspect the chain deck opening for chafe and jamming
• Check the hydraulic steering for leaks and air

Prices and how it compares

Center cockpit boats appeal to a narrower but loyal group of buyers, mostly couples who live aboard or cruise for months at a time. In 2026 we expect a Beneteau Oceanis 40 CC for sale in the US to ask about $70,000 to $120,000, with generator, air conditioning, enclosure and recent rigging pushing values up. European listings we reviewed ranged from about 73,000 to 120,000 euros.

Running costs are about $10,000 to $19,000 a year in the US. If you are choosing between this and an aft cockpit Oceanis 400 or 411, the CC gives you the private aft suite and a drier, more protected cockpit; the aft cockpit boats sail a little better and are easier to find.