Beneteau Oceanis 43, Where Nauta's Interiors Began

The Beneteau Oceanis 43 and the arrival of designer interiors

At the 2006 US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Beneteau announced a new line of cruisers with interiors by Nauta Design, and Cruising World recalled cynics in the crowd fearing a return to the curved decorator interiors of the late 1980s. The Beneteau Oceanis 43, sold in the US as the Beneteau 43, answered them. Its interior turned out rectilinear, practical and comfortable, and Cruising World's reviewer called the result an arrangement with all the essential elements in almost exquisite proportion.

Jean Berret and Olivier Racoupeau drew the hull and deck. Yachting Monthly's Chris Beeson sailed it at its European introduction in Valencia, at the America's Cup base of Alinghi, and noted that the full-length saloon windows signaled a new mindset for a mass-production builder trying to offer a more personal, stylish boat. SAIL added that, unlike most Beneteaus sold in America at the time, which were built in Marion, South Carolina, the 43 family came from France.

A dinghy-shaped bottom and a long sailing waterline

The published numbers are an LOA of 43 ft, a waterline of 38 ft 1 in, a beam of 13 ft 6 in and a displacement of about 19,560 lb. Cruising World lists 767 sq ft of sail, 95 gallons of water and 53 gallons of fuel. Two keels were offered: a 6 ft 7 in deep fin and a 5 ft 5 in shoal fin, which SAIL described as the standard draft in its charter test boat.

Cruising World found a very flat, shallow bilge under flush floorboards, with a sump only large enough for the bilge pump. Its reviewer explained that a shallow canoe body allows more effective keel depth for a given draft, which helps windward work, especially with the shoal keel, and that a hull shaped like a dinghy prefers to be sailed flat. Yachting Monthly was told that Jean Berret designed the boat to sail at 5 to 18 degrees of heel. It slows beyond 20 degrees and, when overpressed, rounds up at about 25 degrees, so reef early, from about 15 knots of wind upwind.

Sea trials from the Potomac to Valencia

Cruising World sailed an owner's boat on the Potomac River in variable winds. It broad-reached at 7.8 knots in 17 knots true and at 5.8 knots in less than 12, and was only a little slower on the wind. The reviewer was surprised how little it heeled when the breeze climbed into the upper teens, and the standard 140 percent genoa trimmed easily from the helm, so one person could tack the boat.

In Valencia, Yachting Monthly made about 6 knots at 35 to 40 degrees apparent in 10 to 12 knots of breeze, tacked through about 90 degrees and beam reached at 7 to 9 knots in 14 to 18 knots of wind. SAIL, sailing a four-cabin Moorings 43.4 in Tortola, saw over 6 knots to windward in under 10 knots of true wind and nearly 7 knots with the sheets eased, and praised the light twin-wheel steering.

• 7.8 knots broad reaching in 17 knots true (Cruising World)
• 7 to 9 knots beam reaching in 14 to 18 knots (Yachting Monthly)
• 8.5 knots at 3,200 rpm and 6.2 knots at 2,000 rpm under power (Cruising World)
• Turns in about 1.5 boat lengths ahead (Yachting Monthly)

Two, three or four cabins on the Beneteau Oceanis 43

Beneteau offered four layout versions. The owner's version has two cabins: a forward V-berth cabin with walk-around room, a dressing seat and a private head and shower, plus an aft starboard cabin with a huge athwartships berth and its own door to the main head. The standard galley is L-shaped and sits aft to port by the companionway, with a front-opening fridge, a top-loading freezer and solid fiddles, and the saloon table seats on three sides with an aft-facing chart desk at the foot of the port settee.

Three-cabin boats add a second aft cabin, with headroom of 6 ft 3 in and 6 ft 7 in bunks in each, according to Yachting Monthly, which also noted 6 ft 8 in headroom in the saloon. Its one complaint was that both heads in the three-cabin layout are on the starboard side. The four-cabin version, built for charter as the Moorings 43.4, replaces the forward stateroom with a smaller V-berth and a two-bunk cabin and uses a linear galley. SAIL found the cabins snug but habitable and said up to ten people could sleep aboard.

Twin wheels, big winches and a lazarette

Twin leather-bound wheels give a good view forward, and the oversize primary winches sit within reach of each helm for short-handed tacking. Yachting Monthly found the cockpit comfortably deep and big enough for six, with a fixed table base that makes a perfect brace, and a cavernous lazarette under the starboard helm seat that gives access to the steering quadrant. Cruising World added a huge locker under the port seat with shelves, a propane locker under the port helm seat and a liferaft locker opening onto the transom platform.

Criticisms were minor. Cruising World wanted better handrails on the cabin trunk and more handholds forward of the galley, and Yachting Monthly found the cockpit instruments, mounted behind the wheels, awkward to adjust and warned against trapping fingers between a low wheel spoke and the coaming.

The 54 hp Yanmar and its saildrive

Sailboatdata lists a Yanmar 4JH4AE of 54 hp driving a saildrive. Cruising World recorded 8.5 knots at full throttle (3,200 rpm) and a quiet 6.2 knots at 2,000 rpm, and Yachting Monthly measured 6 knots at 2,000 rpm and a shade over 8 knots flat out with a fixed three-blade propeller, noting that the soundproofing was basic but the engine ran smoothly.

As with any saildrive boat of this age, the rubber diaphragm seal is due for replacement on the manufacturer's schedule, and the leg's oil should be checked for water. A boat that has never had its diaphragm changed should be priced accordingly.

Buying a 2008, 2009 or 2010 Beneteau 43

In 2026 most Beneteau Oceanis 43 for sale listings in the US ask $140,000 to $210,000. A 2009 Beneteau Oceanis 43 two-cabin owner's boat with the deep keel sits in the middle to upper part of the range, while ex-charter four-cabin boats can be found below it. Allow $12,000 to $23,000 a year for slip, insurance, haul-out and maintenance.

Searches for a 43 foot Beneteau or Beneteau 43 for sale can also turn up the Cyclades 43.4 charter boat or the Sense 43, so check the designer and year on every listing. The Oceanis 43 is the Berret-Racoupeau boat with the long saloon windows and twin wheels.