Beneteau 44CC, a Farr Center Cockpit Built Around the Owner's Suite

How the Beneteau 44CC grew out of Farr's Oceanis 440

Beneteau entered the center cockpit market by reworking an aft cockpit boat. Yachting Monthly explains that the builder took Bruce Farr's Oceanis 440 of the previous year and launched the center cockpit version in 1993, and sailboatdata lists the Beneteau 44CC (Oceanis 44 CC in Europe) from 1994 to 2001. Beneteau's heritage site credits Bruce Farr as naval architect and Armel Briand as interior designer, and Beneteau USA described it as a Farr Yacht Design built to provide the strength and comfort needed for long distance voyages.

Yachting Monthly adds that the boat later received the Clipper treatment, the label Beneteau gave its updated Oceanis Clipper range from the mid-1990s. Do not mix up the 44CC with the Oceanis 42 CC that followed in 2002, a different Groupe Finot design with a counter stern and a fold-down platform.

Heavier than it looks

Beneteau USA lists an LOA of 44 ft 7 in, a beam of 14 ft, a draft of 5 ft 11 in and a displacement of about 23,369 lb, with a 75 hp engine, 73 gallons of fuel and 160 gallons of water. Sailboatdata agrees on the length, beam and displacement, gives 6,835 lb of ballast and a 36 ft 9 in waterline, and quotes a slightly shallower 5 ft 9 in draft, as does Yachting Monthly. Beneteau's own US page quoted a 40 ft waterline, which does not square with the other sources, and its mast height figures differ between years (53 ft and 58 ft 9 in), so measure the boat you are buying before planning bridge clearances.

The weight matters. Yachting Monthly calls the 44CC a heavy boat that takes a fair bit of wind to get going, which is the price of the volume, tankage and equipment. In return it carries a cruising load of stores, water and spares without the trim suffering, which matters far more to a liveaboard couple than a few tenths of a knot.

• LOA 44 ft 7 in, beam 14 ft
• Displacement about 23,369 lb, ballast 6,835 lb
• Draft 5 ft 9 in to 5 ft 11 in
• Fuel 73 gal, water 160 gal in two integral tanks

The owner's suite with a bathtub

The selling point is aft. The owner's cabin has a central 6 ft 7 in by 4 ft 11 in double with steps on both sides, two symmetrical hanging lockers, an armchair, a dressing table with mirror and lots of light from portholes and an overhead hatch. Its head compartment includes a 3.5 cubic foot bath and shower with an electric drain pump. Beneteau USA called it an enormous owner's suite, and Yachting Monthly described the suite as huge with a decent-sized hip bath. Few boats under 45 ft offer a tub.

Amidships, the saloon has a dinette on one side and easy chairs on the other, one of which doubles as the seat for the aft-facing chart table. The galley runs along the starboard passage to the aft cabin, with a gimbaled three-burner oven, twin sinks, a 12 volt microwave, an 8 cubic foot top-loading refrigerator and spaces set aside for a dishwasher and washing machine.

One forward cabin or two

Forward, buyers chose between two arrangements. The single forward cabin version has a 6 ft 7 in double, a dressing table and generous stowage, which suits a couple who host occasional guests. The two-cabin version has a smaller forward double plus a port cabin with two 6 ft 7 in bunks, or that space fitted out as a workshop and utility room with a workbench or room for a dryer. Both share a molded forward head to starboard.

The workshop option is worth looking for if you plan to live aboard, since a dedicated place for tools and spares is rare on production boats.

Bulwarks, a windscreen coaming and a choice of helm

On deck, a bulwark with a teak cap surrounds the boat, there are eight mooring cleats and four dorade vents, and the forward cockpit coaming is shaped to take a windscreen, a hard top or a sprayhood. The steering is hydraulic, with the wheel either on a pedestal or on the forward port cockpit bulkhead. Sail handling is set up for a couple, with an electric halyard winch, two 54 size genoa winches and a mainsheet winch, an in-mast furling main and a Facnor furler on a twin-groove forestay.

Unlike the deck-stepped masts of the Oceanis 400 and 411 of the same era, the 44CC has a keel-stepped mast, with two sets of spreaders swept aft. That is a robust arrangement for a boat intended for long passages, though it means checking the mast step and partners for corrosion and leaks.

Machinery space and electrical capacity

The engine sits on a chassis molded into the hull liner, in a compartment insulated with lead foam and with space set aside for a generator. Beneteau USA listed engines from 60 to 85 hp depending on the model selected, and a 75 hp unit (Volvo or Yanmar according to sailboatdata) as the headline figure. The shaft runs through a protective skeg to a three-blade propeller. Note that the equipment list mentions a 100 gallon fuel tank while the specification gives 73 gallons, so confirm the tank on the boat you are viewing.

Standard electrics were two 125 amp hour house batteries and a separate 125 amp hour engine battery with a 40 amp charger, which most cruising owners will have upgraded with more capacity, solar and an inverter.

Beneteau 44CC for sale, what to pay and check

In 2026 most Beneteau 44CC for sale listings in the US ask between about $90,000 and $150,000. Later boats and those with recent repowers and liveaboard systems sit at the top. Budget $10,000 to $21,000 a year for running costs, more with a generator and air conditioning to maintain.

The usual 25 to 30 year checks apply, with extra attention to the hydraulic steering, the keel-stepped mast base, the bathtub drain and sump, and the many through-hulls and pumps a well-equipped liveaboard accumulates.