Beneteau Oceanis 45 Review and Used Buying Guide

How the Beneteau Oceanis 45 became Beneteau's best seller

The Beneteau Oceanis 45 arrived in 2011 as part of a revitalized Oceanis line that borrowed ideas from the Sense range: a hard chine in the topsides, a mainsheet arch, a low coachroof and a cockpit that opens to the sea. It won the European Yacht of the Year award in the family cruiser category for 2012 and was nominated for SAIL's Best Boats. Yachting World, which tested it in 2011, later called it Beneteau's most popular model to date, with more than 800 sold.

Those numbers explain why searching for an Oceanis 45 for sale returns so many boats. It was the default 45 ft sailboat for charter companies and for private buyers who wanted modern styling with conventional accommodation. In 2018 Beneteau replaced it with the Oceanis 46.1, which kept the Finot-Conq and Nauta partnership but added twin rudders and a stepped hull.

Finot-Conq's chine and a 42 ft waterline

Finot-Conq drew the hull, with Nauta Design responsible for styling and interior. The chine, a crease running the full length of the topsides about halfway up the freeboard, let the designers carry beam outboard above the waterline for more interior volume without widening the wetted hull. Cruising World argued it also helps stability when the boat heels.

The numbers from sailboatdata: 45 ft 5 in overall (44 ft 3 in hull length), a long 42 ft waterline, 14 ft 9 in beam and 21,048 lb displacement. Draft is 7 ft 1 in with the standard keel or 5 ft 9 in with the shoal option. Reported sail area is 1,076 sq ft, giving a sail area to displacement ratio of about 22.7 and a displacement to length ratio of about 127, which is a powerful, light cruiser on paper.

Construction, per SAIL and Cruising World, is a solid fiberglass hull with a bonded inner structural grid that carries keel, mast and chainplate loads, an injection-molded balsa-cored deck, a cast iron keel bolted with stainless fasteners and a fiberglass rudder stock. US boats were built at Beneteau's plant in Marion, South Carolina.

Test speeds on Narragansett Bay and the Chesapeake

SAIL tested a boat with in-mast furling and a 104 percent jib on Narragansett Bay. In 13 to 17 knots of apparent wind it made 7 knots at 35 degrees apparent, 6.5 knots pinching to 30 degrees and 7.7 knots at 60 degrees. On a flat reach in 8 to 12 knots of true wind it made 5.7 to 7 knots, and at 140 degrees in 8 knots apparent it made 5.3 knots.

Cruising World's Boat of the Year judges sailed one on the Chesapeake with gusts in the low 20s. Reefed to about 90 percent of its sail area, the boat made nearly 8 knots upwind and stayed mannered, then reached 9.3 knots on a beam reach under full sail once the apparent wind dropped. The judges liked the helm and found the chined hull felt fine in a breeze.

The rig is a 9/10 fractional sloop with an aluminum mast and double spreaders, and all lines lead aft. Because the mainsheet runs from the arch, there is no traveler in the cockpit, and the rigid vang does that job.

Yanmar 54, 50 gallons of fuel and Dock & Go

Standard power is a 54 hp Yanmar diesel. SAIL recorded 7.2 knots at 2,150 rpm and 8.6 knots at full revs of 3,000 rpm. Fuel capacity is modest at 50 gallons (189 liters), with 151 gallons (572 liters) of water, so cruising couples often add jerry cans or plan fuel stops more carefully than on the older, bigger-tanked Beneteau 50.

Beneteau offered Dock & Go, a joystick system that combines a rotating saildrive leg with a bow thruster so the boat can move sideways. SAIL priced it at about $15,000. Cruising World's judges, all expert boathandlers, said they would rather spend the money elsewhere, since the standard engine and a conventional bow thruster handled tight quarters well. For less experienced crews, a working Dock & Go is a genuine selling point, but it adds complexity to maintain.

Two, three or four cabins, and the pantry worth having

The Oceanis 45 came in four layouts: four cabins with two heads and three cabins with three heads for charter, and three cabins with two heads or two cabins with two heads for private owners. Every version has a large forward owner's cabin taking about a third of the interior, with an island double and en-suite head and shower.

The two cabin plan is the one to look for if you cruise. It replaces the port aft cabin with a walk-in pantry and a big storage room abaft the galley that can also be reached from a cockpit locker, a feature Cruising World's judges singled out for long-distance cruising. Owner layouts also have a clever sliding table that moves along the port settee as a navigation desk or breakfast nook, while the charter layouts swap it for a long galley and give up the nav space entirely.

Aft cabins have proper double berths without engine-box cutouts, good headroom and light. The companionway is a set of 45 degree steps rather than a ladder, which matters to older crews.

• Charter: 4 cabins and 2 heads, or 3 cabins and 3 heads
• Owner: 3 cabins and 2 heads
• Owner: 2 cabins and 2 heads with pantry and storage room

The electric fold-down transom

The cockpit's party piece is the full-width transom that folds down electrically, including the bench seat behind the twin wheels, to create a teak beach nearly flush with the water. It is the feature most owners mention first, and it makes swimming, boarding from a tender and handling a dog far easier. The cockpit is wide and split by a big fixed table with insulated storage and, often, a chart plotter at its aft end, which also gives crew something to brace against when heeled.

Jib sheets lead to winches on the coamings within reach of both helms, while other lines run to a pair of coachroof winches beside the companionway. The arch gives a solid base for a dodger and bimini, which most US boats carry.

Running costs and charter-boat caveats

We estimate $20,000 to $42,000 a year to keep an Oceanis 45 in the US, depending on slip costs, insurance, haul-out and bottom paint, Yanmar service and a reserve for sails and rigging. If the boat has a saildrive, as Dock & Go boats do, budget for regular seal and diaphragm checks.

Ex-charter boats are plentiful and cheap, but check for the usual signs: worn winches and clutches, tired upholstery, damaged gelcoat at the transom, engine hours and any grounding repairs on the keel and grid. A well-maintained owner boat costs more and is usually worth it.