Beneteau Oceanis Yacht 62, a Sailing Yacht With Motor Yacht Manners

Why the Beneteau Oceanis 62 looks like a motor yacht

When Beneteau unveiled the Oceanis Yacht 62 in 2016, it was launching more than a new flagship. It was the first of a new line, with the word Yacht added to Oceanis models of 60 ft and over, and SAIL reported that it borrowed elements from the builder's Monte Carlo motor yachts. Berret-Racoupeau drew the hull from scratch with chines, twin rudders and a centered sail plan, and Beneteau brought in Pierangelo Andreani, a stylist who had worked extensively on its powerboats, for the look and the interior.

The result is a sleek 62 ft 10 in profile with a black hull band hiding a dozen dark windows, high topsides and a low coachroof. Yachting World named it a winner at European Yacht of the Year 2017, with jurors praising luxury details at a price rarely seen in the category. For most buyers searching for a Beneteau 62 today, this is the boat; a much older Farr-designed Beneteau 62, first built in 1995 with CNB, also exists, but it is a different design and a different market.

A platform that sinks to launch the jet tender

The stern is the 62's party piece. The transom drops on hydraulics to form a large swim platform, and its outer edge goes below the waterline so a tender can float straight off. Yachting World measured the garage for a 3.5 m RIB or a 2.85 m Williams jet tender and watched one person launch or recover the jet in under a minute, with an electric winch hauling it back aboard. Instead of a ladder, two staircases lead down from the cockpit on either side of the garage.

Ahead of the helm pods the social cockpit has U-shaped settees around two height-adjustable tables that drop to form sun loungers, separated by a central walkway. An electrically raised outdoor galley with grill and sink pops up from under the aft sun pad, and Beneteau counts six sunbathing areas from transom to foredeck. A composite hard top with an opening roof was optional.

Yachting World flagged the downside: with so much space devoted to the garage and lounging, there is little deck stowage, so the crew cabin often ends up as the sail and fender locker.

The private owner's suite and the hidden galley

Below, the 45 degree companionway opens into a saloon with an L-shaped lounge to port facing a centerline settee, a straight galley to starboard behind a console with a pop-up television, and a forward-facing navigation desk. In the factory specification the galley has Corian counters, a 300 liter double-door refrigerator, ice maker, dishwasher and wine cellar, all concealed when not in use.

The master suite is the highlight. A short athwartships corridor screens it from the saloon, so you cannot see into the cabin from the living area. SAIL measured 6 ft 11 in of headroom at the foot of the king berth, which Yachting World put at 1.8 by 2 m, and the corridor holds a pantry and space for a washer-dryer. The two aft cabins run all the way to the stern beside the garage, each with an en suite head and aft-facing portlights.

Beneteau's later list shows two layouts. The three-cabin boat gives every cabin its own bathroom. The four-cabin version adds a bunk cabin to starboard and gives the aft cabins a shared bathroom, a sensible choice only if you regularly carry children or crew.

How 26 tonnes of luxury actually sails

SAIL was first to sail hull number one, out of Les Sables-d'Olonne in 16 knots of true wind with a 3 to 4 ft chop. On Incidence sails it made 8 knots at 55 degrees apparent, 10.2 knots on a beam reach and 10.4 knots at 140 degrees apparent, and shrugged off a wave that soaked the cockpit. Yachting World, in lighter air, sailed at 6.7 to 7 knots in 10 knots of breeze with the code sail set and recommended it as the first option to tick for light-wind cruising.

Sail handling is concentrated at the helms. All trim is led back to the twin command pods, four electric Harken winches manage the sail plan and the headsail furls at the touch of a switch. The catch is a compact winch area with many line tails stuffed into small bags. Standard sails are a 1,001 sq ft classic main or a 786 sq ft furling main, with an 893 sq ft genoa or 646 sq ft self-tacking jib; a 1,776 sq ft Code 0 and a 3,230 sq ft asymmetric were optional.

Weight is the honest criticism. Beneteau quotes a light displacement of 26,108 kg, about 57,500 lb, and Yachting World's heavily optioned test boat was around five tonnes heavier. That is precisely the problem the Oceanis Yacht 60 later set out to solve.

Engine, tanks and the systems you are buying

Power is a six-cylinder Yanmar on a conventional shaft: 160 hp on hull number one according to SAIL, and 170 hp in Beneteau's 2021 equipment list, which also includes a bow thruster as standard. SAIL motored at 8.5 knots at 2,000 rpm burning about 3 gallons an hour, and at 6.5 knots at 1,400 rpm for just over a gallon an hour, which makes the 264 gallon fuel capacity, spread over three tanks, good for well over 1,000 miles at economical speed.

Water capacity is 280 gallons in four tanks, and touchscreen panels monitor and transfer liquids between tanks. Hull one carried an 11.5 kW Onan generator; later lists offer a 17.5 kVA unit. Electric toilets, air conditioning, the hydraulic platform, the pop-up galley and the jet tender add up to a lot of machinery, so a thorough systems survey matters more here than on a simpler cruiser.

Oceanis Yacht 62 or the newer 60

The Oceanis Yacht 60 succeeded the 62 as the line's flagship and was designed to be dramatically lighter, with a new team of Roberto Biscontini and Lorenzo Argento. If you want the most performance per dollar, the 60 is the more modern sailing boat. If you want the most luxurious interior volume, the hydraulic jet tender platform and a private owner's foyer at a lower used price, the 62 still makes a strong case.

Production of the 62 ran from its 2016 launch into the early 2020s; Beneteau's equipment list was still being updated in June 2021. Used boats therefore span roughly model years 2017 to 2021.

Ownership costs and whether you need crew

A 62 ft sailboat with this much equipment typically costs $70,000 to $140,000 a year to keep, depending on slip location, insurance, generator and air conditioning hours, and whether a paid captain is involved. Plenty of couples sail the boat themselves thanks to the electric winches and furlers, but a delivery skipper or seasonal crew is common, which is why the four-cabin layout and crew berth exist.

Budget separately for sails: a 1,000 sq ft main and a big Code 0 are expensive to replace, and laminate sails on early boats may be near the end of their life.