Beneteau Sense 50 Buyer's Guide and Review

From a 118 ft concept to the Beneteau Sense 50

The Beneteau Sense 50 started life as a superyacht idea. Yachting World traced it to a 118 ft concept called Evoe that Berret-Racoupeau drew in 2006; Beneteau liked it and asked for something similar but smaller. Inside the company the project carried the code name LAO, for living aboard open, according to Cruising World. The brief was a boat whose cockpit worked like a terrace and whose living spaces were not buried deep in the hull.

Four prototypes later, the Sense 50 reached the autumn 2010 shows. Yachting World reported 20 sales during those shows, and Beneteau USA's president told Cruising World that the company had planned to build 40 in the first year but expected about 70 to leave the line by the end of August 2011. Cruising World's judges then named it Best Full-Size Cruiser, 50 to 55 Feet, in Boat of the Year 2011, calling it the show's most innovative new boat.

Dock & Go, the trick that stopped the show

Cruising World described the scene at the 2010 US Sailboat Show in Annapolis: cheering crowds watching a 50 ft sailboat crab sideways and spin in its own length. The system behind it, Dock & Go, combines a saildrive that rotates through 180 degrees, a powerful bow thruster and the autopilot, all controlled by a single joystick. Yachting World noted that Beneteau developed it with ZF and Yanmar for the 75 hp engine.

SAIL's tester threaded a marina entrance with a foot to spare on each side, then came back out the same way in reverse, and reckoned an average skipper would master the joystick in about 15 minutes. One caveat from that test still applies: switching to Dock & Go locks the twin rudders, so the boat maneuvers on thrust alone and must be handled at low speed. Cruising World's judges also asked what happens if the software fails, a fair question for a 15-year-old electronic system. Roughly half the early buyers chose it, Yachting World said.

A cockpit as wide as the boat and every cabin forward

Dropping the aft cabins let Berret-Racoupeau lower the cockpit sole and spread the cockpit across almost the full 15 ft 11 in beam. Three shallow steps at a 45 degree angle lead into the saloon, and Cruising World's judges compared the transition to stepping onto a catamaran bridge deck. Hinged helm seats lift out of the way for boarding and swimming, and a transom panel rises from a housing to close the stern at sea. The mainsheet runs to a fixed arch, and the U-shaped starboard seating converts to a large sun pad around a retractable table.

Below, the saloon and galley occupy the middle of the boat, with a long galley and a large porthole that serves as a pass-through to the cockpit. Batteries, fuel and water sit in a deep bilge under the raised saloon sole, while noisy machinery is aft, away from the sleeping cabins. Forward, the owner's cabin has an island berth and an en suite head with separate shower. Beneteau's 2015 list shows a three-cabin layout with a guest double and a bunk cabin, or a two-cabin version with an office, which Yachting World thought sensible for couples who rarely carry more than one set of guests. An extra cabin entered from the cockpit could replace the service area to port.

Testers had criticisms. Yachting World found berth stowage limited and the white leather option impractical, and Cruising World's judges wanted more footholds in the cockpit when heeled.

How the chined hull sails

Beneteau claimed the Sense heels about 5 degrees less than an equivalent Oceanis, and testers agreed it likes to be sailed flat. SAIL saw about 7 knots to windward in light air with little heel and tacking angles under 90 degrees; when the breeze built to 18 knots gusting 25 and the crew set a jib topsail, the boat accelerated easily to its 9 knot hull speed. Cruising World's judges, in a wet 14 knot breeze off Annapolis, logged 5.6 knots upwind and found it livelier on a reach.

Yachting World was more critical: in a Force 5 to 6 off Les Sables-d'Olonne the test boat had little feedback through the wheel and pointed only about 50 to 55 degrees, though it made over 7 knots and picked up another knot and a half off the wind. With a reef in the main the balance improved. The verdict across the tests is consistent: a comfortable, fast reaching cruiser rather than a close-winded one.

Under power SAIL measured 8.1 knots at a 2,600 rpm cruise, and full throttle brought the boat close to hull speed.

Numbers to verify on any boat you view

Beneteau's June 2015 equipment list gives the figures in our spec table: 50 ft 1 in overall, 46 ft 1 in on the waterline, 33,720 lb light displacement, 110 gallons of fuel with a second 110 gallon tank optional, and 151 gallons of water with an optional 42 gallon tank. Early press material differed, with SAIL's 2010 test quoting 6 ft 11 in for the deep keel and 5 ft 7 in for the shoal. Keel specifications may have changed during the run, so confirm the draft of the boat in front of you rather than trusting a brochure.

Sailboatdata calculates a sail area to displacement ratio of about 21 and a displacement to length ratio of about 154, with a comfort ratio near 28, which places the Sense 50 firmly among brisk modern coastal and offshore cruisers rather than heavy bluewater boats.

When the 50 became the Sense 51

In 2016 Beneteau refreshed the design as the Sense 51. SAIL reported in 2017 that the 50 had morphed into the 51 and the 55 into the 57, while the smaller Sense models were dropped. Sailboatdata shows the 51 on the same 46 ft 1 in waterline and 15 ft 11 in beam, with a bowsprit taking length to 52 ft 4 in and an 80 hp Yanmar. If you see a 2016 or later Sense with a fixed sprit, it is a 51; the earlier boats are the 50.

Owning a Sense 50 a decade on

The Sense 50 makes most sense for couples who spend more time at anchor than beating to windward, and for owners who value the single-level flow between saloon and cockpit. Budget about $25,000 to $50,000 a year for slip, insurance, haul-out, sails and systems on a 50 footer. Expect to replace original electronics, check every electric motor (tables, blinds, TV lift, companionway door) and service the saildrive diaphragm and seals on schedule.