Beneteau Sense 55 Review, Specs and the Sense 57 Difference

The Beneteau Sense 55 delivery that changed a mind

Cruising World editor Mark Pillsbury first saw the Sense line at Annapolis and filed it under great boat for a party. Then in the summer of 2012 he helped deliver a brand new Beneteau Sense 55 from Palm Beach, Florida, to Charleston, South Carolina, with Beneteau USA president Wayne Burdick aboard. On the second night a thunderstorm squall hit with sustained winds of 50 knots and more, laying the roughly 40,000 lb boat on its side before the helmsman brought it back toward the wind and held steerage under power. Pillsbury's revised verdict: great boat for a blow.

That story is worth remembering when you read criticism of the Sense concept. The 55 is a big, stiff, beamy hull with a twin-rudder grip on the water, and it is more seaworthy than its open stern and big windows suggest, even if it was designed for warm-water living rather than ocean racing.

The biggest expression of the Sense idea

Beneteau planned the 55 as the third Sense after the 50 and 43. Cruising World reported in 2011 that it would be introduced at the Paris boat show and reach the US in 2012. Like the others it was drawn by Berret-Racoupeau with an interior by Nauta Design, and it pushed the concept further: Beneteau describes cabins that resemble bedrooms, one-level circulation, clearer separation of day and night spaces and a rethought access to the sea.

Burdick told Cruising World the factory nickname was monomaran, the space of a catamaran on the footprint of a monohull. With no aft cabins, the cockpit spans the full beam behind the deckhouse, the helms sit well aft with instrument pods ahead of them, and a pop-up transom keeps following seas out while still giving quick access to the swim platform.

Three suites and a galley you can hide

Three shallow steps lead from the cockpit into a saloon raised to bring the view in through large hull and deckhouse windows. The galley runs lengthwise to starboard, with a grey resin worktop and appliances concealed behind a retractable worktop over the hob and a panel in front of the oven, and a 512 by 322 mm service hatch opens onto the cockpit. A central unit provides extra seating for the chart table and can hold a motorized 32 in television.

Forward, the master suite has an island berth, a leather dressing table, plenty of drawers and a bathroom with the shower separate from the toilet. The two guest cabins sit amidships behind sliding doors, each with its own bathroom, which is why Beneteau calls them private suites. Pillsbury found the forward berth lively at sea but rated the amidships cabins as good sleeping, and used the cockpit bench as a sea berth. An optional extra cabin opens off the cockpit, useful for crew.

His test boat showed how far the equipment list could go: air conditioning, a dishwasher, washer and dryer, a 9 kW generator, electric blinds and washboards, a microwave, three electric heads and an entertainment system.

Nines on the log, and a 75 hp Yanmar

On delivery, the 75 hp turbocharged Yanmar with Dock & Go pushed the boat at 7 knots in calm seas, and over 9 knots over the ground once in the Gulf Stream. When the breeze filled in to about 11 knots, the boat reached under main and 105 percent genoa at a steady 9 knots over the ground, steering easily with its twin rudders while the chine kept it upright.

The sail plan is generous for a cruiser: 796 sq ft of main and 845 sq ft of genoa, with a 2,242 sq ft asymmetric spinnaker on the option list. SAIL's figures for the closely related Sense 57 give a sail area to displacement ratio of 22 and a displacement to length ratio of 130, which matches what testers felt: a powerful, easily driven hull for its size.

Tank and keel options that confuse listings

Different sources quote very different tankage, and both can be right. Beneteau's 2015 equipment list gives 110 gallons of diesel and 169 gallons of water as standard, with an optional second 110 gallon fuel tank and an 87 gallon water tank. SAIL's 2013 Flagships Gallery, built on US specifications, listed 219 gallons of fuel, 256 of water and 42 of waste, consistent with a boat carrying the extra tanks. Ask which tanks are installed.

Keels follow the same pattern. Beneteau lists a 7 ft 10 in deep keel with 10,803 lb of ballast and a 6 ft 1 in shoal keel carrying 12,125 lb; SAIL's US data quoted 7 ft 9 in and 5 ft 11 in. Pillsbury's delivery boat had the shoal keel, the sensible choice for the East Coast and Bahamas. A later Beneteau web page quotes 58 ft 4 in overall, the length also used for the Sense 57, while the 2015 list gives 56 ft 5 in.

Sense 55 or the Sense 57 that replaced it

In 2016 Beneteau revamped the boat as the Sense 57, and SAIL's 2017 review explains what changed while the hull, underbody and rig stayed mostly the same. Owners had worried about safety at the open stern, so the lifting helm seats were replaced by fixed seats and an electro-hydraulic transom that forms a teak beach. An outdoor galley with an electric grill and a sink was built into the stern seating, an integrated sprit carries twin anchors and a Code 0, and a composite hard top with a sliding canvas center became a $13,000 option.

Power options grew to an 80 hp Yanmar saildrive or a 110 hp Yanmar on a shaft; SAIL's 57 reached 9.5 knots at 3,200 rpm and cruised at 8.1 knots at 2,200 rpm, and sailed at 8.8 knots on a beam reach in 12 to 14 knots. The 57 also offered darker walnut-tone Alpi joinery. If you want the safer transom and outdoor galley, pay more for a 57; if you can live with the original stern, a 55 offers the same hull and accommodation for less.

• Sense 55: lifting helm seats, pop-up transom, 75 hp Yanmar, built from 2012 until the 2016 changeover
• Sense 57: fixed helm seats, hydraulic transom beach, outdoor galley, sprit, 80 or 110 hp, from 2016
• Both: Berret-Racoupeau hull with twin rudders and three cabins forward

Owning one today

A Sense 55 is a substantial yacht. Annual costs of $35,000 to $70,000 are realistic once you count a 57 ft slip, insurance, a generator, air conditioning, three heads and a large sail wardrobe. The upside is a boat that two people can sail, that sleeps three couples in privacy and that turns an anchorage into an outdoor living room. Inspect every electric convenience and the steering gear, and budget for modern electronics on boats that still carry their original screens.