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Review of First 35


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The First 35 aka Beneteau First 35 is a sailboat designed by the French maritime architect Jean Berret in the late eighties. The First 35 is built by the French yard Bénéteau.

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Hull
Both the hull and the deck is made of hand laid fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of hand laid fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The hull is a double hull which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.
The deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.

Interior
The boat is equipped with 9 berths.

Rig
The boat equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.00 - 2.10 meter (6.56 - 6.86 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

First 35 is typically equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta diesel engine.

The fuel tank which is made of stainless steel has a capacity of 80.0 liters (21 US gallons, 17 imperial gallons).


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for First 35 is 2.15, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.2 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for First 35 is about 218 kg/cm, alternatively 1221 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 218 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1221 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for First 35 is 20.5.

Low High 18% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 18% of all similar sailboat designs. This is a comfort value significantly below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for First 35 is 2.93.

Slim Wide 79% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 79% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for First 35 is 212 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 69% 0 50 100
69% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for First 35 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 17.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.2.

Low High 54% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 54% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 46% 0 50 100
The First 35 has more rig than 46% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly underrigged.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for First 35 is 58

Slow Fast 58% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 58 which means that a it is faster than 58% of all similar sailboat designs.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 38m2 (409 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications genoa specifications spinnaker specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 31.6 m(103.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard31.6 m(103.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard31.6 m(103.5 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet 10.8 m(35.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet10.8 m(35.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet 27.1 m(88.8 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet23.8 m(78.2 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Cunningham3.9 m(12.8 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap7.8 m(25.6 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul7.8 m(25.6 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for First 35 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References