The Yacht

Length overall : 62’7” | 19.07m
Beam : 17’6″ | 5.33m
Rig : Fractional Sloop
Hull : Bulb keel with twin rudders
Fuel tank capacity : 264Gal | 1,000L
Fresh water capacity : 280Gal | 1060L
Engine power : 170HP | 127Kw
Light displacement : 57,542lbs | 26,100kg
CE Rating : A12 | B14 | C16

The design team of BRYD consists of the dynamic duo of Jean Berret and Olivier Racoupeau. This team has been involved in several Beneteau projects over the years, including Sense 50 and 55 as well as the Oceanis range. The Oceanis Yacht 62 is the culmination of 30 years of knowledge, expertise, passion and creativity in iconic yacht design

The interior design of this beautiful yacht is by Pierangelo Andreani. Formerly associated with iconic Italian brands such as Pininfarina and Ferrari, Andreani was in charge of style for the De Tomaso Group. Any boy who grew up in the 80s like me was intimately familiar with the fantastic lines of the Pantera from the De Temoaso stable. Andreani first collaborated with Beneteau in 2005, and the Oceanis Yacht 62 is his first foray into interior styling for a sailing yacht for Beneteau. The only question is – what took him so long!

Our yacht is built by Beneteau, part of the the French Groupe Beneteau conglomerate currently employing over 7,000 people worldwide.

While pretty much everyone with even an inkling of knowledge about boating and the marine industry is familiar with Groupe Beneteau, few people realize that they are also active in the leisure home market, and that they have a services division that specializes in the services market through the bandofboats.com network (think AirBnB for boats) and financial services through SGB Finance which provides – of course – marine finance options.

Focussing on the boats they build, here is a list of brands that fall under the Groupe Beneteau umbrella:

Sailing monohulls

• Beneteau
• Jeanneau
• CNB Sailing

Catamarans

• Lagoon
• XCS

Motorboats

• Four Winns
• Glastrong
• Scarab
• Wellcraft
• Swift Trawler
• Grant Turismo
• Antares
• Flyer
• Barracuda

Motoryachts

• Delphia
• Monte Carlo Yachts
• Prestige

Groupe Beneteau produces thousands of vessels every year.

The Beneteau sailboat range comprises 4 different models starting with the purebred racer Figaro, the aptly named First range (14′ to 53′), the Oceanis range (30′ to 55′) and the crown jewel: the Oceanis Yacht 62.

There are many advantages to buying a production boat. Your value for money is enormous compared to the cost of a custom build, and they are far easier to service and maintain. When you buy a name brand (such as Beneteau) most yards around the world are already familiar with their systems and characteristics. They are also a known entity in terms of quality and durability expectations.

On the other hand, your boats looks the same as hundreds of others that came before it, or that have been built since. While small cosmetic updates are frequently added (often annually) your boat is essentially the same as the others of that particular make and model, around that time.

On S/V DOUBLESTAR for example we wanted additional cold storage, and we wanted to install a dedicated washer, and a separate, dedicated dryer. Premium Service made it happen. We also relocated some of the other features in the boat to places that made more sense for us, and we removed some options (such as the B&G 4G radar) because we knew we wanted to fit aftermarket items that were not available through Beneteau (such as the new Halo 24 radar, also from B&G).

By contrast, when we optioned other boats (including boats from Fountaine Pajot and Leopard) there were several items we did not want but could not remove. In fact, Leopard insisted that we add items far beyond the advertised base price to bring it to a minimum acceptable price (they would not take our order unless we added unwanted options to meet this unpublished, unofficial price)!

The buying experience we had through Premium Service was far superior to anything we experienced with any other brand we have dealt with to date.

Beneteau Premium Service also ensures you have the best possible buying experience. They make expert members of staff available to you to consult on a variety of customization options. Short of structural changes, your imagination (and budget) is the only limited.

They are also on hand to ensure your buying experience does not just consist of checking options and writing checks (or cheques if you are not American). When we considered a Leopard 50 catamaran we had a heck of a time trying to line up a sea trial, even after we paid a substantial deposit to secure the hull. We even flew out to Miami (from Scottsdale, AZ) with the promise of a sea trail which turned out to be a 15 minute tour of the boat with the owner anxiously hovering around us. She probably thought we were going to steal the boat!

Fountain Pajot was better – we again had to fly to Miami but they took us out and we managed to spend an hour or so out in the Atlantic. We had to put down a relatively small deposit ($10,000) for the motorized catamaran we were interested in. The boat was underwhelming, and even though it took a lot of back-and-forth with the broker, we eventually received our deposit.

Beneteau Premium Service and our broker – Southcoast Yachts – were awesome though. Yes, we had to put down the usual deposit (and this one was around $20,000 if memory serves) but they spent a full day with us out in San Diego allowing us to immerse ourselves completely in what the boat felt like, handled like, looked like, lived like. They knew the product was good enough that they just had to facilitate the day, and the boat would do the rest. And boy did she excel at her job. We spent a few hours sailing in small chop with moderate winds, tacking and gybing through the ubiquitous lobster (crab?) pots, and eventually made our way back into San Diego harbor where we dropped the hook for a light lunch – and some serious negotiations.

We pretty much did the deal right there and then.

We were also invited to attend a factory tour. We would of course have to get ourselves to the Beneteay facility located in the French commune of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie on the west coast (near Nantes), but Sean Smith (our broker) would be there to meet us and facilitate the tour of the factory, meeting with the Beneteau team, viewing of our boat as she was close to the end of her production cycle, and in general just have an amazing experience.

We would have absolutely loved to do this, and we did our best to swing it in terms of our schedules and commitments, but we just could not make it happen. Maybe next time …