The new Oceanis 40.1 was designed by Marc Lombard and has the interior and deck design and styling by Nauta Design. The brief for the new boat was to create huge and open living spaces on deck and down below in a cruising boat that sails very well. The brief also required the designers to come up with a way to make the new 40.1 one of the most versatile new models on the market so it will appeal to a wide spectrum of sailboat owners from dyed-in-the-wool racers to cruising families with several children.
The most pronounced design feature that Lombard incorporated to achieve that magic mix of sailing performance with spacious interior volume is the hard chines that run all the way from the
bow to the stern. These are not subtle chines; they dominate the boat’s look. The chines add a lot of interior volume. At the same time, they add to the hull’s initial stability and will help to keep the boat sailing very upright even when hard on the wind. And upright sailing is good since it is faster, puts less stress on the rig and steering system, and it makes the crew’s life much more enjoyable.
The standard 40.1 comes with an in-mast furling main sail and either a self-tacking jib or a 105-percent genoa. The standard boat has two sleeping cabins, the master in the forward cabin and the guest cabin in the starboard quarter. The standard boat has a seven-foot draft and twin rudders. Or you can opt for the shoal draft keel that draws five-foot, six inches.
From there you can go to a three cabin one head layout that has the same master cabin forward and two quarter cabins. To that layout you can add an en-suite head forward for extra privacy. In both versions the heads have separate showers, a feature not often seen in 40-footers.
If you have a large family or will be using the boat for a sailing school or in charter, you can opt to add a fourth cabin to the three-cabin version. This is a small cabin just aft of the forward cabin that has upper and lower bunk beds.
The saloon with the dinette, galley and chart table remain the same though all three versions mentioned so far. The galley is in-line along the starboard side and has a lot of counter and storage space. The U-shaped dinette is supplied with a moveable bench seat amidships so you can have a crew of up to eight souls around the table. The chart table faces aft at the aft end of the dinette and has plenty of space for instruments, radios and all the tools you need to navigate.
Like the spacious interior, the 40.1’s cockpit and deck are wide, level and great for sailing, relaxing and generally moving around. The cockpit is incredibly wide since the boat’s maximum beam is carried all the way aft. The bench seats are large enough for an adult to sleep on in good weather and the table with folding leaves will eat six comfortably. The stern folds down to make a wide swim platform, which effectively adds a lot of space to the cockpit.
The twin wheels are on pedestals where you can mount navigation and sailing instruments. The sight lines from the helms forward are wide open over the low-profile cabin top. With a dodger over the companionway and perhaps a Bimini over the helms, the large cockpit will is going to be the place on the boat you and you friends and family will spend the most time.
For those who want to compete in regattas and point to point events, Beneteau makes a Performance Package available. The keel is a foot and a half deeper and 500 pounds lighter than the shoal draft keel. The mast is a foot and a half taller and the main sail is about 100-square feet larger than the standard mast and sails. In the performance package you also get a fixed bowsprit for flying downwind sails, which doubles as a useful anchor roller. You get all the gear you need for running larger genoas, a Code Zero and spinnaker hardware and extra winches to handle a variety of spinnakers.
The new Beneteau Oceanis 40.1 is a stunning addition to the Oceanis fleet. We have sailed her big sister, the 46.1, and can vouch that the design and build teams are coming up with boats that sail remarkably well in both light breezes and a piping afternoon sea breeze. Coupled with its spacious and highly customizable interior, the 40.1 is sure to be a huge success both for Beneteau and for all who buy them and sail them far and wide.
Read more about it here. https://www.beneteau.com/us/oceanis/oceanis-401