Cruising World Magazine / Herb McCormick
April 30, 2024
The Beneteau 37.1, a top performance cruiser from French builders and designers, is a pleasure to sail.
In our Boat of the Year contests, oftentimes we get a far different impression of a nominee between our dockside inspection and our sea trial, which was certainly the case here. Thankfully, we had ideal conditions for such a performance-oriented yacht: 14 to 16 knots of solid breeze. And the Oceanis reveled in it.
On a deep reach, we slipped along at a tidy 6.7 knots, but when we eased onto the breeze in a tight reach, the boat lit up, easily making nearly 9 knots. With twin wheels and twin rudders, the steering was tight and accurate, with as balanced a helm as anything introduced in 2024.
Closehauled, we swapped the reaching sail for the 105 percent jib with adjustable sheet leads (you can also get a smaller self-tacking jib on a track) and still registered a respectable 6.5 knots hard on the breeze. Slightly cracked off a bit, the speedo bounced up a full knot. I was rather astounded at the numbers, considering our test boat was equipped with an in-mast furling main. A traditional main with full battens and a square top is also available, and I can only imagine what sort of pep that setup would deliver.
Make no mistake, however: This is not a flat-out race boat by any means. I could imagine it doing some serious damage as a club racer, though. There’s no traveler, and the mainsail trim and angles are adjusted by the so-called German style of twin mainsheets and a solid boom vang. All the running rigging leads aft to a set of handy winches near the helmsman, making it a fairly easy boat to sail solo. The double-spreader rig has deeply swept-aft spreaders. (These will have a definite say in how far you can ease the main on a reach or run, which usually means sailing hotter angles.)
The interior layouts are from Nauta Design. Furniture and fittings are rendered in iroko—a light, sustainable African hardwood that accentuates the airy, open nature of the accommodations plan. All three of the available layouts have the same central salon, with a dedicated navigation station and dining area to port, opposed by a straight-line galley to starboard…
Now the Oceanis 37.1 is the concluding model in Beneteau’s seventh generation of Oceanis yachts, a collection of dedicated cruising boats that includes a half-dozen yachts ranging from 31 to 51 feet. All come with numerous options in interior layouts and sail plans, but they share a common goal in delivering comfort and performance. Beneteau has certainly come a long way since Benjamin’s modest fishing craft.
Blue Water Sailing’s Cruising Compass / Sandy Parks
January 31, 2024
Launched last fall in time for the Annapolis sailboat show, the new Oceanis 37.1 completes the seventh generation of the Oceanis line that includes eight models launched since 2017. The Marc Lombard-designed hull and rig provides a roomy family cruising sloop with a surprising turn of speed. Note the broad transom, the chine that runs the full length of the boat and the very full hull sections forward, which all combine to enhance the hull’s stability while providing plenty of interior volume.
The cockpit is spacious for a 37-footer with bench seats long enough to sleep on and a table that will seat up to six. The twin wheels provide great visibility forward from both sides of the cockpit and open a clear pathway aft to the fold-down transom and swim platform. For ease of handling, all sheets run aft to winches and line stopers by the helms, while halyards and sail trim control lines run to a winch on the cabin top.
Down below, the accommodation plan offers three sleeping cabins and two heads, which would seem impossible on a 37 footer. But, of course, it is not. The master cabin forward has a diagonal double berth with its own en-suite head. The twin quarter cabins have large double berths and ample storage. The after head is on the starboard side and will double as a wet locker for hanging foul weather gear.
The U-shaped dinette is to port and with a bench seat amidships six crew will dine comfortably. The in-line galley runs up the starboard side with a large top-loading fridge, a two-burner stove-oven and a single sink…