Benetau First 18

First some general information.

Sorry to disappoint anyone who though that they were getting
an amazing steal here but it isn’t the new version First 18SE, that
would probably be selling for over ten times as much!!

Yes, there are cheaper micro cupper class boats available
for but this comes with virtually everything you’d need to cruise or race and
needs minimal work, there are also cheaper larger yachts for sale but they’ll
need a mooring or a huge vehicle to tow them after you’ve found a suitable trailer
(or hired a small truck and crane) which actually makes them much more
expensive.

So if you’re still with me this is for a 1983 Benetau First
18 ‘trailer-sailer’ which is kitted out for racing and cruising so no roller
reefing. These were produced from 1977 – 1983.

These yachts were designed to be raced in an annual ‘micro
cup’ race which
was envisaged as a transition from sport sailing on dinghies to
competition in open sea. This is a popular ‘affordable’ race class both in the
UK and Europe.

Under the old french pre-CE categories this was classed as 4
ème which was ‘navigation au cours de laquelle le navire ne s’éloigne pas de
plus de 20 milles d’un abri’. That translates as ‘navigation during which the vessel does not move
more than 20 miles from shelter.’
In the current CE rating equivalence that would make it fall into a CE ‘C’ so rated
is for operating in coastal waters and large bays and lakes with winds to Force
6 (up to 27 knots), and significant seas of 6-7 feet high. That’s well within
her capabilities.

If you do want to play race boats then her age (the hull was
laid up in 1983)  gives her a healthy
handicap and as the First 18’s were designed as micro-cupper class boats she is
quick for her age. In the right hands she’ll do well and can surprise bigger yachts.

The beam is reasonably generous 3.35m for her LOA of 5.9m so
for a small boat she is pretty spacious and stable in the water. The raising
keel brings the draught down to around 2ft / 55cms so exploring small creeks is
quite possible.

The toe rail is good and secure, the stanchions mounts are
in good condition with all stanchions in place. These have a safety line fitted
from the pulpit to stern and the bow section has been netted as you can see in
the pictures.
There are a notional 4 ‘berths’, two as a ‘V’ berth in the cabin and two that
extend from the cabin to the stern below the cockpit seating. All of the foam
cushions are there along with a pair for the cockpit area.

The hull is finished in copper based anti-foul with the hull
and keel in good condition. The anti-foul should be good for the next two or so
years depending on time in the water. The hull has never been painted and is
all original gel coat which has very few sealed chips..

The two winches were stripped 2 years ago, cleaned, greased and reassembled and
work as intended.
All deck fittings are good condition and work as intended.

Overall condition is very good for her age, the gel coat is
intact with no evidence of blistering or osmosis. Any small chips to the gel
coat have been filled but there remain a few fine gel coat cracks that could
stand a liquid fill.
The upper deck could be cleaner and would look very good if you polished it but
then it would be slippery despite the moulded in anti-slip panels.
The hull is nice, clean but not polished and will come up to a nice glossy
finish with a drill mop and suitable fibreglass polish.

The benetau publicity brochure for the First 18 is available
from https://pro.beneteau.fr/documents/bateau/2045/First18_fr_angl_all.pdf  
Note that the topless girls seem to be a benetau ‘extra’ equipment item.

The braked ‘Aqua Trailer’ is constructed of galvanised steel
and in great condition, to the best of my knowledge it has never seen salt
water and certainly it’s condition would bear this out. It has a set of good
road wheels and a spare set of yard wheels with feature traditionally suitably
ancient tyres on rusty wheels.

Benetau quote the displacement of the First 18 in their
brochure as being 630 Kg so should be OK for most reasonable sized cars to tow,
I was using my old diesel dacia duster and it had no problems. To be quite
honest I don’t know what the exact all up weight is but if you have a towing
capacity of 1300kg you’ll be well within limits eg KIA CEED, Dacia Duster TDI.

 

Beneteau First 18 details

Dimensions

LOA
       5.90m

LWL
       5.00m

Beam
    2.35m

Draft
Max             1.10m

Headroom
           1.65m

 

Rig

Sloop
rigged Aluminium spars with stainless steel standing rigging

Sails

Benetau
quote the standard sail areas as:
Main 10 sq M
Genoa 7.55 sq M
Jib 5 sq M
Storm jib 2 sq M
Spinnaker 18.5 sq M

 

Engine
   1 x petrol 2
stroke 4hpEngine
make and model    MARINER Engine
Hours       Not RecordedEngine
Cooled      Direct WATER COOLINGSteering
and throttle         TillerDrive
     outboardProp(s)
  3 BladeFuel
consumption (approx)              0.5 ltr (0.1 G) /hour At Cruising SpeedCruising
speed (approx)    4 knotsMax
speed (approx)           5 knots

These motors do no feature a generator.

 

Included in the sale

# Benetau First 18 with all fittings and fixtures. Manufacturers
hull number 1308.

# Aqua-Trailors braked trailer (auto reverse brake with a
manual over ride and brake application through a break away cable) with one set
of road wheels and one set of yard wheels.

# 2 main sails – 1 cruising cut and the second is a racing
main which again is in very good condition from Goacher sails

# 2 x jenoa – 1 is a cruising cut and the second a racing cut which
is very good condition – Both are from Goacher sails 

# 1 Storm jib, in very good condition which again is from
Goacher Sails

# 1 spinnaker  in red
/ white / blue, not sure where that one came from but probably another Goacher
sails creation!

# Boarding ladder (fits to the stern)

# Original folding table.

# 4HP long shaft mariner 2 stroke outboard which could stand
some fresh paint but functionally is good. This engine dates from the mid to
late 80’s and as far as I understand it is a Mariner but mechanically these were rebadged Yamahas? It has
had the gearbox oil changed 12 months ago, a new impeller, spark plug and fuel
filters fitted with no use since other than starting every few months. It
started up yesterday on the 2nd pull, Forward and reverse gears
engage on the lever, with a good stream of water from the tell-tale. I’ll
include a bottle or two of marine 2T oil for the 50:1 mix it use.

# Self-tripping anchor, chain and cable spliced in which is
unused. This is a 3kG anchor from VBoats with 6mm shackles, 2 metres of 6mm
chain spliced to about 20 metres of 10mm 3 strand polyester warp. The anchor
chain and shackles are all galvanised steel.
I’ve not actually used this since purchase and is slight overkill as it is
probably good for up to a 3500kg boat. But should be pretty secure once set.

# Also included is a small inflatable tender. This is a Chinese made 2.3 m boat and has three inflatable chambers. It came with an
aluminium sectional ‘floor’ which was only three slats and didn’t cover all of
the floor. I’ve never really liked that standing on a big marshmallow feeling
so it now has an inflatable airdeck which adds much more rigidity ?. There
is also a pump to inflate/deflate, small repair kit (glue and patches),
collapsible oars and a carry bag. It takes about 5 minutes to be ready to go
from pulling it out of the bag.

# Foam ‘matresses’ with fitted material sleeves.

# Also included are the original teak veneered ply head
linings from the yacht which could easily be refitted as all the original
fixings are still in situ, a little picnic style two ring gas burner which uses
the camping gas small screw in cylinders which is great for throwing together
bacon and eggs or brewing up a tea/coffee.

# PLUS other unused odds and ends like a plastimo contest through
bulkhead compass which is a ‘new old stock’ item. I never fitted this as I tend to use Navionics on a sealed Ipad which worked perfectly well, dustpan and brush,
boat hook and miscellaneous lines and anything else needed or in the boat.

“Advisories”
The standing rigging is good to use and should last for many years.
The running rigging will clean OK, I haven’t been able to run a pressure washer over the mast due to the boats location.You might like to replace these lines,
there isn’t actually any great length to these so it would be a quick and
inexpensive job.
The internal hull ‘lining’ is a vinyl material in a light cream colour and is quite ‘retro’, it could do with
some rebonding in places. It could easily be swapped out for a nicer more
modern material that is more insulating, and would look much nicer, if you wished.

For not a lot of money you get yourself a functional ‘trailer
sailor’ which you could put on the water for inland or inshore racing
and cruising, though a polish would make her look much nicer.

Before you ask ….

No I don’t want to swap this yacht for anything else except money but you can
always try

No I won’t deliver to anywhere, you will need to collect and tow her away
and that’s my final word on that!

Current Price: £1750.00

This Benetau First 18 may be available on ebay