Anyone who's ever attempted to dock a large sailboat knows what a nightmare it can become — a 50-footer that's well-behaved far out on the bay too often turns into a large, recalcitrant dead weight that refuses to back or turn in close quarters, risking your paint job and sometimes the dock itself in the process.
Beneteau USA, well-known for its innovative sailboat designs, attempts to solve this problem with the Beneteau Sense, a 50-foot sailboat that includes a joystick-controlled Dock & Go system with a powerful bow thruster and a Yanmar sail drive that pivots 360 degrees.
The boat literally can spin in a complete circle within its own length. Beneteau's sales staff attracts many potential buyers (and gawkers) at boat shows when it spins the boat around in a lagoon scarcely big enough for it to fit in lengthwise.
"It takes the nightmare out of docking," explains Denise Hanna of Annapolis Yacht Sales, a major Chesapeake Bay Beneteau dealer. "It uses the bow thruster along with the Yanmar sail drive so you can literally move the boat sideways."
Beneteau Sense 50 Provides True Liveaboard Comforts
The easy maneuverability of the Beneteau Sense — extremely unusual for sailboats in this size range — attracts many potential buyers, Hanna said in an interview with Suite101. However, the boat's purposely designed liveaboard comforts also appeal to cruisers and avid weekenders who don't wish to feel as if they're camping out when they spend time on the boat, she said.
For example, the boat includes a large main saloon with seating for six, plus a workable open galley and a large island owner's berth forward.
One configuration — well-suited for a couple with occasional overnight guests — includes a spacious separate office space aft of the owner's cabin and head to starboard plus another sleeping cabin to port. Another configuration provides berths for seven or eight people in separate cabins, with upper-and-lower berths in the office space, plus an additional quarterberth aft to port.
Two heads, one with a separate shower stall, come standard on the Beneteau Sense 50.
Beneteau Design Team Created Beneteau Sense 50 to Heel Less
Beneteau notes that the Sense concept represents a unique monohull design that actually heels less, without sacrificing sailing performance. In the cockpit, the stern transom lowers fully and the helm seat fold away, opening up the huge swim platform and providing easy boarding access for dinghies and other craft like kayaks.
The Sense carries its 15-foot, 11-inch beam far aft, which makes the boat and its cockpit seem spacious, even for a 50-footer. Standard draft is 6 feet, 11 inches, which could pose a problem for shallow-draft cruising areas like the west coast of Florida and the Bahamas but would work well offshore and in the Caribbean.
Beneteau Has Built Two 50-Foot Senses; 42-Footer on Drawing Board
Sailboat manufacturers, mindful that potential buyers often want more liveaboard comforts than some older designs provide, increasingly create designs around these comforts. For example, Island Packet's SP Cruiser design provides all-weather sailing with a comfortable pilothouse and a cockpit just for lounging aft of the mast.
Beneteau showed hull number 2 of its 50-foot Sense at the Annapolis Boat Show in 2010, and has a 42-foot Sense on the drawing board, Hanna said. The Sense line is intended to make cruising truly comfortable while also emphasizing sailing ability, she said.
"We maximize storage, seating and tables in the cockpit, but then if you're going to go sailing, these things fold away," Hanna said.
The Beneteau Sense 50 should appeal to sailors and cruisers who want multiple creature comforts while they're onboard — plus those who want to be able to dock easily, without the usual angst ... and maybe even with a hint of showmanship.
Jane Anderson - Jane M. Anderson spends as much time as possible on the water, working and sailing on boats. She grew up sailing Sunfish and Rhodes 19s on ...
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