The Beneteau 323 is a French

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by Jean Marie Finot and Pascal Conq of

Group Finot/Conq Group Finot is a French boat design company based in Jouy-en-Josas. Founded by Jean-Marie Finot, the company specializes in the design of fiberglass sailboats. The company also collaborates with designer Pascal Conq as ''Groupe Finot - Conq'' ...

and first built in 2001. The Beneteau 323 was also marketed as the Beneteau Oceanis 323, as well as the Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 323 and a version was sold as the Moorings 32.2. The design was named ''Boat of the Year'' at the 2004 Oslo Boat Show.

Production

The design was built by

Beneteau Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motor boat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, commanding a substantial worldwide market, with its holdi ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from 2003 until 2007, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Beneteau 323 is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...

, built predominantly of

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

. The hull is single skin polyester fiberglass, while the deck is a polyester fibreglass and

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

sandwich. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, a ...

rig with a deck-stepped mast and

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

spars, a nearly

plumb stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a rounded

reverse transom A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...

with a walk-through swimming platform, an internally mounted spade-type

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

controlled by a

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

. Optionally it was built with a fixed fin (shoal draft)

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, deep draft keel or stub keel with a

centreboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

combination. The boat is fitted with an

inboard An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an ''inboard motor'' is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a pr ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

of . The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-tro ...

is .

Variants

;Fin keel (shoal draft) :This model has a draft of , displaces and carries of cast iron ballast. ;Deep draft :This model has a draft of , displaces and carries of cast iron ballast. ;Centerboard and stub keel :This model has a draft of with the centreboard retracted and with the centreboard extended. It displaces and carries of cast iron ballast.

Operational history

In a 2010 review Heather Holm described the design, "the Beneteau 323 is a fast, responsive and comfortable coastal cruiser. With an LOA of 32’10” (10m) and LWL of 29’2″, she has “long legs” that can take you where you want to go. She can easily be sailed single-handed." A boat US review by

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Jack Hornor, described the boat in 2014: "the sailing performance of the Beneteau 323 is a bit of a mixed blessing. By my calculations, sail area/displacement ratio is 19.6 and displacement/length ratio is 168. With these numbers it is not surprising that the 323 is an excellent light air performer. On the other hand, the ballast is only 26% of total displacement and even though the VCG (vertical center of gravity) is lowered with the modified-bulb keel, it not surprising that she is also reported to be a bit tender. Her broad beam and wide transom make it more important that she be sailed flat - like the big dinghy she resembles." A 2015 review by Rupert Holmes in Boats.com, said, "In many ways the Beneteau Oceanis 323 set new standards for 32ft cruising yachts when it was first launched in 2004. A combination of higher freeboard, allied to a wide beam that’s carried well aft and a stepped coachroof produced a boat with significantly more volume than earlier designs of this size. At the same time, an efficient deep keel option was offered, which helped to make the boat one that could be expected to take offshore passages in its stride."

References

External links