Beneteau Sense 55

I’ve long had a soft spot in my heart for Beneteau’s Oceanis line, thanks in large part to a particularly rough delivery I did a few years ago—a delivery that more than corroborated the line’s oceanic moniker. That having been said, I couldn’t help wondering whether the new Oceanis 55 would live up to this standard. Could a design this stylish and comfortable also be a good sea boat?

A product of the company’s well-established yard in St. Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France, the Beneteau Oceanis 55’s hull is solid fiberglass and includes the company’s trademark molded-in grid and liner for stiffness.

In the port of La Ciotat on the Cote d'Azur, a stiff breeze whistles through the rigging. Even big and heavy yachts are heeling under bare poles. When the mistral hits at full force, you'd better batten down the hatches. Hence Beneteau canceled the sail on day one of our review, but that was just as well because the forecast said it would ease some the following day.

A spin in heavy air would have been intriguing indeed, since the Sense 55 obviously is a large, heavy yacht that inspires confidence -- a real cruiser with plenty of freeboard and a deep, well-protected cockpit. In addition, the boats of market leader Beneteau's fairly new and exclusive...

The flagship of the three-boat Sense range is very much more of the same, which I hasten to add is a good thing, for those seeking comfortable user-friendly sailing. Along with the slightly older siblings, the nippy 43 and the voluminous 50, the new 55 brings yet more grandeur to the deck saloon concept. With the emphasis heavily on the outdoor-indoor aspect of sailing, the signature features are maximum use of topside space with easy entry to the apartment-style saloon, guaranteeing window cleaners have plenty of gainful employment...

Here’s what happened: we dropped the stern lines, and using the fully rotating sail drive unit aft and the bow thruster forward—both of which are linked to a joystick at the helm—Wayne maneuvered us forward so we could remove the bow lines from the slip’s piling. Then, he steered us into a fairly wide spot between the docks at the boat show and the opposing slips and proceeded to spin the beamy 55-footer in fast pirouettes that basically had her twisting herself in circles. To say we attracted a crowd on the docks would be understatement. People all over the show stopped in their tracks and watched with mouths agape. It was quite a display...