Beneteau First 30 Boats For Sale

The Beneteau First 30 is a planing cruiser launched in January 2025 at the Düsseldorf boat show, reviving a name Beneteau first used in the late 1970s for its early cruiser-racers. The Beneteau First 30 sailboat is built at the Seascape yard in Slovenia, the brand Beneteau acquired in 2018, with hull lines drawn by Class 40, IMOCA 60 and Mini Transat designer Sam Manard. The concept centers on lightweight, fast, simple sailing aimed at sailors who want speed without a complicated boat, and it suits short-handed cruising, weekending, day sailing, charter and club racing equally. The First 30 Beneteau price starts around €100,000, a figure held through the launch year, while a hull delivered to San Diego came in at just over $200,000 depending on specification.

Performance is the point of the boat. It is about 30 feet 8 inches long, roughly 9 feet wide, and weighs just over 3 tons (around 3,040 kg / 6,700 lb), with more than a ton of that ballast carried in the keel bulb. With a fractional or masthead asymmetric spinnaker set, it planes in as little as 11 to 13 knots of true wind, holding 11 to 13 knots of boat speed two-up, and has recorded a top speed of around 18 knots in sea trials. Upwind it sails at 40 to 45 degrees to the true wind angle, averaging the low sixes (6.0 to 6.4 knots) in around 10 knots of breeze. Twin deep rudder blades give strong grip when the boat heels, and the tiller steering is light and responsive.

The rig is a Zspars two-spreader mast with a cascade backstay system for bending the top and depowering the main. The standard boat uses a single-point main sheet on a bridle to keep the cockpit clear, while the racing package adds a full-width traveler and a German-led main sheet running to the primary winches. Four winches handle the lines, with the genoa (around 106%) sheeted well inboard to thimbles using Harken low-friction rings and Dyneema rather than deck-mounted cars. North sails come from the factory, a flat-deck furler keeps the genoa foot low, and a molded bowsprit about a meter long carries two tack points for a code zero and an asymmetric spinnaker. The cockpit is large for a 30-footer, with deep cockpit lockers, lazarettes, foot braces and an optional 6 kg drop-down bathing platform.

A standard deep keel of roughly 2.10 m and a shallow option around 1.70 m cover different sailing waters; the shallow draft retains a heavy bulb to keep stability. A Yanmar 14 hp diesel on a shaft drive with a feathering propeller keeps installation, cost and maintenance down. The boat is certified to CE Category A, rated ocean-capable without modification, and was named European Yacht of the Year 2026 in the performance monohull category. Construction uses a vacuum-infused hull, with much of the interior surface left as a clean raw finish to save weight.

The Beneteau First 30 interior is a six-berth layout built to be light but livable. Maximum headroom is about 1.85 m, with a 6-foot-1 adult able to stand at the companionway. The forward double cabin matches the First 36 at 2.20 m long, and a quarter berth aft runs longer outboard with a shorter 1.80 m section beside the engine bay. Cork lining underfoot in the entry area and wooden sole boards in the saloon add warmth, while folding fabric doors on magnets and removable textile lockers on carbon-fiber frames replace heavy joinery. The galley, the same size as the First 36's, has a single sink, a gimballed two-burner gas hob (no oven), a bin and a fridge or cool box, with a 100-liter water tank and a head compartment that includes a wet locker and shower.

Buyers weighing a Beneteau First 30 for sale should match the deck plan to their use: the German main sheet and bridle keep the cockpit open for cruising and family use, while the traveler and upgraded winches make sense for racing. Equipment such as a fridge upgrade, galley extension, pressurized water and the bathing platform are options that add weight, and the boat rewards staying near its design displacement to plane early. Orders have run roughly a year ahead of build, with close to 100 placed early on, so availability is the main constraint on a new First 30.