Beneteau First series

In many ways Beneteau’s First range of 14-27ft designs are the most obvious new fast and small boats on the market. Originally developed by Seascape, the 18 and 24 make excellent coastal cruisers, while the 27 has substantially more ballast so is also suited to offshore passages.

The First 18 was conceived as a nohassle boat that would bring many of the attributes of Mini 6.50s to a much wider audience, without the complexity of the larger craft. The format has proved extremely successful, with several hundred boats sold since the first was launched in 2008. Displacement of only 500kg that makes for easy towing is also clearly part of the attraction.

While the 24 embodies many of the same attributes, including displacement of just 930kg, the concept differs in that the big coachroof helps provide excellent and flexible accommodation, albeit in an open plan layout that lacks full standing headroom.

Beneteau has recently broadened the appeal of the range, through offering lower specification versions of the 14, 24 and 27, with aluminium masts and smaller rigs. While performance will suffer a little, as will the ease of rigging the boat when trailer sailing, the reduced prices give savings ranging from 11-20% when comparing similar configurations.

If you want a boat with the original specification these are still available, branded SE (for Seascape Edition).

■ beneteau.com

First 14 t8,510, First 14 SE t11,380 First 18SE t22,600 First 24 t45,100, First 24 SEt49,200 First 27 t66,600 (with diesel engine) First 27 SE t67,500 (ex engine)