Beneteau 423: What You Should Know | Boat Review
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- Опубликовано: 21 апр 2024
- Looking to buy a 40-45 foot sailboat? Considering a Beneteau 423? See a Beneteau 423 for sale? What are the pros and cons of this cruising sailboat? How does it compare to the Jeanneau 42DS, or the Catalina 42 MKII? Watch this video to learn more about the specs of the Beneteau 423. See what owners have to say about this liveaboard sailboat.
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The interview with an owner was a good addition to bring in a perspective of “hands on experience “.
A couple of thoughts: 1) we just spent the weekend on our friends' Beneteau 42CC. The center cockpit design gives a wonderful feeling of protection from the elements, and spacious aft cabin with walkaround queen bed and head with separate shower, nice pullman style guest cabin and head forward. The galley is very protected for use on passage, and small but dedicated nav station and a dinette with seating for 4-6 people. It has 19,845 lb displacement and 62 gallons of fuel and 154 gallons of fresh water. The center cockpit gives a huge aft deck space and a fold down stern platform is a nice option for a "sugar scoop" while being able to fold it up to avoid the slapping at anchor. It would probably be my preference over the 423. 2) You seem to focus on cruising the Caribbean and East Coast, and rarely discuss boats for us on the west coast headed to Mexico and/or French Polynesia. How about some discussion of boats for West Coast long ocean passages and deep water anchorages (not to mention the Med and other European destinations)? By the way--love the channel and reviews, so please don't take this as negative feedback :D
What a great interview & break down comparing price and small nuances that most reviews glass over. Tim you've taken practical sailor to a different level making it interesting while comparing each boats pros & cons. As for the 423 now I have another to keep a lookout for. I didn't know they had a bow thruster on that size. Thx again and thank Jenett for her true honesty.
Thank you!!
I have owned my 2006 423 for almost 2 years in SoCal. I love her. I replaced the jib 6 months ago. The original main is tired but totally functional and I have no issues with the in mast furling system. She performs exceptionally better with the new Precision headsail I replaced 6 months ago. Interior is so comfortable especially forward Owners cabin with the thick foam mattress I got from Walmart that I cut down to size. The wood looks just like new. Mine doesn't have a bow thruster or factory AC.No need for a thruster but it does have after market AC but no generator. The heat is great when needed at the dock and the AC works good but is rarely needed. I been thinking to remove the bench too but I need it for a storage of the dinette table legs. I wish I could get her up to 10 Knots, How is that even possible
I love the insight Jennette provides, great interview!
Great interview and fair evaluations. Very enjoyable.
I really enjoyed the owner's comments and insights. They may be subjective bit at leadt gives you a first hand account of someone living with the ups and downs of a boat.
Excellent content and excellent channel! I hope this site gets to a thousand videos and hundreds of thousands of subs.
We had a 2005 b423 from 2018 thru 2023. She is a wonderful cruiser. Livability is number one. Interior accomodations and galley are terrific. First bought that i ever owned that didn’t leak…anywhere. Whenever we cruised with friends, everyone ended up on our boat at anchor. We bought new sails in 2018, including gennaker and she could be a handful when the wind picked up. Only regret was in mast furling.
Great to have interviews like this. This particular interviewee has a nice presence in front of the camera. Added bonus.
Loved the interview!
Nice job on the reviews / comparisons.
mmm, great comparison, and points to think about. We are looking for our first boat and all three are on the list.
We have sailed 15000nm on our 423 and love it! Watermaker/UV filter, hurricane heater/hot water with 4zones, arch with 1400W solar, radar, all new B&G, no bow thruster but captain can park her like it's noones business
Have 423 Hull #38 bought at the Annapolis Boat show very early on and still own her. Chesapeake Bay cruising with occassional trips to NC via the ICW. Two boys grew up on her with two week trips around the Bay or to NC every summer. Easy to sail, safe and basically trouble free. 20 years in starting to see issues with micro cracks in the gel coat and all the plexiglas is crazed. Always had trouble with the main furler mostly traced to the main sail not sewn correctly. Just fight through it. A/C works great. Plenty of tankage. Replaced the water heater and some of the seacocks are getting stiff. Original Raymarine autopilot has always done a great job and put a new chart plotter on last year.
Pulled and stored the boat every winter and shrink wrapped her which has helped a lot, along with a good waxing in the spring and new bottom paint every year. All in all as boats go has been a very one. Even sailed the charter 423 version in the BVI's three times. Also the Volvo D2-55 has ample power for long range motoring doing 7 knots at 2200 and .75 gph. Can go a long way on 53 gal.
We love our 423 and ours is factory Maroon color. I love the wood in the cabin and find our V Queen very comfortable. On our way south to Bahamas this year on her. Great boat!
We own a Beneteau 423 in the fabulous blue color. We love it. We started out looking for a Catalina 42 MKii. We preferred both cabins on the Beneteau. The aft cabin on the beneteau felt much roomier. Our boat sails well and was owned by a former Pacific Cup racer. We also preferred the over all styling of the boat over the Catalina. We also preferred the galley and having a freezer. None of the Catalinas we saw had freezers.
We had one we recently sold. We lived on her for four years cruising the Caribbean. She was/is perfect for this. Fantastic to live on and sailed wonderfully. We loved her. If you’re thinking of a BENETEAU 423 two cabins version, do it!
Looked at all 3 and bought the Catalina. The forward owner’s cabin is incredible in Pullman version if you are ok with one person sleeping inboard. The head/shower combo is massive. Great parts availability, too. They are all good boats, it comes down to personal priorities.
Excellent video!
Great video Tim. It's always good to hear the owner talking. Can you do a video about the best boat for Digital Nomads? Also, about single vs twin helm?
I met you at the Spring Annapolis Show. Whish I had more times to talk sailing. Great video once again.( I'm from Chatham😊)
Hey it was great meeting you!!
Thanks for sharing 😊
Owned a 423 for 17 years. A great boat, no complaints, a perfect 43 LOA boat. And the aft cabin bed is much larger than the Catalina, which pushed us toward the B423 instead of the Cat42mkII.
So we should get the 380 🏴☠️
Thanks Tim, always good.
This is GREAT!!!! Love the 423 and thinking about this as the next one for us. How about a 393-comparison as well? Under that 40’ for a couple!
Great video! I owned a Beneteau 40, sailed it to the Bahamas one year, and Antigua/Carib the next, then I sold it (wife gets seasick). Six months later I was boat shopping again. I almost bought a 423 after looking closely at five of them last winter. Compared to the B-40, the only positive for me was the richer looking interior woodwork. The B-40 has a full size Queen aft cabin, btw. I ended up buying another B-40 that was two years newer than my previous one. There is a HUGE difference between the B-40 and B-423 when you compare the cockpit layout, size, and twin helm arrangement. IMHO, I don't think you need a bow thruster on a 40 foot boat (just another maintenance hassle). I'd rather spend that money on a good folding prop and working Air Conditioning! I will say this about Catalinas in general, their gel coat does seem to hold up better over time in terms of resisting stress/hairline cracks, which are common on Bennys.
Did you get rid of the wife? 😮
@@shredderhater 😀
Hey Tim... the Beneteau 411 !!! Big tankage, a pullman berth fwd, etc. It's our next boat !!!
We looked at the 423 and the C42mkii but ended up buying the C400mkii and found it to be the best of the 40-ish footers. Sails like a dream, huge aft owners' stateroom with centerline berth, excellent engine access, twin helms and built like a tank. And, galley on the correct side (stbd) for the northern hemisphere. Ours comes in at 26,000lbs.
Excellent review Tim. I've worked on the Catalina 42 Mark II, usually behind the facias where the real quality of a build becomes apparent. I am quite impressed with the attention to detail. Unfortunately, everyone now builds with thin (really thin) veneers are trying to refinish the flat panels without doing damage is a real problem. Most of the trim is solid teak and easily sanded down and refinished. A good solid boat, and if I was in the market for a 40+ foot boat, I would certainly be looking at it seriously. But then the Juneau 40 is also very alluring!
Thanks Bert!
When we bought our beneteau 423 it did come down to it and a Catalina 42 MKII. Both are excellent, the Catalina has an edge on performance, just. Mostly due to the traditional main. We also have the shoal config, under 5’ draft. Never had an issue furling, but the skylight does drip in a heavy rain and the black water tanks were plumbed wrong. Some times you get a Friday boat.
All that being said, she sails beautifully, is fast when well handled, comfortable underway, easy to maintain, predictable in behavior, and comfortable at rest.
I would choose her again if I had to do it again.
Great video, so much wonderful content. If I could have a new body and Mrs. 51% would let me part with the greenbacks... Tim, I supremely enjoy your presentations. All the best, Marty
Right on!
Hi, great video, thanks for sharing. Am I asking too much a video review and/or comparison of the Catalina 355? I love its design and purpose, forward berth is the best I have seen but have never had the chance to come onboard on it. Thanks and safe sailing!
Thank you!
There are more variations than discussed here. There’s a 423 made in France and one made in the US. One has the Volvo engine while the other is Yanmar. There’s also a deeper fin keel option at 1.7m rather than the 5.5 foot one mentioned.
Could you do a show on Navigation hardware and software? Apps? Systems software?
Beautiful boat, the owner sounded very genuine on her comments. The water tanks would be the deciding factor between the three boats. The Benny is the winner here
30 years ago when your water tanks was all you had maybe larger water tanks would be a deciding factor but today you have water purifier (or desalinators) makes very little difference in 20 or 30 gl difference (FUEL on the other hand would be a deciding factor)
I’m in Florida where finding a marina slip takes one to two years waiting time. Having my boat on a mourning ball at the IWC I wouldn’t use a water maker unless I cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Having big tanks gives me the opportunity to fill them after two or three trips when I need fuel and not having to bring water jugs on the dinghy.
Saw the Catalina yesterday in Gosport, a bit beardy, and needs some love. Very pretty though
thank you
great boat . My Yacht Club does not allow something that big out Belleville way
All three are great. It will depend on minor priorities and sometimes proximity to make a decision one way or another.
Me thinks someone was low key flirting in this interview.
Anyway, see you Thursday at the show!
Hi Tim, Can you speak about cast iron ballast/keel in Beneteaus. Oxidizing cast iron turns me off. Can you tell me why I am wrong? Thanks, Ed
Really enjoyed this one Tim. The interview with Jeanette was great. I know this seems a minor thing, but I'm curious, she said she changed the prop but gave no details. Any idea of what she changed from then to and why the change? Just an old prop needing to be fixed or where there other reasons? I'll never get a boat this big but I very much enjoy seeing them and especially getting insight from people who sail them.
She may chime in here :)
Hey Teresa, I got a max prop 4 blade. I chose the 4 blade over the 3 blade as the sales guy advised that the 4 blade would power better through weather (and l didn’t want a lack of power in weather).
The boat came with a Volvo prop, and backed up terribly. It took forever to actually reverse, with a lot of prop walk. As I’m generally at a dock in the marina, and I like to back in, reverse control is very important to me.
@@JennetteLeyland Thank you for the detailed response!!! We are looking to move south in the US and close to the water so we can buy a boat, The prop issue is very very important. We have sailed boats with terrible small engines and terrible prop issues. So when you said you changed yours I was super interested in why and what. Your answer had me cheering because nothing is better than having a prop that will get you where you need to be without issues! Sending you many great vibes for years of great sailing on your new boat!
@@JennetteLeyland meant to respond yesterday but never got back to my computer! Thank you for the response. And I totally agree that a good prop is mandatory! We were with a sailing club for a few years and used their boats (good because we could sail, bad because there are always issues with club boats). Being able to depend on your motor and prop is incredibly important and is at the top of the list of things to have working as well as possible. Cheers!
What do you think of Gib sea Dufour 43?
The 423 has a cast iron keel VS lead on the Catalina so more maintenance to delay rust on the Beneteau.
OK guys, would you feel safe crossing the atlantic in the 423, I live in the UK ?
Where would you all put the Hunter Passage 420 in this mix? Same price, size and age range, beautiful aft cabin and pulman in the front with bow head, great galley. I'm shopping so I'd love to hear what you all think.
I actually had the 420 on this comparsion list and it was going to be in the video but I had two problems. First, they stopped making it in '04 so it would have been slightly old for the comparison. And second, the video would have been much longer with another boat. RUclips stats show people don't want to watch for too long so we try to keep it more concise. Though the 420 is definately in this line up!
@@practical-sailor thanks for the reply, I completely understand what you're saying. And yeah, the newest 420s are now 200 years old so good point there as well since they are right on the cusp. Honestly that's one of things I'm liking is the age since I plan to pay cash, hoping to get a huge bang for buck with the age issue. I was just curious what everyone thinks of them compared to the models in the video.
Thanks again for the reply and thanks for all the great content. Congrats on the practical sailor gig as well btw, good move on their part to grab you, you are a great fit for them!
Fudge yeah, I'm singlehanding a 1978 Dufour 31 in Greece and the "no Ikea vibes" are top of the list for me. Make the personal changes so you aren't sailing in a cookie cutter cruiser.
Hi Tim. Could you review the Bene 47.7 please. Love to hear your thoughts.
Nice fresh water 423 for sale in Toronto.
would prefer the 473 but 423 would do it for me
Nice show , a lighting tip maybe cut back some with the white background you are getting washed out
On the Jeanneau problems will come from side large windows.
When you discuss issues with spaces being cramped, etc., it'd be nice for people claiming to be "tall" to mention just how tall they are. 5'10" isn't short by most standards, but if they are finding it "cramped", being 6'3" I might just not fit at all.
Hey!!! It’s Jennette from the interview. I’m 6’ tall!!! The headroom is amazing. The heads are a bit tight with long legs!
Appreciate what you are trying to do here, but I'd value these more if you had actually sailed the boats, or in the case of the Jeanneau taken the time to go on one... Isn't that an IVT video walkthrough? Or am I wrong?
Sea trials will be a nice thing to add.
I have a few questions:
1. What is "Caribbean cruiser"? As far as I can see, people go around the Caribbean in all kinds of boats, and this is the first time I hear this term. Is it for real?
2. Why does the "Caribbean cruiser" have to weigh no more than 20,000lbs?
3. Caribbean is a huge sea with thousands of islands. Why only talk about the Bahamas? Technically, Bahamas are not even IN the Caribbean sea.
You treat these boats as if they are merely floating condos and dock queens. How do they really sail? The 423 looks dangerous in seas. A bench in the middle of the cabin and no handholds?
They’re situated over head on both sides of the cabin.
Yup. 2 wooden hand-holds run the full length of the saloon, down both sides.
Plus, strong fiddles at Nav desk & galley. The fiddles have a really nice feel to them as you slide your hand along.
Well, 1000lbs more got to mean something of a stronger structure.. that’s a fact…. And just the lead Catalina’s keel is around $20K, vrs the Beneteau’s $2000 iron Keel…
10 knots and she's worried people will think she's slow?
Any aging boat with balsa cored topsides must be suspect.
Maybe focus more on sailing qualities and less on interior accommodations for the next review.
🙂⛵
Ha, this is a quality problem! Any of these boats would do the trick for me. ⚓
Nothing to say. Just pushing the algos buttons! 🙂
Thank youuuuu
Way too many ads
Ads are controlled by RUclips. They do offer a premium thing to stop the ads but i have not tried it.
I have “premium “, no adds are well worth it.
These reviews are entertaining but heavily weighted subjective opinions. There are almost no objective comparisons other than LOA, Beam, Displacement, water and fuel capacities, and expected costs. Appreciate the importance of tankage insight. What about their ratio comparisons? Buyers need to look much deeper relative to their intended use and expected waters.
Excellent point!
You can't write up the encyclopedia version of the current marketplace...
All 3 boats rate about the same, l looked at the sailboat data site when l brought my Benny oceanis. But that's just what you do when your serious and not just tire kicking.
Heavily weighting subjective in a video is a Good Thing. Any proper purchase will rely on multiple research sources, and getting a sense of the look and feel without in-person experience is the hardest to evaluate; the stats are easy to look up and really belong in a spreadsheet anyway.
I bought a 423 ... and deleted my yachting world app. No more to say.
can you elaborate? looking at one and curious how you like it so far
A lot of made in China fittings, so be carefull...
You Yanks love your shallow draft boats that don't go to windward. A heads in the bow? Really. Oh yeah, you dont sail anywhere in this boat. The galley won't let you cook a meal at sea. 38 gallons of fuel. Yep. Rows of fuel cans on deck. Normal for Yank boats😄❤
I think there are a lot of shallow areas on the whole East coast of the United States. On the West coast it drops deep really fast. I sail in the Puget sound and there’s no reason to have a shallow draft. Your comment makes it sound like we choose shallow draft because we’re ignorant that deeper keels will point better to wind? Have you been to the carribean? If you had a bunch of paradise islands near you, were old enough that you were done with pissing contests against couch captains, not trying to circumnavigate or race, and just wanted to spend some real time in gorgeous sunny weather all year…but the place you want to spend time tends to have shallows, what would you pick? That’s sort of like me laughing at the fact you use different voltage on your boat. Yet, where you keep that boat they use European electrical systems. It’s silly.
@Tyrant2100 we are in the Caribbean. 7'2"draft. Its not a problem in the Caribbean. Lots of deep water. I think you are mixing up the Exumas with the Windward and Leewrd islands. 37,500nm in the current boat. Got to love deep,draft if you want to sail anywhere
@@timevans8223 You’re probably right then. I live near Seattle and have never come close to running aground. If i was wrong on a technical point doesn’t change the point. I don’t think anyone would buy a shoal draft boat unless they were worried about running aground. A boat is a balance of different things, sacrificing some things for others. And things are different importance at different points in life. When I was young I only drove sportscars and motorcycles. Now, with grey hair and kids I won’t be risking any ego if the guy next to me is revving his engine at a light, or needs to pass me and weave through traffic. I think about fuel efficiency at the expense of horsepower, love the extra seats of my large vehicle, the hatchback carries sails and lots of gear and with a cargo box on top. My car isn’t an extension of my ego, and I don’t race now. Do you cross oceans? Good for you. People buy things that appeal to where they are in life and geography and everything else. Are there fuel stations everywhere you go, or do you worry about running aground where you live? That may change what you’re looking for based on what you’re doing. Is that person less of a sailor than you? Not necessarily. Can you outrace me on a motorcycle at the track? Maybe. Unlikely, but we won’t and I don’t need to find out. I already did my “proving” back then when I was young and foolish.
@@Tyrant2100 waiting for a weather window to cross to Europe. We will be backing the Caribbean next year.
Remember, this is Practical Sailor, not Practical Motorsailor. How much diesel do you really need? And please drop the 20,000 lbs weight magical number. It means nothing. Attempt to educate more and entertain less. Thanks.
All three are good Caribbean boats…not sure if I can make it to that price point.