Review of First Class 10 M

Basic specs.

The First Class 10 M aka Beneteau First Class 10 M is a sailboat designed by the French maritime architect Jean-Marie Finot together with Jacques Fauroux in the early eighties. The First Class 10 M is built by the French yard Bénéteau.

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Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.

Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with 6-7 berths, a galley and toilet facility.

Rig

The boat equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

Keel

The First Class 10 M is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a long keel.

The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.80 - 1.90 meter (5.91 - 6.21 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

First Class 10 M is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar LGM diesel engine at 6.0 hp (4 kW).

The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenence than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.

The fuel tank which is made of stainless steel has a capacity of 20 liters (5 US gallons, 4 imperial gallons).

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for First Class 10 M is 2.06, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for First Class 10 M is about 215 kg/cm, alternatively 1207 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 215 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1207 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for First Class 10 M is 3.62.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 88% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for First Class 10 M is 32%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 14% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for First Class 10 M with ISO 8666 reference sail is 22.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 26.2.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 98% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The First Class 10 M has more rig than 100% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for First Class 10 M is 92

The relative speed performance is 92 which means that a it is faster than 92% of all similar sailboat designs.

Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	31.9 m	(104.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	31.9 m	(104.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	31.9 m	(104.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	10.8 m	(35.4 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	10.8 m	(35.4 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	27.0 m	(88.6 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	23.8 m	(78.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	4.2 m	(13.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	8.5 m	(27.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	8.5 m	(27.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

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References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.