Beneteau

The fog and light wind were the conditions that accompanied the Bénéteau Cup 2010 which again was present in the waters of the river Tagus, in the past 6th February, included in the programme of the Lisbon Boat Show (Portugal).
This sailing cruise regatta included the Naval Association of Lisbon, as organizing entity and Fidelity Insurance and Francisco Ramada as sponsors.
The Bénéteau CUP is open to Bénéteau vessels - First Class, and Bénéteau Cyclades - and is played in Handicap Bénéteau. The 2010 edition was attended by 38 boats and 200 sailors.
The organization has established the following course for the fleet: Starting point Bethlehem - Trafaria - North Pilar of 25 April bridge - Bethlehem
The awarding ceremony took place at the Naval Association of Lisbon, prizes were also drawn from business supporters - Nautiradar and Plastimo.
At the end of the race, Francisco Ramada (Bénéteau dealer in Portugal) was a happy man... “bringing together so many Bénéteau boats is very demonstrative of the work we have been developing over the years ...." When asked about the future, Francisco Ramada was more apprehensive"... we live difficult times, our commitment for doing business is being serious and rigorous. We will not do anything crazy...”

FINAL STANDINGS
Division 1
1 "Atria 45" / 45 First Marius France Pereira
2 "Fixed Idea - Audi" / First 36.7 Fernando Barros
3 "PEMAMO" / 40 First António Henriques
Division 2
1 "Dolphin M2" / First 33.7 Antonio Mendes
2 "Amara" / First C8 Francisco Melo
3 "Breeze" / First 33.7 Miguel Lopes
Oceanis and Cyclades
1 "Sancho" / Oceanis 473 John Paul Sancho

Combine the conviviality of a BENETEAU owners’ rally with discovering an extraordinary sailing area - the Cyclades archipelago!

Find all the information relating to the CYCLADES BLUE CUP via the following link: Blue cup

The FIRST 35 has just won the prize for the best sailing yacht during the HELSINKI INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW 2010. Once again it turns out to be the best balance between comfort and performance. The Jury, made up of professionals from the nautical industry, have put it in the lead with the sleek lines of its hull and optimised sail plan as well as the innovative design of its interior layout, both spacious and practical!

Photo : Our Finnish BENETEAU dealer with the trophy.

BETWEEN US has won the prize for the best loyalty strategy at the second
e-marketing Awards prize giving, which rewards the best innovations in the digital marketing sector.

Developed within the framework of the BENETEAU YACHT CLUB, BETWEEN US is a novel web service in the leisure boating sector. It offers club members the opportunity to discover new destinations and to try out other BENETEAU models through an exchange scheme.

Following the Stratégies/CommentCaMarche.net 1st Prize in 2009 for Digital Marketing (marketing relations programme category), and the 2009 Trophée d’Argent (Silver Trophy) awarded by Marketing Magazine (marketing relations programme category), this Award is the third prize received since the launch of the BENETEAU YACHT CLUB in December 2008. 

Go to Beneteau Yacht Club website

6 races have been organised by Royal Geelong Yacht club and Two True took 2 first and 3 podium, showing all the potential on the First 40 around cans.

Congratulations to Andrew and his crew.

More

Credit : Teri Dodds

The range of wood finishes offered for the First range has been expanded to include Alpi Golden Teak, which is sure to appeal to those who love warm, welcoming interiors.

Available as an option on the First 50, 45, 40 and 35, these new wood finishes work perfectly with the brighter colours now offered in our broad range of upholstery options.

Discover the pictures of the new interiors:

First 35 
First 40
First 45 

Picture: First 45 - Credit : Nicolas Claris

Two brand new FIRST 40s, TWO TRUE and WICKED took the two first places overall under IRC division in the 628 miles Sydney-Hobart Race.
They completed the course (between Sydney Harbour and Hobart in Tasmania) in 3 days and 23 hours.
Only 20 minutes separated these two FIRST 40s on the finish line.
They finished two hours ahead of their third rival on corrected time.
TWO TRUE also came first overall in the ORCI class.
The FIRST 40 takes over therefore from the prestigious FIRST 40.7, which had taken the honours in 2003 on the same course.



It is an historic occasion to see two identical FIRST 40s taking  the first two places in a competition that brings together such a varied fleet from 100 foot super-maxis to 33 foot sailing yachts in this 64th Sydney-Hobart Race.

Andrew Saies first comments :
“Great boat, this new Beneteau. It just jumps out of the water, jumped a bit too hard in the last day or so in those big short waves. It's a fast boat, we had belief that this boat was going to rate well and do okay in this event, if the weather conditions allowed a small boat event."

In the Cruising category, the OCEANIS 50 HOLY COW claimed first place ahead of another BENETEAU, the OCEANIS 37 LIVEWIRE.

Well done to all these crews, and you will find full details on the BENETEAU YACHT CLUB site very shortly.

Credits : Daniel Foster (left) et Kurt Arrigo (right picture).

Results

Just after his delivery early september at Oresundmarin (Swedish Beneteau dealership) the First 35 "Maria" skippered by Kjel Widmark scored 2 bullets in various wind conditions during offshore and inshore races. "Maria" and her crew won the Bixelkroken race (a beat and run of 60nm) against a strong fleet of 106 boats. Two weeks after she also won the DKY Autumn Race scoring 4 first in 5 races. 

This certainly announces the beginning of great results for the First 35 already elected Boat of the Year in France.

Congratulations and fair winds for the comming season to "Maria"

During the past season Rui Ramada Barros owner and skipper of the First 50 "Fifty" has built an impressive palmares with his family crew.

They have finished on the podium of each race they entered,demonstrating the great level of perfomance of this "sport cruiser" which introduce the new look of the First range . The First 50 is not only beautifull she is also a winner on the race track.

Results :
 
regate repsol - bayona spain - 2º orc open - 40 boats
trofeo presidente - bayona - 2º "solitaire" - 25 boats
trofeo conde de gondomar - galice - 2º orc open - 25 boats
regate principe das asturias - bayona - 2º orc open - 80 boats
desafio corte ingles - sanxenxo - 2º orc open - 70 boats
regate guardamarina - sanxenxo - 1º orc open - 30 boats

- Oceanis 50 
Exhibited at Cannes, Southampton & Genova Boat shows

- Oceanis 58
Exhibited at Cannes, Genova Boat Shows

- First 35
Exhibited at  Cannes, La Rochelle, Southampton &Genova Boat Shows 

©Gilles Martin Raget