Overview
The Beneteau Oceanis 423 is a Groupe Finot design introduced in 2002, a 43-foot production cruiser with a long waterline and generous interior. Sail Magazine called it strong value for the money.
Design and Construction
The hull is hand-laid solid fiberglass with a vinylester barrier coat, bonded to a structural liner with polyester adhesive; the deck is balsa-cored. The keel is a bulbed fin drawing 5 ft 7 in, or 4 ft 9 in in the shoal version, with a spade rudder. Cruising World’s reviewer found a chainplate behind the saloon settee tying the cap and aft-lower shrouds into the hull structure, and a low bulwark that adds stiffness at the hull-deck joint. Beneteau USA’s president told him that Beneteaus have sailed many millions of miles without a hull failure.
Under Sail
Sail’s testers found her light and responsive to steer, settling into a comfortable groove, with a nimble hull and a smooth wake in light winds. Cruising World’s reviewer sailed the two-cabin version on the Chesapeake in 10 to 12 knots of true wind and found that it steered itself happily almost anywhere he put the boat relative to the wind. Under power she made 7.2 knots at a steady rate and 8.5 knots at the 2,800 rpm limit. He ties the shallow bilges and high freeboard to the low displacement/length ratio of 148.
Buyers Notes
Check for grounding damage (see Known Issues). Sail found the forward berth small and the nav table too small for a full-size chart book. The 423 came in two-cabin and three-cabin versions that share the forward cabin, the engine compartment and the heads. Cruising World measured saloon headroom at 6 ft 5 in, noted a large aft galley with a combined front- and top-opening fridge/freezer on the two-cabin boat, and expected the three-cabin version to be common in charter fleets.
