Overview
The Beneteau Oceanis 473 is a Groupe Finot design built from 2000 to 2005, in France and from 2001 also in South Carolina. Many were built for charter fleets. Beneteau expected to have built 400 of them by the end of 2002, two years after launch. Cruising World named it Best Production Cruiser (Over $200,000) for 2001.
Design and Construction
The underbody is a bulbed fin keel, about 6 ft 11 in deep or 5 ft 7 in in the shoal version, with a spade rudder and twin wheels. Displacement is about 24,300 lb on a 43 ft 10 in waterline. The hull is solid fibreglass and the deck is balsa-cored, with a keel-stepped mast and two sets of swept spreaders. Yachting World’s Matthew Sheahan says a wide chainplate base supports the mast and the rig is manageable. The interior came in two, three and four cabin versions, with the galley to starboard at the companionway and a forward-facing chart table.
Under Sail
Yachting World made just over 7.6 knots on a tight reach and about 5.5 hard on the wind in 8 to 10 knots, and regularly exceeded 10 knots under a cruising chute in 10 to 15. The helm is heavy and lacks feel, which the tester blamed on friction in the twin-wheel steering, improving as speed rises. Under power the 78 hp engine gave 10.5 knots flat out. Sheahan found her off and ready to accelerate at the hint of an extra puff, though downwind in light air she lacked the sparkle she showed upwind. Beam carried well aft gives a large cockpit with the two wheels separated by a walk-through passage to the transom, and the primary winches sit just forward of the wheels where helmsman and crew can both reach them. He judged her one of Beneteau’s best cruisers for years and very good value, while noting she will never challenge the more racing-oriented First 47.7.
Ocean Passages
Ofea finished ARC 2025, from Las Palmas to Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia.
Buyers Notes
Check for grounding damage (see Known Issues). The mainsheet is out of the helmsman’s reach, the foredeck has seven hatches and no dorades, and the bulwarks are low.
