Sense 50 - A new take on cruising

Boat Test - Sense 50

In the August/September issue Barry Henson reviewed Beneteau's Sense 43. Here he steps up in size and tests the Sense 50.

There is a commonly held belief, typically attributed to Americans like me, that ‘bigger is better’, but is that true? You will have to read this boat test for the answer to that question.

The Sense range is the product of a Beneteau rethink of what a cruising boat should be. Instead of the old ‘pack in as many berths as you can’ approach, the Sense range has been designed with the goal of making these the ultimate ‘baby-boomer couple with friends’ boat.

What are the major differences in design?

To start with, Beneteau has totally redesigned the three sections of the boat: cockpit, salon and living quarters, so they are optimized for ‘a couple with friends’ cruising. In each section they have thrown away tradition and brought in some interesting and exciting concepts.

Let’s start with the stern. They’ve given the Sense 50 a large swim platform that is big enough to use as the kit-up area for scuba diving or as an area for sun baking.

From there Beneteau has designed a split cockpit with twin helm stations and a commodious entertaining area. The design does away with the low-ceiling, aft quarter berths that you see on many boats and instead they’ve opted for massive multi-function lazerettes in the cockpit.

You want room for a dive compressor and scuba tank storage? No problem. You want a stand-up workroom? Piece of cake. How about a quarter bunk accessed from deck? No worries. In fact, you can have all of those things on the same boat.

In the cockpit

Immediately forward of the swim platform are a pair of helmsman’s bench seats that hinge up and out of the way, opening up the entire stern of the boat. A retractable transom board allows you to close off the stern at sea.

The dual helms have expansive instrument pods for chart plotters, tri-data displays, engine and anchor windlass controls, etc. Our Sense 50 was also fitted with Beneteau’s ‘dock and go’ boat handling system. This utilizes a 360 degree pivoting prop shaft linked to the bow thruster to give you total control in close-quarters maneuvering. It is available on all Beneteau models that use the Yanmar 75 hp engine.

The helm has adjustable duckboards so the helmsman can comfortably stand when steering to windward. In between the duckboards is a centre lazarette for life raft storage. The primary winches, Harken 60s, are within easy reach of the helmsman as are the stern cleats.

Moving forward, the first thing that strikes you about the cockpit is the length and breadth - it can easily seat 10 or more people. Not only can your tallest crew member stretch out and sleep on either side, but the starboard side cockpit table – yes, there are two cockpit tables – lowers down to expand the starboard bench seat into a double-width day-bed (cushions optional).

With a cockpit of this width Beneteau has wisely equipped it with handholds so you can move from the helm to the companionway with something to hold on to every step of the way.

There are a few more striking features that I’d like to call your attention to. The lazarettes on either side of the cockpit are enormous. With the hatch open you can step down into the starboard lazerette and there is easily enough space for a workroom.

The port side lazerette is just as roomy, so much so that you can optionally have it fitted out as an ‘occasional cabin’ with gas struts on the hatch, a pipe berth and a small cockpit opening window. I wouldn’t be that keen to sleep there, but it seems like perfect accommodation for my mother-in-law.

All lines are led aft into the cockpit through Spinlock jammers. The lines from the secondary winches, Harken 46’s, then drop neatly into line storage boxes built into the cockpit coaming. This is a nice arrangement as it’s typically these halyards with their long tails that create all the mess in a cockpit.

The cockpit bulkhead incorporates two large Plexiglass panels (one either side of the companionway) each with a generously sized opening porthole inside it. They improve ventilation and make it easy to communicate with crew inside the cabin.

By installing Plexiglass panels at the same height in the salon bulkhead walls and in the cabin walls behind them, Beneteau has visually created the ability to see ‘through the boat’. This is quite a neat design feature and one that adds significantly to the open, airy feeling in the cabin.

Cabin layout

As I said, the trade-off for all this cockpit space is the elimination of the traditional aft quarter berths, but lest you think you’re being short-changed, Beneteau has equipped the Sense 50 with a large owner’s suite, a double stateroom for guests and a third smaller stateroom that can change from an office to a quarter berth as needed.

To get below, the companionway slides upward in fixed sections allowing you to lock it off at various heights as called for by sea conditions.

Stepping down four steps into the main salon the first thing that strikes you is the amount of light in the salon. I counted two opening hatches and two fixed cabin top Plexiglass panels, as well as four opening portholes and at least nine metres, possibly more, of fixed side Plexiglass panels. All this light, combined with light wall and headliners, create a modern, airy look that is very appealing.

To port is a backward-facing nav station with plenty of room for charts, electronics, etc. The nav seat is formed by one arm of the U-shaped settee and thus it doesn’t have a seat back, something that would be a drawback in a big seaway.

The U-shaped salon table functions as a cocktail table when closed and as a dining table when opened up. The table can also be lowered and with the addition of cushions this area can become an additional double bunk.

To starboard is a fore and aft galley with all the mod cons you’d expect in a modern sailboat, including a three-burner cook top with oven, refrigerator, freezer and optional microware. The Granicote countertop incorporates a two-bowl carved sink, making it easy to clean with no corners for bacteria and mold to accumulate.

As readers of my reviews would know, I am not a big fan of fore and aft galleys on offshore cruisers. They’re fine in sheltered waters or at anchor, but at sea you need a way to brace yourself when cooking.

Beneteau has addressed this by placing a long, hip-height servery-style table just inboard of the cook top, giving you something to brace against. There’s a lot more to this table, though. With a push of a button, a flat screen TV on an electric lift rises out up! “But wait,” as they say on the TV ads, “there's more.” The inboard panel of this table hinges down to form a bench seat, providing two extra places at the dining table. Now that’s innovative design!

In terms of improvements I would like to have seen a ceiling-mounted grab rail fore and aft across the salon. This would be an improvement on the current handhold arrangement that requires you to switch from grab rails at either end of the salon to grabbing the fiddles on the half height table.

Other than that I have to say there’s a lot to admire about the way Beneteau has designed the salon on this boat.

Accommodations

The last area that Beneteau’s designers turned their creative attentions to is the accommodations. The layouts give you the following options: Two double cabins and an office (with a desk that converts to a pilot berth) or; two double cabins with a pair of bunk beds where the office was. Both of the options come with two heads: one public access and one ensuite to the owner’s cabin.

The large owner’s cabin forward has a centerline double berth, an optional flat screen TV, plenty of storage, and a private head with separate shower stall. Ventilation is courtesy of two opening hatches. It also has two fixed windows.

As I mentioned previously, the bulkheads between the office, head and the salon have high windows at the same height as the side windows allowing you to look ‘through’ the boat and bringing a significant amount of light into this cabin, while still preserving privacy.

How does she sail?

Beneteau’s two days of sea trials gave me the opportunity to sail the Sense 43 against the 50 in a good 15-18 knot breeze. I then sailed the 50 against the 43 the next day in lighter winds, 8-10 knots.

Before I share the results let me give you some numbers. Running the Sense 50’s sail area and displacement figures through my calculator I come up with a sail area/displacement ratio of 19.45, which is fairly healthy for a cruising boat. This ratio is essentially saying that given the amount of sail area that this boat has in relation to its weight it should move pretty well. (Note: I added 4,000 lbs. to the lightship weight to account for diesel, water, supplies and people).

The Sense 50’s displacement to length ratio, which is a measure of how easily the hull can be driven through the water, comes to 172, indicating an easily driven hull. Running the same ratios on the 50’s smaller sister, the Sense 43, I come up with a SA/D ratio of 16.89 and a displacement to length ratio of 164.53.

On the numbers the 50 should be the faster boat – but that’s not happened out on the water. I don’t know if the result was due to how the crews were sailing the boat or the conditions. Unfortunately, while I got to sail both boats, the conditions on the two days were chalk and cheese.

The Sense 50 sails well. It hit 8 knots on a reach in 15-18 knots of breeze and it has a lot of initial stability. The steering is light and responsive.

It does need a bit of breeze to pick up its skirts and here, perhaps, is where its smaller sister the Sense 43 won out. At 70% of the displacement of the Sense 50, the Sense 43 was the lighter, faster performer. Not that you’d be disappointed with the performance of either boat.

In conclusion

The Sense 50 is clearly a new take on cruising and one that I find immensely exciting. This is a boat that clearly suits Australian conditions and our lifestyle. At a base price of $492,00, this boat is set to make a splash on the coastal cruising and charter markets.I recommend you take a look at the Sense 50.

Specifications

15.27 m LOA

14.05 m LWL

4.86 m beam

15,295 kg displacement

3,965 kg ballast