Oceanis Yachts 62 – first of a new luxury range

from Beneteau

Toby Hodges March 22, 2016

Beneteau goes to a powerboat designer to find a new look for the first of its new range of

luxury cruisers. Toby Hodges reports

Note the title ‘Oceanis Yachts’ 62. I missed it at first, assuming this was a new flagship for

Beneteau’s traditional Oceanis range. But no, this 62-footer represents the first of a new luxury

range of Beneteaus from 53-73ft, which employs an industrial approach to provide an unbeatable

end price for a large yacht.

You’ll notice the 62 has a certain Italian flair to it for a French yacht. This is perhaps because

Oceanis Yachts’ co-designer and Beneteau’s new sailing director are both Italian. The design and

styling was a collaborative approach between Berret Racoupeau and the Italian designer

Pierangelo Andreani.

Andreani has been working with Beneteau’s Montecarlo powerboat range for years.

“In order to explore something beyond what we are currently doing, we went to a powerboat

designer to find something new,” says Beneteau’s sailing yachts director, Gianguido Girotti (ex

Grand Soleil and Dufour).

The bold, dark stripes across the topsides, for instance, are used as both a signature look for the

new range and a means to camouflage the many large hull portlights. Together with the

wraparound coachroof portlights then, they should provide an astonishing amount of light below

decks.

Motor boat influences

It is not only the styling, including the hull stripes and the interior, that borrows ideas from the

power side. Note the design of the stern sections. The minimalist three or four-cabin layout

leaves room for a vast tender garage, plus a proper practical aft bathing platform that will really

extend space on deck.

With the bathing platform lowered, stairwells incorporated into each quarter are exposed. These

have an elegant 45° incline similar to those on motor boats, providing easy access to the

platform.

The aft section of the platform submerges hydraulically to facilitate the launch and recovery of

the tender and the garage can house a 2.85m Williams jet RIB.

The deck design is created for warm weather comfort. There are six sunbathing beds, including

two on the flat coachroof, the cockpit is enormous for alfresco living, plus there is a novel rigid

bimini option.

Intelligent cost capping

Beneteau’s goal is to keep the price of the Oceanis Yachts 62 under €600,000. It has created a

production run in the big boat facility where the Montecarlo motor boats are produced, says

Girotti.

This is an industrialised technique aimed at reducing construction time, so that finish quality can

be improved for the price.

“We are the biggest experts in the world at doing this with 40-50ft boats,” Girotti explains. “But

there was never really an approach for Groupe Beneteau brands to do this with larger yachts

before.”

He sees this as the latest evolution of Groupe Beneteau’s large yachts. “We further stretched the

good concept of the Bordeaux 60, and squeezed the price down even lower than the Jeanneau

64.”

The Bordeaux 60 was a €1m yacht when it launched in 2008, but has 30 per cent less volume

than the Oceanis Yachts 62. The Jeanneau 64 brought the price down by €150,000. “Now, three

years later we came up with the third step, one that is another €200,000 cheaper.”

Semi-custom approach

The marketing slogan of Oceanis Yachts is to ‘make the inaccessible accessible’. Girotti explains

this as “creating high-end quality with better service”. While Beneteau isn’t about to encourage

owners to visit its yard and make custom adjustments to their builds, it will be introducing an

element of personal choice to this new range – a touch of luxury.

image: https://keyassets.timeincuk.net/inspirewp/live/wp-

content/uploads/sites/21/2016/03/OY62-Inside.jpg

This means a more serviced-based approach for Oceanis Yachts owners, including direct sea

trials. “It’s not just a product, but a service. For the first time for a production yard, we will be

putting the yard in front of the customer, not the dealer. We build 850 yachts a year, but will be

treating the customer [as if this were] a yard that builds 40-50 boats a year.”

Beneteau will have one location in the Med and one in northern Europe to conduct these

handovers, before establishing a ‘flying doctor approach’ for the US and further afield.

The first Oceanis Yachts 62 will launch this spring and undergo two months of extensive sea

trials. Her official premiere will be at the Cannes and Annapolis boat shows in the autumn.

Dimensions

LOA 19.07m/64ft 9in

Beam 5.33m/17ft 6in

Draught 2.3-2.9m/7ft 7in-9ft 6in

Disp 24,170kg/53,271lb

Sail area 182m2/1,959ft2