Even straight from from the factory, the boat is the foundation of what can become a good passagemaker and liveaboard cruiser. In fact, all of the boats that have been put in the charter trade in the Carribbean and Pacific have been delivered on their own bottoms by crossing oceans. That's what intrigues BWS about the boat.

Designed by Group Finot, the 411 has a European look, with a flat sheer, a molded blister coachroof, and a noticeable minimum of exterior teak. The bow sections are narrow, with a small amount of flare in the forward sections. This gives the boat an easy entry and will add to performance in light air and to windward. As the hull fills out aft of the bow section, more significant flare has been added. This increases initial stability, adds to hull volume, and helps keep water off the deck when sailing to windward.

The stern sections are full and the run aft very straight, which means that the boat will have an untroubled wake and the stern wave will be pushed astern of the boat at hull speed. This will add to its ability to sail up to hull speed in a moderate breeze and stay at that speed for long periods of time. The design of the stern puts a lot of buoyancy well aft of the boat's center of gravity. Boats with this configuration tend to be more squirrely but faster running in big seas than a heavier, narrower boat.

Under the water, the big, balanced spade rudder gives the boat a lot of steering power. The size and shape will enable the helmsperson to get the boat into the groove upwind fairly easily. It also will be a boon to directional stability off the wind, offsetting some of the skittishness created by the wide, buoyant stern.

Two keel configurations are available, with a deep fin drawing 5' 7" and a shoal draft bulb keel that draws only 4'9". The deep keel, which has a small bulb and winglets, will give the boat better windward performance, while the shoal bulb keel gives the boat the ability to explore thin water.

The Sail Area/Displacement ratio (SA/D) is on the moderate side, with the furling version having a ratio of 16.7, indicating a conservative rig. The boat should be able to carry full working canvas up to 20 knots of apparent wind, where a sister ship with a ratio over 20 would have to reef at 15 knots.

The hull of the 411 is solid glass-fiber, polyester and isophathalic resins molded in a rotating female mold. Glass is hand-laid and rolled out in the hull and deck, whereas smaller parts are constructed using chopper-gun applications of glass and resin. The company, having thousands of boats out there, has been a pioneer in preventing osmotic blisters by introducing new generations of resin and controlling the quality of materials and the climate inside the factories. While any fiberglass boat can suffer from osmotic blistering, the latest building techniques used by Beneteau and others have greatly reduced the risk from blisters.

The rudder of the 411 is all composite, even the rudder-post. The blade of the rudder is formed of foam sandwiched between fiberglass layers. The post is a glass-epoxy composite that is both lighter than stainless steel and stronger. Epoxy rudder shafts have several benefits. The blade and the shaft are one inert piece, so water will not migrate into the foam sandwich where the shaft and blade join. A second benefit is the flex inherent in the epoxy shaft. The rudder is the most vulnerable point on the boat in heavy weather or when grounding, and the shafts Beneteau uses are three times as strong as stainless steel, largely because the shaft will flex and deflect the side forces.

The 411's deck is a fiberglass, end-grain balsa sandwich. The hull and deck are joined on the flange molded into the hull, glued with polyurethane mastic, and fixed in place with stainless-steel screws. It used to be the rule that flange joints should be thru-bolted on 6- or 8-inch centers. Nowadays, the adhesives used in hull-deck joints are so strong and reliable that screws have taken the place of bolts. Beneteau makes a point of noting that none of their boats has ever suffered a hull-deck-joint failure.

The basic systems that come with the 411 include a 42-h.p. Westerbeke diesel driving a three-bladed prop. Aluminum fuel tanks of 40-gallon capacity and a Racor fuel/water separator are standard. The water tanks are fiberglass and molded into the grid pan that lines the hull. These are coated with gelcoat, which prevents the water from being tainted with the taste of styrene. Plumbing systems are set up with easy access to valves and pumps beneath settees. The electrical wiring gets installed in bundles that run through conduits, which simplifies the installation process, but will make it slightly difficult for an owner to add new reading lights and fans as he gets used to living with his new boat.

The morning we sailed the 411 on Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound, we had barely a breath of wind. We motored away from the mooring in Falmouth Harbor and steamed out through the jetty. The boat we tested had a fixed three-bladed prop that bit the water with authority and at maximum revs moved the boat in flat water at 8-plus knots. The boat is extremely maneuverable under power, turning very nearly inside its own length. It stopped easily with power applied in reverse, and backed straight as an arrow.

Once on the Sound, we put the pedal down and motored toward a wind shadow lying a mile or so offshore. This was the beginning of the sea breeze, but it was a slow beginning. We rolled out the main and jib and looked for an angle of sail that would give us some headway. Although the wind was blowing at less than 5 knots, we soon had both sails drawing and the boat sliding effortlessly through the water at 3 knots at an angle of 40 degrees from the wind.

We did not give the 411 a rigorous sea trial, but we did get a chance to see how the boat handles in light air and under power and came away impressed with her maneuverability, easy helm and ability to move even when beset with calms. The helmsman has good views forward over the low cabin-top, and can steer comfortably from the helmsman's seat or from either the windward or leeward side. The self-tailing Lewmar 48s that come as the standard genoa winches are adequate for the 125 percent genoa. Secondary winches are an optional addition.

When we set out to test-sail and review the Beneteau 411, we wanted to take the boat's measure as a cruising boat with the potential to be equipped and fitted out for transoceanic sailing and live-aboard cruising. As it come from the factory, the boat is an attractive, modern coastal cruiser, that has been well designed, solidly engineered and well built.

Were BWS getting a 411 ready for ocean sailing, here are some of the choices we would make when purchasing the boat and when fitting it out. We would select the two-cabin version, with the good seagoing galley aft to starboard. And we would select the Classic version with the full-battened main. This would allow for a high-roach main that would add a bit of sail area and power to the rig. We would add spinnaker gear for downwind sailing and a storm trysail on its own mast track for heavy weather.

In the cockpit we would add secondary self-tailing winches, a rugged dodger, weather cloths and a Bimini top. We would go for the electric windlass option and the deep bulb keel, which is still less than six feet of draft. Our aim is to have a boat that will perform well and easily in a wide range of wind conditions, yet be as simple as possible.

The cruising version has two reasonable seas berths the after double and the port settee. The aft double's cushion would be made in two halves and fitted with a lee cloth down its middle and the settee would get one that tucks under the cushion when not in use. In easygoing sailing or the trades, the forward double will work well as a sea berth also, and it, too, could benefit from a mind-bunk lee cloth.

Handholds on deck and below are always important safety elements. There are several good ones on the boat, but we would add granny bars at the mast and a vertical stainless-steel post at the inboard corner of the galley counter where it could be used by crew moving about the boat's interior. Also, on deck we would add Wichard folding padeyes on the side decks, on which we would shackle stainless-steel jacklines. In the cockpit, we would add two or three sturdy padeyes for life harness tethers. And we would add a good six-man life raft.

The boat has ample water tanks, but 48 gallons of fuel is not enough for independent cruising, so we would add a 25-gallon bladder diesel tank Blue Water Boat the bottom of the sail locker. Also, we would add a second fuel/water separator in the high-side of the fuel line. On the engine, a 120-amp. hour charger would replace the standard 50-amp. alternator. This would charge the batteries through a phased regulator. The house battery bank would be expanded from 200 amp-hours of capacity to at least 600.