42 Beneteau USA Swift Trawler

Source: Rex Fayerweather, Boaterslife.com

Charm and Elegance in a New Breed of Trawler

Beneteau, the premier sailboat manufacturer in the world and one of the top builders of motorboats in Europe, introduced a new breed of passagemaker to the North American market at the Annapolis Powerboat Show – the Swift Trawler 42.

I just had to see it and find out more. So, I tracked down Wayne Burdick, President of Beneteau USA and met with him aboard the Swift 42 on the sundeck. Here’s what he had to say:

Rex: When I walked up to the Beneteau dock at the Annapolis boat show, I saw the Swift 42 and I thought to myself, …

WOW! Beneteau is going to steel the show and our hearts with this one!

To Wayne, I said …
Personally, I didn’t know that Beneteau manufactured powerboats, let alone Trawlers. This one’s a beauty. Your brochure tells me that powerboats are nothing new to you.

A excellent reputation in the US for Sail and soon to be … in Power

Wayne: We’re very happy to be here, because for us it definitely is a new niche, and a new business for Beneteau USA . As a solely owned company by a French parent, we have not ventured into the powerboat market until now.

Building upon that great foundation we have laid for years with our sailors, and the quality of the boats that we build in South Carolina, and we decided to bring that to the powerboat market.

The introduction of the Swift Trawler 42 is a natural progression for Beneteau USA. As our market continues to grow, we have seen an increasing demand for sailors and powerboaters alike ready to make a switch to a new generation of passagemakers. The Swift 42 fulfills that demand by offering a performance, safe, seaworthy hull in combination with a sumptuous interior highlighted by the lustrous joinerwork for which Beneteau is so well known.

Timing is everything. We’ve been building sailboats in the US for 17 years and have proven success in meeting the American boater’s desire for highly refined production sailing yachts. In Europe Beneteau has been building and promoting powerboats for decades. It seems the time is right for Beneteau to now enter the American powerboat market.

Rex: When discussing the Trawler market with manufacturers, they tell me that many of their customers are people moving out of sail. Do you find this to be true? Wayne: What we are seeing so far at this show is about 50/50, with half of the people that come aboard being serious lookers who are transitioning out of sail, which we are very well known for. The American market does not know that we are building several thousand powerboats a year in Europe, but they recognize the name.

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Then the traditional power cruisers are coming aboard and saying “we didn’t know you guys did this.”

Even those that have owned the 35 knot macho powerboat are coming aboard and saying … “Well, we don’t really want to get bashed up so much; you know nobody’s really cruising at 30-35 knots. A good boat that can travel at 18-20 knots is something we’re very interested in. You can still get to far horizons in a short period of time and have a great time while you’re at it.’”

Let’s face the truth: The motion of cruising at 30-35 knots is too severe, the boat can take it, but the people can’t!

That was the whole impetus behind this design. Our creative genius … Francois Chalain. Five years ago he started talking about this project. He always had the vision of first a great sea boat. That is one of the most important things to Beneteau with every one of the products they’ve ever built.

Their history, of course, is the Bay of Biscay, with some of the worst weather in the world, and their design emphasis is that it has to be able to travel at cruising speed in their normal conditions, which is 2 meters of fairly steep stuff.That’s about six and a half feet of tough chop, and be able to go flank speed through that, and not have the bad motion or the boat jeopardized by safety or security of structure.

The Swift 42 delivers the ability to travel at a rapid pace in sublime comfort while carrying a crew in seas that many typical cruisers would find too challenging. Truly impressive.

The start of a new breed of Trawler: The Neo-Classical Trawler

Rex: It’s certainly has a classic, and yet modern appeal to it. It’s an interesting design.

Wayne: I coined the phrase “neo-classical.”

It is definitely a neo-classical trawler, or I should say swift trawler, … and we have put the components of Francois’ vision, working with Joubert, who has done everything from the America’s Cup catamaran that Dennis Conner sailed to megayachts, and then the wonderful design team to create something that is so unique.

We end up with a boat that when someone looks at they way the ergonomics work…you know, very few boats have the twin doors in the pilot area. Quite often in docking you can’t put her starboard; you have to put her port. It’s a big help to have twin doors. Wide walkways are a help as well.

Rex: Was this boat specifically designed with the American market in mind?

Wayne: It was designed with the international market in mind; with the Americans, and the Germans, the Australians, the people from northern Europe who expect this sort of thing.

Rex: You can’t help but notice that it has a European flair to it. Upon first look you are apt to say, “that’s a trawler,” and then your react, “well, wait a minute… this is much more than a trawler.”

Wayne: One of the keys for the international market is the identity of Beneteau as a premier builder known first and foremost as safe boats that function very well and bring good value. By standardizing things and starting from the beginning with a capital investment in this project that is probably unheard of in most of the industry.

Upper and Lower Steering Stations

One of her top design emphasis was sea-kindly passages at quick paces; the Swift Trawler 42 offers upper and lower steering stations, a generous salon with an adjoining galley in a panoramic deck salon, a large master state room with a queen sized island berth, en suite head with separate shower, and a great guest cabin.

The interior is finished out in the beautiful joinery work that is a hallmark of Beneteau, and her system offerings are haute-couture. A true yacht-like flavor is evident throughout, from her sizable flybridge/entertainment platform to her spacious, well-engineered engine/generator spaces.

Rex: Beneteau is known for its excellent production methodology, … and cost saving that is obtained in the process. As I have read, this helps you meet an excellent price point while keeping quality, and safety, and overall fit and finish, and high standards.

Wayne: We know that our tooling alone is treble the cost of traditional tooling in the industry. But the repeatability of the form is the most important thing in the structure, and in the ability to do that in a rapid fashion takes the investment…like our rotating mold system.

Panoramic Deck Salon with Fine Joinery throughout.

Rex: When walking through the Swift 42, you can’t help noticing that there is some fiberglass, but you still have that feeling of quality. Cherry interiors and overall quality. The joinery is very well done.

Wayne: And taking that as an example of our capital investment, the joinery is so beautiful, and again that is one of our hallmarks.

Everybody that has been aboard has complimented us on the finish.

If you’ve ever been to our facilities in Europe, you’ll see that all of the wood comes out of one factory.

It is the most sophisticated system that anyone in the boating industry has ever seen. There is a huge 100 foot long rotating table in which the wood flats go through a waterfall of varnish, and then after that go through a drying system, and after that go through a sanding system, and after that a dusting system, and after that they go for another coat of varnish, and so on until they are done.

Millions are invested into that process, that’s were we get our difference.

Rex: So, you must expect to sell quite a few of Swift 42’s to make that degree of automation justifiable.

Wayne: In all the models that we make, the first concept is that we know that we have to make many of them in order to afford to pay for the capital investment. For instance, on this boat, when we build her in America, the target is about 60 boats a year. That’s where we should be as a norm. And we know as we get to know a boat of this intricacy we can speed that up to the demand, but we know that if we do less than that we won’t be efficient. The repeatability and the unit numbers are pretty phenomenal.

Rex: Well, from what I see here, … you should do well. Let’s talk a little about your interior accommodations.

Wayne: Francois Chalain, from day one, knows that people who can afford something like this don’t want to go roughing it, they don’t want to be stuck into a little cubby hole think they’re back at camp in a pup-tent. As one of our customers mentioned to her husband Honey, I am not roughing it anymore!

That queen-sized berth that both he and she can get out of in the middle of the night when they want to without climbing over each other. It’s a space that is large enough to afford changing and feeling comfortable that you’re in a room instead of a berth.

Rex: I noticed next to it there is a large separate shower room and a terrific head, as opposed to what a lot of builders do, put in 2 separate heads, neither of which are usable if you’re large like I am. How did that come about?

Wayne: Again, Francois working with Joubert and the design team, in focus meetings with different members of the international marketing department. Here in the states Francois would come with what we call our dealer council, and the council would be presented with ideas. We would say “we need to have an island berth and a stall shower.”

“Those are two things for the owner that is an absolute necessity.” And those features end up being in the product. And there are going to be some owners that travel quite often with children and guests, so let’s make a nice stateroom.

At the same time, if that is the case, we should have the ability to make a 2-head boat. In the shower area it is actually set up to add another head. There is a level of customization that is possible there. In future models, for someone that is living aboard, that will be able to be transformed into an office workplace and wireless connected.

Power and Seaworthiness

Rex: Now for the important question: What she’s like under power, at sea.

Wayne: Many things will surprise you about her. One thing for me was how absolutely amazing it was to be on board roughly a 30,000 lb. boat. The other night with generator and air conditioning running, we had 15 people on board. We were motoring out, and one of our dealers was on the helm. One of the technicians said, “OK, Hit It!”, and the dealer at the helm did hit it, instead of going up gradually.

One of the other dealers standing up fell back into the mast! I mean there was that much acceleration with the twin 370s, … all of a sudden she jumps up on plane, and you’re cruising along at 2900 rpm, at 20 knots, burning about 29 gallons an hour. And that’s pretty conservative considering all the extra weight on board. The Swift 42 is very, very responsive.

Rex: Impressive numbers. What does that give you for range? How large is the tank?

Wayne: At that consumption level, about 250 miles. Now if you want to pull back, at displacement speed that goes up to about 600-700 miles. That’s about 8 knots. She will do long distances economically and definitely take you where you need to go.

Actually, we feel that the Swift 42 launches a new niche of passagemakers with the ability to travel at a rapid pace in sublime comfort. And that while carrying a crew in seas that many typical cruisers would find too challenging. She has a sharp entry and stepped hull lines refined by Joubert/Nivelt over many projects. She will cruise in the mid-teens to low-twenties, dependent upon the engine size selected. And the hull form provides a smooth ride with dampened motion even in steep chop. Combine that with an advanced combination of balsa and FRP laminate to keep her quiet underway. She’s truly remarkable.

Rex: Well right now, we are sitting on a great sundeck. Aft of the steering station on the flybridge and the settee that is next to it.

The sundeck is nicely put together with a teak table with enough room for four to six. Is this how you foresee this being used?

Wayne: There are several things (the sundeck can be used for). We also have the ability to put a dinghy loading mast for people that are doing offshore passages who don’t want it on the swim platform back aft. With the lifting mast you can put the dinghy where we are sitting with the outboard still on it. The deck is designed for a ten footer. I think that for many people, though, this will be the sundeck. It can be equipped with a refrigerator and a bar as well. So it serves many purposes.

Rex: Truly the sundeck is a multi-purpose platform. How has the reception to the Swift Trawler 42 been overall at the show?

Wayne: It’s been exceptionally fine. We are talking to very serious people. Rachel has been lining up demos because the boat is only here for a couple of days after the show, and then she goes down to th Ft. Lauderdale show.

So we’re getting a pretty full book of customers who are going to be writing checks. It’s a new concept for them in some ways, and it’s a new boat to the market so they want to at least feel how it is underway.

The Look out of the 20’s with the Technology of Today

Rex: When you look at her, her profile does not have the same appearance as some of the other trawlers. She does not have the look of heavy-metal and is far more refined while being aggressive and ship-like. How do you describe it from your perspective?

Wayne: Joubert is particularly enamored of the classic look, and in many ways as we used to call them “commuters”, the boat with a long look to it.

Your eye follow;, one of the little tricks that the classic commuter design did is that everything leads to the dip back aft at the stern cockpit, cutting away the hullside at that point and continuing around where the taff rail is.

It makes her look like she has that long lean entry of the commuter. It is a unique combination,a shiplike look with a huge walkaround protection that she has with the overhangs above the aft cockpit, giving her the combination of commuter and yet ship-like appearance.

When I first saw the design, it reminded me of a poster out years ago of the Queen Mary planing. Bow up, aggressive, classic ship, and yet really fast.

Rex: I think this ship is a significant statement for Beneteau in the U.S. marketplace. I think it’s going to be big news and highly successful.

But I have a feeling that you plan to come big time into the powerboat area at many different levels.

Wayne: This isn’t the only model that we’ll be introducing into the powerboat market. The first thing that we would say is the Swift Trawler 42 is one of 3 models that are already being talked about. This will be the mid-range. We will see a bigger one and a smaller one eventually, but we don’t want to put a time on that yet, hopefully sooner rather than later.

This year we are introducing the Antares power yachts to the American market. The Antares are a more traditional sedan cruiser.

We want to go slowly though, and make sure we’re doing the right thing, so we’ve chosen 6 dealers on the east coast and the gulf to represent the boats. They range from 32 feet up to 45 feet. They are very successful in Europe. The 13.80, in its size range, is probably the dominant force in it’s market in Europe at this point.

Rex: And, … that will be within the next couple of months?

Wayne: We’ll see those probably in March.

Rex: So the Beneteau flag will definitely be flown, not just on sailboats throughout the continental United States, but on powerboats, if you have your way.

Wayne: If we have our way.

Rex: I’m going to ask you a question and apologize before I ask it. Some people think that Beneteau’s quality is not up to par with high range boats, Hinckleys of the world, Pacific Trawlers. I don’t believe that, and I think they say that because they’re not custom built. To those naysayers out there, what would you have to say?

Wayne: I think that each manufacturer builds a wonderful boat today; they all have their niche. Quality is ultimately delivering on the customer’s expectation. Our customer will not expect to be able to customize the boat. There are others that will give you a cherry interior, a teak interior, they will put cabinets in different places. We can’t do that. It is our engineered manufacturing system that allows us to bring this boat to the market for a base price with the base engines of $312,000, which is unheard of in a 42’ boat. It is a value-delivered boat in a standardized package. And we will make them the same way again and again, and that’s how we bring value to the customer.

Hopefully we’ve come up with what the customer wants to buy.

Rex: From what I’ve seen, I think you have. All I can say is “WOW !”

Don’t miss this one! See it for yourself …

Rumor also has it that, in addition to the Swift Trawler 42, Beneteau USA might introduce a totally new line of powerboats to the American market at the Miami Boat Show. We’ll just have to wait and see.

For the initial introduction, Beneteau USA has selected dealers in the Eastern US to represent the line. As demand continues to grow, plans are to eventually build the Swift Trawler 42 at the Beneteau USA factory in Marion, SC.

Beneteau USA has initially chosen six very strong dealers to concentrate on the Eastern seaboard to support a great launch for this important introduction, ensuring the on-going success for the Swift 42.