You're a guy with means and a fair amount of disposable cash in your pocket. You're cruising the scene, looking for a hottie. Okay, maybe you're not as young as you once were, but you still like to play, even if it's not as often. Remember, you've got a little dough now. Damn, there are indeed some fine babes here - young, great bodies. Christ, what fun you'd have with them! Then the reality strikes you - sure they'd be smokin' fun in the sack, but they are pretty high maintenance, and pretty demanding, too. Maybe you better lower your aim a bit.

So you keep looking, and - wait a minute - this one catches your eye. Nice looking, seemingly well put together, modern, very clean. Clearly not built like those younger f-bunnies, but could be fun for some slow but sure gettin'. And look at that booty! Who-eee, now that's a caboose. Indeed, this Baby Got Back.

Oh, yeah, the Beneteau 36.7 has got a big ol' butt. Hell, it's a big ol' boat. An awful lot is crammed into its 36 feet of length. We'd say a bit too much, for our tastes. But this one isn't meant for our tastes, it's meant for that guy above.

This is Beneteau's attempt to chase that ever elusive racer/cruiser paradigm. They have obviously had great success with the 40.7 (The fact that they win regularly in IMS either says the rule works very well or that it is very wrong), and the 36.7 is a very logical, albeit smaller version of that. Did they succeed? Yes and no.

First off, we didn't get to sail it, so we can't speak to perhaps the most important qualities of the boat. But to whom are they important? To the potential buyers of boats like this, our guess is that sailing characteristics come in second. Again, it speaks to the buyer above. If you're 25, you're looking for the babe. If you're 45, you might want the babe, but you're probably going home with the one with the big butt. If the term, "bent over they all look the same" is true, might the same be said for "at the dock, they're all the same?"

And really, for our purpose here, what good would sailing it do? It's a modern Farr boat. There is almost no way it doesn't sail along very nicely. First glance suggests that with a 155% genoa, it probably goes upwind in 10-12 pretty well, but might be a bit tippy with all that weight up high. Upwind sail area, (100% foretriangle) is 665 sg. ft., about 20 more than the J-109. Downwind, it probably is a bit sluggish with small kites and again, lots of weight. Here, the J-109, with lighter weight and significantly bigger asymmetric kites, should have a big advantage. More on the weight later. The true test is of course on the racecourse, and even then sometimes you just don't know, although the results, so far, appear to be mixed.

But we did get to give the 36.7 a pretty good look over while out of the water. Overall, it is a good looking, if not a bit voluminous, boat. A nice low house (that is a bit too long), clean lines, and slick hull window are all incorporated into a visually pleasing package. Though it has too much freeboard, and looks a bit overstuffed, it is a pretty handsome package.

The bottom and foils look very modern Farr, with a little extra volume to handle what's in store inside. Rudder and keel are what has become textbook Farr - very high aspect, with the rudder looking a bit oversized. Need to give the hacks some more bite, I reckon. For a racer/cruiser, below the waterline has a very racy and modern look - almost surprisingly so. Farr calls the shape "IMS friendly". And while the foils look pure race, the first clue that this is not a racer is the weight. At 11,552 pounds, the thing is just too heavy to be a great performer. The solid fiberglass/GRP hull can’t be helping here, and I suppose this is where the cruiser part starts to ruin the racer part. By comparison, the J-109, at one foot shorter weighs about 1,000 pounds less, with a slighter longer waterline.

On deck is another place where clearly the cruiser has won, although to us it looks like everybody loses, most notably in the cockpit. It is small - stupidly so in our judgment. If the thing wasn't so wide (read: fat) in the back, it would be completely unacceptable. In fact, it is so wide and short that instead of the cockpit being rectangular, it is nearly square! A bit odd, and to our way of thinking, a terrible concession to adding even more room below to a boat that is already huge. They did allow the aft part of the lockers to be removable, thereby adding a bit more room for racing. This was smart, otherwise it would be way too cramped. As it is, four people are about all you can have back there - and that is simply not enough for day sailing - you should have plenty of lounging room and this boat just does not have it.

Here's the other thing: If I'm buying a boat for cruising, then I sure as hell want to be able to lie down on the cockpit seats. Not with the 36.7 - they are too short, and that is such a big mistake. Major deduction of points for that. Other than the house being too long, (see what happens when you let 'em fuck up the cockpit?), it is a nice deck and decent layout. Again, keeping in mind what the boat is for, they did pretty well here. But that cockpit……

It is down below, however, where the thing really shines, and where, we suspect, most of the boats will be sold. It is simply gorgeous. The boat we saw was finished in a cherry mahogany and white leatherette that was really quite stunning. Finish, assembly and installation, all looked to be very well done. The first thing we noticed was a good-sized, forward facing proper nav station to starboard. Nicely done. There is a big galley to port, a nice main salon, and when you look aft, you quickly see why this boat is booty-licious: there is a large double berth stateroom, a single berth cabin, hanging lockers and doors to close it all off. Jesus, you'd think it's a fifty footer back there.

 

Forward is a head/shower combo that is pretty slick and a small-ish v-berth. One pretty nice feature is laminate floorboards that look like the real thing. Of course the boat has all the accoutrements you would expect: pressurized hot and cold water, refrigeration, electric bilge pump, shore power, etc.

Inviting below, it is also as impractical for racing as the cockpit is. No room for sails, no seagoing bunks and obviously very heavy in the ends. But that comes with the territory of a racer/cruiser, doesn't it?

 

The U.S. built 36.7 seems to have at least one distinct advantage in the market: price. With a base price at just over $107,000.00, it is significantly less expensive that the new J-109. If you want a modern, feature-laden R/C'er delivered by the known combination of Farr and Beneteau for a lot less money than the competition then this would be a good choice. You can expect a good quality, pleasant boat to sail and entertain with. Just don't expect any miracles on the racecourse.