Beneteau
First 235 Forum 1200+
Members | 60,000+ posts
beneteau235.com's dedicated First 235 Forums offer excellent F235
owner support. With over 50,000 posts and 1000 members, this is
one of the most well represented Beneteau models online in the World.
There are categories for General F235 posting, F235 Parts
Swap, F235s For Sale, Racing Tip/Tuning, Trailering-Mast Step Issues,
and the New First 235 Class Section, now in development. IF you
are a Beneteau F235 owner, you need to be here! Posts are editable
- Private Messaging - Searchable Database.... Not to mention, some
classic characters. We now have a First
235 Owner Directory w/pictures of each boat! |
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Beneteau
USA • Online
Parts Ordering • First
235
The USA Beneteau factory page based out of Marion, South Carolina.
Not a lot on the little First 235 but they recently changed the
site offering one notable advantage: Online Ordering. You
can now look up parts and place orders for the F235 although one
might just miss chatting with Ward.
See our NEW Beneteau
Factory Parts ID Drawing & List
12/09:
Beneteau
First 235 via BeneteauUSA
They finally linked to beneteau235.com |
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US
Spars
US Spars is the USA supplier of the original French company, Z Spars,
which made the F235 mast and boom (Z190 & Z160).
They can replace both spar sections along with all fittings, including
the various upgrades that have come along over the years.
beneteau235.com has a dedicated US Spars page with all information
relating to the First 235 including both mast and boom line drawings
with parts ID and direct order form. See the latest Spreader Base
upgrade kit along with the mast base comparisons between the early
and later F235. Please visit that page at:
› Beneteau
First 235 US Spars Info & Ordering |
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Beneteau
France
The main Beneteau headquarters in France. This link is directly
to their sailboat section as pictured in the screenshot to the right.
After perusing the Beneteau France site, taking a look at the models
offered, one immediately notices they still make sub 32ft offerings
for EU customers. Within the First Series, they currently
offer the First 27.7, First 25.7, and First 21.7. Beneteau
USA doesnt believe that anything under 32 feet will bring enough
profit. |
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Beneteau-Owners.com
UPDATE 12/09: Sadly, this site, once a great resource, is
now down - kh This is THE Beneteau owners site that
holds a load of information and details on all Beneteau models with
a small number of articles and posts dealing directly with the First
235. Unfortunately, it's down a good percentage of the time due
to the complexity of the build with problems coming up while the
owner is offshore on his boat. Best to check back frequently
if you find it down. It's been known to be offline for weeks
at a time, however. One of the better owner supported Beneteau
Resource sites. |
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| Beneteau
Owners Net Forum
UPDATE 10/18: Still alive and kicking, but barely ~ kh.
Beneteau 235 Specs, Reviews, Pics, Classifieds - Not as many contributors
as the Beneteau Owners.com site but MORE direct boat reviews dealing
with the First 235. This is a nice site with the owner reviews providing
some insight (14 owner reviews currently active). The forums are
less active but an option for questions. Owner emails accessible. |
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Italian
Beneteau First 235 Online
10/18 Sad to say that Ezio's great Italian site is now offline.
Ezio Cantone and Fabrizio Andrighetto started this Italian site
dedicated to the First 235. Some neat shots and interesting info
and mods here. Ezio and a small group of F235 owners have come together
for some great F235 competition, too. Each of the boats in the group
gets a dedicated page within this frames site. There is even a small
forum. The rub is the site is totally in Italian but I've exchanged
some mails with Ezio and his love of the little First 235 is readily
apparent. Drop by and say HELLO! |
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Beneteau
First 235 Owner Reviews via Sailnet
Sailnet was sold in October of 2005 and went through a design change.
There is a new collection of owner reviews from sailnet.com, now
entered via forums. This was a good site for looking up owners comments
on a variety of boats to compare and the new owners are trying to
bring it back to its full glory. Fx Sails will likely be working
a deal with the owners of the First 235. |
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Yacht
World Used Beneteau 235 Search
Care to see the latest Beneteau First 235s on the used market? Yacht
World's Used Boat Search is always a good place to start although
surely not the best place to find the bargains, regardless of craft.
At the time of this writing, there were about seven or eight F235's
for sale across the country. |
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SV
PRANA - First 235 Voyage to Bahamas
This is an intriguing site as it's one of the ONLY records of someone
LIVING and traveling quite a distance (though not that far from
land) in his F235 - specifically from Texas to the Bahamas with
his Husky! Thomas Burnett had little cruising experience and basically
learned as he went via his newly purchased First 235, Prana. The
pictures and text with his site are worth the time. It has an unusual
feel and I read it in one sitting. It was taken offline for a few
years but I've since talked to Thomas and worked up a new site,
featuring his interesting comments and great pics. Live the
trials & tribulations of the adventure. NOW ONLINE-Updating |
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Helia
- Peter Mohr's Beneteau F235
10/18 Unfortunately, Peter's site is no longer full functional.
Peter lives in Germany and sails his extremely nice F235 at Chiemsee
Lake near the Alps. Then for three weeks in summertime, Pete cruises
the Mediterranean Sea off Croatia! What amazing sailing grounds
which we get to see along with Helia, Peter's great F235 loaded
with mods and a great bottom job. Peter is the only one I know who
pulls his rig with a BMW 5 Series. Go Peter! |
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Boomkicker
Online •
K0750
I've got one that was on my 235 when I bought it. Makes holding
boom up very easy, and gives better sail shape off the wind making
the vang work more effectively as well. A great accessory for the
F235, especially if you already have a high quality boon vang Note:
It's installed so it pushes boom past horizontal! In other words,
when raising the sail for first time to examine, avoid head scratching
and look to see if boat has ye olde boom kicker installation, especially
if your sail resembles a grocery bag! (Dont ask). Shop around
on the net for the best pricing. |
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Rigid
Vang option from Gauhauer
The rigid vang is the best option to fully replace the vang
and actually makes sense as the cost and performance choice when
starting from scratch. Eliminates need for topping lift (as does
Boomkicker) and put the solution in one package. Gauheuer is the
most cost effective rigid vang solution. |
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Mars
Metal Company - Custom F235 Keel
Makers of custom lead keels and the fabricator for the new Leif
Beiley designed lead F235 fin keel. This is the place to go for
the all LEAD fin with improved foil, lower weight in bulb, and increased
depth resulting in a more stiff and capable upwind beast. They are
currently on HOLD for the new F235 lead fin. We need a minimum of
5-6 orders. See F235 Forums on topic. |
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ONE
PERSON Mast Raising/Lowering System: F210/F235
This is a thorough article from Terry Ellis on his Mast raising
and lowering system he uses on his First 210. Since the rigs are
practically identical, this system would likely work on the F235
as well. Article includes text and drawings of system |
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Minis
in America | The Mini Store 
10/18 Sadly, another expired domain name. "I’ve
realised it’s impossible to just walk away from racing these
awesome 21 foot offshore weapons. Whatever the weather, the sport
is just crazy and thoroughly addictive."- Phil Sharp, UK
sailor
And so goes the opening line of this site dedicated to Mini sailing
in America. Minis in America is a new organization with a singular
purpose - to bring the "Mini", a 6.5 Meter (21 foot) open
class, ocean racing sailboat to North America. The Mini - hugely
popular in Europe but still relatively unknown in North America,
is a beast of a little boat, capable of handling ocean crossings
with speed. The site is really interesting with some great
photos and up-to-date info on the latest on the Mini movement in
the USA. Includes a section on USED offerings here as well. And
tooling has begun on a brand new Mini from Owen
Clarke Design - the M6.5
- the first Production Mini to be built in America. Target
launch date is late Fall '06. GREAT SITE! |
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More
Wing or Fin debate from Catalina 34 Site
This article actually raises some good points and has really made
me question the wing keel on several fronts, including the inability
to lean to get off, the anchor in the mud, and the fact that the
rudder is sometimes longer than the Keel ala 235. The wing
utimately has a foot less draft or so at only 2'9 so it's a positive
for those with depth issues via their sailing grounds. On
the other hand, when you do run aground, the wing can sometimes
be harder to get off. |
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Telling
Tales - Understanding the ins and outs
This is a neat online resource complete with diagrams and animations
concerning the reading and understanding of sail trim along with
details on using your "tell tales" for better trim, heading,
and boat speed. An excellent site! |
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First
235 Articles - Available for order
YACHTING WORLD 1987 (2 pages)
PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER 1989 (2 pages)
YACHTING WORLD 1989 (7 pages including others)
PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER 1997 (9 pages including others)
Prices: Individual tests
£2.50 for the first or only test; £2.00 for each individual
test supplied.
Postage: All prices include first class postage in the UK. Overseas
orders postage is extra.
To order: Call or fax with full details of the test(s) required
and include your name, address, telephone number, credit card number
and expiry date. Call +44 (0)1926 407116 (Monday-Friday 10-5 UK
time) or fax +44 (0)1926 407117.
If you want to use our special fax service (reports usually sent
within an hour) just ask for details; Please note that there is
an extra charge for faxing reports.
Or send your order to:
Copy Shop (ybw), PO Box 138, Warwick, CV35 7LX, UK
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