Bénéteau 461 Classic

Sailboat specifications

The Bénéteau 461 is a 45’1” (13.76m) cruising sailboat designed by Farr Yacht Design (United States). She was built between 1995 and 2000 by Bénéteau (France) with 210 hulls completed. The Classic version is offered with a classic masthead Marconi sloop rig. She has been awarded "1997 - Cruising World - Boat of the Year: Full-Size Cruiser".

The Bénéteau 461 has also been marketed as Océanis 461 and she is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Furling mainsail version (see all the versions compared).

Bénéteau 461's main features

Model

Bénéteau 461

Version

Classic

Hull type

Monohull

Category

Offshore cruising sailboat

Sailboat builder

Bénéteau

Sailboat designer

Farr Yacht Design

Country

France

Construction

GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich balsa fiberglass polyester

Number of hulls built

210

First built hull

1995

Last built hull

2000

Award(s)

1997: Cruising World - Boat of the Year: Full-Size Cruiser

Appendages

Keel : L-shaped keel (with bulb)

Helm

Single helm wheel

Rudder

Single spade rudder

Unsinkable

Trailerable

EC design category iThe CE design category indicates the ability to cope with certain weather conditions (the sailboat is designed for these conditions) A: Wind < force 9, Waves < 10m B: Wind < force 8, Waves < 8m C: Wind < force 6, Waves < 4m D: Wind < force 4, Waves < 0,5m

Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only)

N/A €

Bénéteau 461's main dimensions

Overall length: 45’ 11”14 m
Hull length: 45’ 1”13.76 m
Waterline length: 39’11.9 m
Beam (width): 13’ 6”4.12 m
Draft: 5’ 8”1.75 m
Mast height from D_WL: 59’ 1”18 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 20944 lb9500 kg
Ballast weight: 7496 lb3400 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron
French customs tonnage: 20.02 Tx

Bénéteau 461's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 1089 ft²101.2 m²
Mainsail area: 473 ft²43.9 m²
Genoa area: 617 ft²57.3 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 54’ 6”16.62 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 15’ 11”4.86 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 46’ 11”14.3 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 17’ 1”5.2 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Keel stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: Swept-back
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire discontinuous

Bénéteau 461's performances

Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 243 ft²/T22.56 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 160
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 36 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 8.37 knots