The test day begins uncomfortably: continuous rain, hardly any wind, thick fog – so we start below deck! Fortunately there is a lot to discover here too. The Beneteau Oceanis 46.1 is, like the entire Oceanis fleet, one of the most successful sailing yachts at the moment. The 14.60 metre long boat was sold 150 times, just in the last season. Our visit on board shows that this is not only because of the market dominance of the French shipyard.

Before the start to the Baltic Sea © Michael Krieg

Due to the weather conditions prevailing until midday, we hide below deck for the time being. A varied room layout is possible below deck: The Oceanis 46.1 can be ordered with three, four or even five cabins. And even the four-cabin version has a bathroom for each room.

Much, much light and high quality below deck

Unlike the slightly larger Oceanis 51.1, which was drawn by Berret/Racoupeau, our test ship is built according to plans by Finot-Conq. Nevertheless, both sailing yachts look very similar with low superstructures and modern hull lines.

Everything appear to be high-quality and comfortable, even at second glance. The boat, for whose design below deck Nauta Design is responsible, appears as if it is filled with light. Numerous windows in the hull are standard. The many openings in the cabin superstructure create a light-flooded ambience. Pleated blinds and concealed sliding blinds prevent unwanted views from outside.

The walls are clad with light-coloured plastic panels. This forms a nice contrast to the furniture in matt lacquered mahogany colour. If you want it even brighter below deck, you can order the furniture in light oak veneer.

The library onboard © Guido Barbagelata

The navigator’s seat © Guido Barbagelata

Fine detail: the on-board library

The large bookshelf for a small on-board library is beautiful. Books for long evenings in the harbour are ready at hand along the main bulkhead, right next to the access to the owner’s cabin. For the long trip there is plenty of storage space in cupboards.

Beneteau offers a total of four cabin layouts. In the standard three-cabin layout, there is an L-shaped galley to the left of the companionway and a fairly large bathroom with separate shower opposite. This is followed by a stately saloon settee. Around the saloon table there is space for up to six people.

Saloon seating with owners corner opposite © Guido Cantini

Directly opposite, in front of the galley, there is even room for a small chaise longue, an upholstered couch with headrest as a so-called owners corner. There is also a navigator’s seat with a view in the direction of travel. However, this is located at the main bulkhead and thus quite far from the companionway.

Retractable TV-screen

On our test ship we come across the second furnishing option: Here the port side is dominated by the longitudinal galley. The advantage here is that two guests have space to work and cook in large areas next to each other. The L-pantry is more seaworthy, but when the boat is healing, the centrally placed furniture – with automatically retractable TV screen inside – offers plenty of support.

Version with longitudinal galley and separate head in the bow © shipyard

For this constellation, however, the chaise longue and the navigation seat had to make way. The latter then lies with its seat backwards to the direction of travel at the salon seating group. As an option for the galley, a foot pump for seawater is available at the sink.

We are on board the upscale charter version: it is also suitable for large families, as there are three cabins with their own bathrooms. These heads are accessible both from the respective cabin and from the saloon. This means that the bathrooms can be used by the entire crew during the day. There is sufficient headroom throughout the ship.

Standing height everywhere below deck

The aft cabins are a place worth living in with wardrobe, plenty of storage and daylight through the hull window. Openable hatches to the cockpit and to the helmsman enable cross ventilation.

Many hull windows for much light in the cabins © Guido Barbagelata

The owner’s berth in the bow looks almost royal: there is a 2.05 x 1.60 metre island bed, voluminous cupboards and additional storage. The view through the hull windows is beautiful and works also while lying down. By the way, the head is divided into two: on port side with shower, opposite with toilet. And both have their own wash basin.

Space below deck for up to ten people

The layout can also be extended to four or even five cabins, with a longitudinal bulkhead dividing the owner’s cabin. The shower cabin then becomes another complete bathroom, so that each double cabin has its own bathroom with shower and toilet.

In the five-cabin version, the crew of the two aft cabins will have to share a bathroom opposite each other instead of the starboard head.

Five double cabins and three bathrooms – could be narrow © shipyard

Nine to ten people on board, however, should push the space available to its limits even on a 46-foot ship. The three-cabin version, the one which we are testing, is also attractive for charter. A few days later she will sail for a charter company in Greece. That means: Caution!

The Baltic Sea is almost too small

In the moment we have had a good look around below deck, the weather changes abruptly: The wind freshens up, disperses the fog and gives the test crew a stormy pleasure with gusts. That this kind of sailing still remains a pleasure is clearly due to the potential of Oceanis 46.1.

Weatherproof equipped we went... © floatmagazin

... to the autumnal Baltic Sea © Michael Krieg