The new First Yacht 53 for the most demanding sailors.

The first range includes sailboats from 14 to 53 feet launched in 1977 by the famous and old French shipyard Bénéteau.

These boats have always been designed for club regattas and cruises, always managing to combine the two needs in the best possible way. Clearly, with the passing of the years it is always renewed with a more advanced technology that with the passage of time is more and more updated and deepened starting from the new techniques of working the hulls, from the development of new sails and more. However, without ever losing the original characteristics that distinguish it, they were and remain cruisers capable of combining competitive attitudes, sometimes winning in regattas, with those required by a family on a cruise.

The new First Yacht 53 is the largest sailboat and today it is re-proposed with a new renewed model heir to more than 40 years of experience in the range that definitely aims at competitive cruising. Only after a long program of study, design and development that lasted 2 years was the new First Yacht 53 born, a Luxury Performance that sets itself the ambitious goal of being the new benchmark as a fast and luxury cruising sailboat. Expressly created for expert sailors and for the most demanding owners who want to get excited at the helm, love speed and want a much more comfortable life on board even when standing still.

The new First Yacht 53 was born from the close collaboration between the Bénéteau shipyard with 2 Italian designers, Roberto Biscontini founder of Biscontini Yacht Design who designed the naval architecture and Lorenzo Argento who designed the deck and interiors.

Roberto Biscontini boasts an enviable professional experience behind him in the design of nautical architecture and boat performance. For 20 years he worked on the America’s Cup for Italian and New Zealand crews.

Lorenzo Argento as a young man worked at the Luca Brenta Yacht Design studio and together with Luca Brenta he designed the first Wallygator and numerous other projects, including four boats for Wally, immediately becoming passionate about Luca Bassani’s ideas.

Both designers studied yacht & boat design at Southampton College in England, in the South East region of the United Kingdom, one of the top 100 universities in the world.

Let’s say immediately that the real strong point of the new First Yacht 53 is the functionality of its design designed to guarantee perfect sailing characteristics, with the shape of the hull that combines perfectly with classic and modern lines, where a perfect balance of surfaces and volumes between deck and interiors with a straight and thin bow with a maximum beam that reaches its maximum value of 5 meters (16.40 feet) aft.

In this regard, Roberto Biscontini has released the following statement:

“I’ve always been looking for speed on the boats I design and on which I sail and the First 53 represents my philosophy very well”.

The boat overall is 17.16 m (56.29 ft) long, the hull length alone is 15.98 (52.42 ft), with a broad waterline of 15.4 m (50, 52 feet), while the total width is 5 m (16.40 feet), the standard version maximum draft is 2.5 m (8.20 feet), the displacement 15,500 kg (34,172 lbs), fuel tank 400 liters ( 106 gallons), fresh water tank 720 liters (190 gallons), engine manufacturer Yanmar, engine power 80 – 110 hp, builder Bénéteau, model First 53, fiberglass hull material, single hull shape.

The deck layout is clean, fresh, elegant with an unobtrusive slender deckhouse that gives the boat a very eye-catching aesthetic with modern minimalist features.  

The cockpit is divided into two parts, the relaxation area, which develops entirely near the lower deck entrance hatch and the maneuvering area where the two twin wheels of the wheelhouse positioned not too far back are installed on two columns together with the navigation control instrumentation. they leave ample space in the stern and everyone can move freely around the cockpit with easy access to the large side decks and without any obstacles it is possible to walk to the bow without disturbing anyone.

In this regard, Lorenzo Argento has issued the following communication:

“A word to describe the First Yacht 53? Intuitive”. “We have removed all the steps, nothing stands in the way of those who move on board. Doing anything is very simple, “everything flows”. The cockpit is well divided into two functional areas, one for maneuvering and one for pure relaxation “.

All the maneuvering devices are hidden and converge near the two twin wheels where there are visible winches to make all the adjustment maneuvers on the entire sail plan made as simple as possible and manageable by a small crew. The boat does not lack stowage lockers, as many as 3 are hidden at the stern, one of which with direct access to the garage for a 2.40-meter tender.

The new First Yacht 53 incorporates all the features of its designers with a well balanced hull and rudder, performing hull, clean deck plan and its particular and distinct design that integrates perfectly with the impressive sail plan excellent for handling and performance.

In the standard version of the boat the keel has a maximum draft of 2.50 meters and an aluminum mast of about 4 meters. Among the many options available it is possible to choose an oversized rig with a carbon mast higher than one meter with an increase of 10 square meters of more sail and a more performing keel with a maximum draft of 3 meters.

The innovations continue in the preparation of the decidedly different interiors that are well suited to the needs of new owners of luxury yachts. The layout always includes a saloon and then you can choose between different types of configurations for the accommodation according to the owner’s needs and preferences, the standard one includes three double cabins with two bathrooms. Another option provides three cabins and three bathrooms and accommodation for the skipper, in the latter version the spaces of the kitchen and aft cabins are more contained.

The owner’s cabin is very spacious forward with a central king size bed, plenty of storage space and a dedicated bathroom.

The descent below deck takes place through a convenient ladder which is accessed from a hatch located aft of the mast. The living room is the first environment that we find light, airy and offers a lot of freedom of movement and a lot of very comfortable space. As soon as we get off, we immediately notice two very interesting details: the return of laminated wood, noble materials and fine finishes, on a background of lacquered and teak floor panels and the absence of the chart table already experienced by Bénéteau since navigation always relies more to home automation and electronics. Therefore the living room is divided only into two very distinct spaces: a kitchen with a dining table on the left and a relaxation area with a sofa and a low table on the right.

In this regard, Lorenzo Argento issued the following statement:

 “On these exceptional sailing boats, the owners are fewer on board, they can take advantage of lunches outside in the cockpit or around a comfortable saloon table inside”. “To meet their expectations, we have changed the layout: a smaller table and a relaxation corner with a large sofa and a low table. This sofa is really close to my heart so much I have dedicated time to it “

A 110 hp Yanmar engine, a generator and a watermaker is also installed under the lower deck ladder.

On board the new First 53 there is the SEANAPS mobile application that allows you to connect a smartphone on board to always keep an eye on the boat and help with maintenance operations and access the maintenance log 24 hours a day.

The price in the version with all the options including carbon shaft and 110 hp Yanmar engine is around 800,000 euros while the basic version is sold a little less than 500,000 euros excluding VAT.

These two Italian designers together with the French shipyard have built the new First Yacht 53 which is certainly a new high-performance jewel of the sea easy to use, ideal for luxury cruises and competitive for regattas, in line with the characteristics of the range of membership. But its realization is also the work of many other partners in the sector among the most important, we mention North Sails for the sails, the Harken deck equipment, Lorima for the mast and the Lemer foundry for the keel together with the best equipment of rigging available today.