First Class Challenge
Beneteau · Jean-Marie Finot · 1992
Updated
The First Class Challenge is a 9.15 m semi-displacement racing yacht designed by Jean-Marie Finot and built by Beneteau, first launched in 1992. It races in Class C.
Length
9.15 m
30′ 0″
Beam
3.23 m
Draft
1.79 m
Displacement
2.6 t
Sail area
52 m²
On the podium
Where a First Class Challenge finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
20%
of 83 starts by 2 boats
Wins
6%
Read from 83 starts by 2 boats between 2020 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a First Class Challenge was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
National Championship for Keel Boats2026
Bosphorus Cup2025- National Championship ORC & IRC2024
- Regata Varna Channel Cup2024
- Shorthanded Regatta2023
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
10%
of these races end on the podium
Offshore & coastal
30%
of these races end on the podium
Better the longer it gets. Boats that settle into a groove and hold it gain ground once the course stops turning.
Who she races against
The designs a First Class Challenge actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
1d35 (6 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 33 (6 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 36 (6 meetings), First 47.7 (6 meetings), Pogo 30 (6 meetings), First 34.7 (6 meetings), First 35 (Farr) (6 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the First Class Challenge has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
4.85
39°
Beam reach
8.34
90°
Broad reach
9.91
135°
Downwind VMG
7.89
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It needs pressure to show what it can do. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is cracked off in a strong breeze, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage on the run as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short upwind once it pipes up, giving away time it never gets back. That is a hull that will lift and run given enough breeze.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 1.2 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the upwind.
How fast is a First Class Challenge
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.29 | 4.48 | 4.83 | 4.85 |
| 52° | 5.04 | 6.47 | 6.87 | 6.98 |
| 60° | 5.31 | 6.66 | 7.10 | 7.29 |
| 75° | 5.49 | 6.81 | 7.41 | 7.80 |
| 90° | 5.41 | 6.94 | 7.54 | 8.34 |
| 110° | 5.49 | 7.13 | 8.05 | 9.05 |
| 120° | 5.33 | 7.03 | 8.09 | 9.79 |
| 135° | 4.78 | 6.69 | 7.73 | 9.91 |
| 150° | 4.02 | 6.08 | 7.24 | 8.97 |
| Run VMG | 3.48 | 5.28 | 6.54 | 7.89 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 480 kg.
Rigging
First Class Challenge rig and sail dimensions
A First Class Challenge carries 11.16 m of mainsail hoist on a 3.85 m boom, a forestay 12.10 m above the deck and a 3.50 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 4 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails