Review of Bénéteau 343
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The Bénéteau 343 is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.
Unknown keel type
The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.55 - 1.65 meter (5.09 - 5.39 ft) dependent on the load.
Sailing characteristics
This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.2 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.
Sailing statistics
This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.
Maintenance
Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.
Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale
If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 30.0 m | (98.5 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 30.0 m | (98.5 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 30.0 m | (98.5 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 10.5 m | (34.5 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 10.5 m | (34.5 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 26.3 m | (86.3 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 23.1 m | (75.9 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Cunningham | 3.7 m | (12.1 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 7.4 m | (24.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 7.4 m | (24.2 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
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