The design was originally built by Seascape in Slovenia starting in 2017, as the Seascape 14. In 2018 Beneteau of France bought a controlling interest in Seascape and renamed the boat the First 14 SE, for Seascape Edition. A new model with the same hull design is called the First 14. As of 2023[update] both models remained in production.[1][3][4][5][6][9][13][14][15][16][17][18]
The provision of two dagger board trunk slots allows balancing the boat for single handed sailing in catboat configuration or double handed sailing as a sloop. The boat is sailed with one or two sailors and is not fitted with a trapeze.[6][9]
The boat has a draft of 3.22 ft (0.98 m) with the daggerboard extended and 0.36 ft (0.11 m) with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or automobile roof rack.[1][3][4][5]
For reaching and sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a gennaker of 142.1 sq ft (13.20 m2) flown from a retractable bowsprit. Both the gennaker and bowspit are launched and recovered with a single line.[1][3][4][5][19]
The boat comes with wheels that may be installed on the hull for launching and then stowed at the transom for sailing. A sperate launch dolly is a factory option.[6]
Variants
First 14 SE (Seascape 14)
This model was first built by Seascape and introduced in 2017. It was initially called the Seascape 14, then the First 14 until 2021 when it became the First 14 SE. It has carbon fibre spars, a length overall of 14.11 ft (4.3 m) and displaces 148.00 lb (67 kg). It has greater sail area than the later Beneteau 14 model.[2][5][7][20]
First 14
This model was first built by Beneteau and introduced in 2021. It has an aluminium rig and carbon fibre bowsprit, a length overall of 14.11 ft (4.3 m) and displaces 243 lb (110 kg), with a 158.73 lb (72 kg)hull weight.[1][3][4][5][10][20]
Operational history
The design was named Boat of the Year: Best Dinghy in 2019 by Sailing World and Best Daysailer for 2019 by Sail Magazine.[4][19]
In a 2019 description, as part of Best Boats 2019, Sail Magazine described it as, "an extremely versatile boat that can lead novice sailors through a full spectrum of sailplans as they gain experience and confidence. The key features are the twin daggerboard slots on the hull’s centerline, set one behind the other. With the board pushed down into the aft slot, the boat sails well under mainsail alone and makes a great training platform, as performance is reasonably lively and the sail, with an easy-to-work mainsheet cam cleat on the boom instead of the deck, is very manageable. When you’re ready to take things up a notch, all you need do is shift the centerboard to the forward slot and unroll the furling jib. Now you have a handy sloop-rigged dinghy with livelier performance, but still with easy sailhandling, thanks to the well-designed track for the self-tacking jib. Last but not least, when you’re ready for sailing on steroids, you can start playing with the boat’s insanely long bowsprit and enormous asymmetric spinnaker. These are very easy to deploy and recover—pull one line to launch both sail and pole, pull another to bring them both in again—and make the boat truly thrilling to sail."[19]
In a 2019 review, Yacht Hub reported, "the new Beneteau First 14 is a fast, robust sailing yacht. Beneteau yacht designers have focused on design and ergonomics, and this dinghy is an ideal introduction to sailing and the joy of surfing. The First 14's planing hull strives to achieve the best compromise between speed and stability. The dinghy's double centreboard casing means that she can be sailed solo (centreboard further aft and cat rig) or two-up (centreboard further forward and with a set of three sails). "[21]
