Few boats offer more for the money than the Antares line and the new Beneteau Antares 9 S2 exemplifies that. Alex Smith takes it for a sea trial.
There are a few things any multi-purpose family boat, like the Beneteau Antares 9, ought to bring to the party. A bit of external day space for convivial summer fun. A bit of sheltered internal space for extra practicality when the weather turns. A bit of sleeping space for the odd weekend away, and a sensible size and price to make the whole thing that bit more manageable for novice families and fragile budgets.
But anyone who knows the Beneteau fleet would have to concede that most of these things were achieved by the old Beneteau Antares 9 and, to a degree, by the Antares 8.8 that preceded it. So what’s the story with this latest incarnation?
Well for a start, the new Beneteau Antares 9 a little bit bigger. That beam-forward hull and raised bow moulding is now joined by an extra 3cm of breadth, bringing the new boat greater volume than ever before.
To help mitigate that inherent bulk, it gets a subtly augmented profile too, thanks to a single elongated hull window and an extended aft roofline that pushes out above the cockpit for improved shelter.
That roof can be upgraded with either a soft-top and roof rack or solar panels, and there are changes on the inside too, not least in terms of the fit-out, which features lacquered furniture, walnut woodwork and “tufted” upholstery inspired by the larger Antares 11 and Beneteau Antares 12.
The side gate, extended roof and sliding bench make loads of sense
Additional upgrades
Ease of movement has also been improved. The skipper now gets direct access to the broader, deeper starboard side deck thanks to a compact but functional side door and there’s also a starboard side gate with an optional swim ladder, providing easy access to the water as well as the pontoon.
Access from the narrower port side deck down into the cockpit could be upgraded with the addition of a grab rail and a gunwale-mounted tread plate but for the most part, it’s a job well done.
That drive for uprated user-friendliness continues with the furniture. In the cockpit, for instance, the 40ft2 deck uses an L-shaped aft bench that slides fore and aft to make best use of space and to enable you to trim the legs all the way up after a day on the water.
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There’s also a secondary seat pod that enables you to turn it into a U-shaped bench, plus a table and infill so you can create an external sunpad. Step inside and the port dinette is equally hard working.
It will happily seat five people (two forward and three aft). But you can flip the forward backrest to create a pair of raised co-pilot seats or you can drop the table into the gap to create a third double berth to supplement the two down below.
And talking of the cabins, they really are very decent for a boat of this length. The softened bow shape and raised foredeck create plenty of volume and the designers have made good use of that in the forward cabin with long deep windows, raised storage boxes and a sliding pocket door.
]The Queen size bed is relatively low-set, creating plenty of headroom for sitting up in bed and the high-level cabinets are supplemented with a good size of hanging locker and some great storage underneath the bed, accessed by means of a single-handed hatch with good strong rams.
There’s sheltered space for five to dine with excellent views all round
Further aft, beyond the shared wetroom-style heads and shower compartment, the guest cabin adds another double bed to the mix in the form of a transverse cabin beneath the saloon floor. The deckhead does of course dip a fair bit in here but for extra practicality, the head end sits sensibly beneath the raised mouldings of the port dinette.
There’s also a changing seat and more hanging storage; and the fact that there’s a dash-mounted skylight up top, as well as a generous window, means your guests get plenty of natural light, as well as remarkably good views.
There’s outstanding volume inside that softly angled beam-forward bow
Heading out to sea
This is, of course, a chunky little boat with plenty of volume, a modest waterline length, a fair amount of windage, a shallow vee and a pair of outboards on the transom. That’s not usually a recipe for a brilliant driving experience but as well as being a little wider, Beneteau tells us the new Beneteau Antares 9 uses a lighter, more rigid hull for improved efficiency and reduced vibration.
And while there’s a bit of clattering from the various doors as we pick our way through a Mediterranean chop stoked into fractious little peaks by the afternoon breeze, the drive is commendably controllable.
When you run into the swells, it helps if you ignore convention and lift the legs a touch, just to elevate that big bow and allow the point of entry to slide a little way aft. That quickly wins you a slightly more progressive and forgiving ride and by operating like that, we manage speeds of between 18 and 24 knots into quite an aggressive head sea.
The wetroom-style day heads occupies a remarkable footprint for a boat of this size
Changing from a head sea to a following sea shows us how wet things can get if you fail to tweak your legs and tabs in line with the changing conditions. But once you’re properly set, running with the swells actually shows this boat at its best. The broad hull sits resolutely where you put it, the nose lifts as much as you need it to, the grip at the props is impressively resilient and the beamy bow never once grabs at the water shapes or steers you off course.
It’s also good to see that the new Antares 9 gets the once optional 300L fuel tanks as part of the standard package. That means a cruising range of less than 100 miles is now extended to between 120 and 170 miles, bringing much more in the way of flexibility to your day out. And in spite of its bulbous hull, modest length and fulsome entry, it’s clear that you can use this boat for much more than you might imagine.
The guest double gets very decent headroom beneath the saloon’s port dinette
As for the engines, there’s really no need to upgrade to the 250s unless you’re particularly keen to extend your top end from 34 to 38 knots or you plan on shifting lots of heavy loads. On the contrary, our twin 200s are perfectly adequate for watersports and they’re perfectly adequate for cruising too because, driven properly, with due respect for the boat’s limitations, this is by no means a difficult or highly-strung cruising machine if you’re on a passage and you need to make good distance through a seascape littered with two and three-footers.
The helm, however, is good rather than great. We’d like to see the thrusters repositioned to starboard and the trim tabs relocated further aft, so you don’t have to reach so far beyond the throttle to access them.
Positive throttle response and 34.5 knots is a good return from twin 200s
But this is quite a narrow helm and it needs to be that way in order to preserve space for the starboard side deck, the cabin access and the twin co-pilot seat so there is a limit to what can be done on the righthand side of the wheel.
It is, however, a very comfy position for the skipper, with excellent visibility, lots of fore-and-aft travel at the helm seat (even for a big man) and a handy skipper’s side door with
easy access to a rail and a cleat. In short, for single-handed helming, as well as family use, this is a very easy boat to enjoy.
Driven with respect for its limitations, this is by no means a difficult or highly strung cruising machine
Beneteau Antares 9 specifications
LOA: 30ft 6in (9.29m)
BEAM: 9ft 10in (2.99m)
DRAFT: 2ft 0in (0.60m)
DISPLACEMENT: 4,620kg (light)
FUEL CAPACITY: 600 litres
WATER CAPACITY: 160 litres
ENGINES: twin 200-250hp outboards
RCD: C10
CONTACT: beneteau.com
Beneteau Antares 9 costs and options
From €146,550 ex VAT. Test boat includes the following options…
Twin Mercury V6 200hp outboards
Joystick control
Solar panels
Bow thruster
Electric toilet
Roof rack
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Verdict
The new Antares 9 is not big, fast or sexy. In fact, it’s not particularly special in any single discipline but it does enough of everything to cement its place as one of the most versatile easy-access family platforms you’re likely to encounter. It can seat up to ten people and sleep up to six. It comes with a variety of indoor and outdoor seating options. It drives with sufficient composure and refinement to provide you with a lifetime of manageable coastal cruises. And it comes in at a starting price of just €146,550 plus VAT. It may, of course, require a few options to bring it into line with your intended applications – not least some diesel heating, some air-conditioning, a set of solar panels, an opening sunroof, a storage rack for your various water toys and perhaps a lithium-ion battery bank or a generator, just to mitigate your dependence on shoreside facilities. As you would expect, ticking all these boxes will take you much closer to the €200,000 mark, but there’s no denying the fact that, given the size constraints at work with the new Beneteau Antares 9, this is one of the hardest working and best value entry-level family boats the modern market has to offer.
