Beneteau Oceanis 361
A two or three-cabin cruiser with a fold-down transom, one of the most common used Beneteaus, often ex-charter so check the hours.
Made to order: your copy is researched, fact-checked, and typeset to our standard, then delivered within about two weeks. We'll email you the moment it's ready.
About the Beneteau Oceanis 361 (1998-2004)
The Oceanis 361 is a French production cruiser of just over 36 feet, drawn by Berret-Racoupeau for Beneteau. It is a single-masted sloop with a bulbed fin keel and a spade rudder on an internal shaft, and it carries its beam well aft, which is where the volume comes from. Two-cabin and three-cabin layouts were offered.
The appeal is space for the money: a wide, bright saloon, a proper aft cabin and a big cockpit for less than most cruisers of this size. It sails steadily rather than quickly, and a capsize screening value of 2.14 marks it as a coastal boat, not an ocean racer. Charter fleets bought them in numbers, so parts are easy to find.
Specifications at a glance
| LOA | 11.10 m (36 ft 5 in) |
| LWL | 9.47 m (31 ft 1 in) |
| Beam | 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 1.53 m (5 ft 0 in), fin keel |
| Displacement | 6,055 kg (13,349 lb) |
| Ballast | 1,885 kg (4,156 lb) |
| Sail area | 55.0 sq m (592 sq ft) |
| Designer | Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design, La Rochelle |
Known issues to check before you buy
- Upper rudder bearing binding. The bearing is Delrin, a plastic that swells when immersed, and the factory grease washes out. Steering goes heavy, intermittently at first and then always. Turn the wheel lock to lock and feel for drag.
- Keel bolts. Check the bolts, nuts and backing plates in the bilge; a magnet confirms whether they are 304 stainless. Rust staining at the hull-to-keel joint plus a wet bilge is a reason to walk.
- Balsa-cored deck. The balsa deck core softens where water gets in around unbedded stanchion bases, tracks and winches. Tap around every piece of deck hardware and feel for softness underfoot.
- Chainplates and rigging. The chainplates, the straps anchoring the mast wires to the hull, are a documented weak point. Look for rust weeping at the deck slots and ask when the rig was last replaced.
- Volvo Penta 2030 exhaust elbow and mounts. The exhaust elbow corrodes and chokes, and the flexible engine mounts sag with age. Look for soot, rust flakes and excess engine movement.
- Charter history. Many were charter boats, so expect hard use and deferred maintenance. The 75 litre (20 US gallon) fuel tank keeps motoring range short.
Owning one
A 361 is cheap to buy and generous to live aboard; the money goes into rig, core and rudder work. This volume documents the Beneteau Oceanis 361 (1998-2004) specifically: verified specifications, the documented weak points and how to inspect each, the service data, and the parts and owner community that keep them on the water.
Inside this volume
Known issues & a survey guide
The documented weak points for this exact model, how to inspect each, and what a proper fix costs, a checklist to carry to the survey.
Full specifications
Every published figure, hull and rig or engine detail, tankage, and running change, with the conflicts flagged, not guessed.
Systems & maintenance
Engine, electrical, plumbing, steering, and ground tackle, plus service intervals and the fluid and torque data.
Parts, yards & community
Where the parts are, what cross-references, and the owners associations and forums that keep the model alive.
Make it your boat.
We fold in your year, your engine and options, your refits and modifications, your hull number, and your own boat's photo on the cover. The book stops describing the boat that left the yard and starts describing the one in your slip.