Beneteau Oceanis 281
Description
The Beneteau Oceanis 281 (also known as Océanis 281) is a popular French entry-level family cruiser built by Beneteau in France, designed by Groupe Finot (Philippe Briand's design team, known for practical, spacious, and easy-to-handle production sailboats). Production ran from 1995 to 2001 (or 1994–2001 in some records), during which 331 hulls were completed in fiberglass (GRP) with a fin keel (bulb keel in standard versions) and spade rudder for responsive handling and good upwind performance. It features a masthead sloop rig for balanced sailing, emphasizing maximum comfort, ease of handling, and interior volume in a compact package—ideal for coastal/family cruising with surprising space for its size (typically 2 cabins with 4–6 berths, galley, enclosed head, and good storage). It's praised for forgiving nature, stability, reliability, and beginner-friendliness (often used for training or couples), with solid seaworthiness in moderate conditions despite modest size.
Construction Details
| Designer | Groupe Finot |
|---|---|
| Builder | Beneteau |
| Length | 28.500 ft |
| LOA | 28.500 ft |
| LWL | 24.500 ft |
| Beam | 9.420 ft |
| Displacement | 5732 lb |
| Ballast | 2200 lb |
| Max Draft | 5.000 ft |
| Year Built | 1995 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 33.25 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 10.08 ft |
| p | 29.17 ft |
| e | 11.33 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33.25 ft | 10.08 ft | 29.17 ft | 11.33 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Beneteau Oceanis 281 - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 29.17 ft - (8891 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 11.33 ft - (3453 mm) |
| Leech | * 30.63 ft - (9336 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 87.99 ° |
| Diagonal | * 30.92 ft - (9424 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 5.25 in - (133 mm) |
| Area | * 170.19 ft² |
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Beneteau Oceanis 281 - JIBSAIL
| Luff | 27.8 ft - (8473 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 13.23 ft - (4033 mm) |
| Leech | * 24.35 ft - (7422 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 114.98 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 11.59 ft - (3533 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 11.99 ° |
| Area | * 161.07 ft² |
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Beneteau Oceanis 281 - GENOA
| Luff | 33.01 ft - (10061 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 16.18 ft - (4932 mm) |
| Leech | * 31.16 ft - (9498 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 15.12 ft - (4609 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | * 249.53 ft² |
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Beneteau Oceanis 281 - ASYMMETRICAL
| Luff | * 33.01 ft - (10061 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 16.63 ft - (5069 mm) |
| Leech | * 30.37 ft - (9257 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 165 % |
| Area | * 412 ft² |
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Beneteau Oceanis 281 - SPINNAKER
| Stays | * 33.01 ft - (10061 mm) |
|---|---|
| MidGirth | * 18.14 ft - (5529 mm) |
| Foot | * 18.14 ft - (5529 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 180 % |
| Area | * 509 ft² |
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Beneteau Oceanis 281 - STORMJIB
| Luff | * 19.11 ft - (5825 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 7.47 ft - (2277 mm) |
| Leech | * 15.92 ft - (4852 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 60.02 % |
| Length Perp | * 6.05 ft - (1844 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 19.07 ° |
| Area | * 57.79 ft² |
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Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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