Beneteau ST30 Boattest.com Walkthrough Video

Join us as BoatTest.com takes a walkthrough of some of the features on the 2016 Beneteau Swift Trawler 30:

The following opinions are solely those of Boattest.com and its test captain. I’m Capt. Steve from boattest.com, and today I’m going to be conducting a sea trial on a boat that brings the trawler experience to a wider audience today by being smaller and therefore more affordable. It’s the Swift 30. Let’s take a look as we get out on the water.

Let’s start by getting underway and getting right into the performance numbers. The Swift Trawler 30 has a length overall of 34 feet 1 inch, a beam of 11 feet 7 inches and with the prop nestled into a tunnel, a draft of 3 feet 5 inches. With an empty weight of 13,244 pounds, full fuel and 3 people on board, we estimated our test weight 14,969 pounds.

With a single 370 horsepower Volvo Penta D6 powering our test boat, we reached a top speed of 26.4 miles per hour at 3640 RPM. Best cruise seems to come in at 3,000 RPM in 19.2 miles per hour. At that speed, we measured a 13 gallon per hour fuel burn that translated into a range of 253 miles.

However, being a trawler first and foremost, we be remiss if we did report a displacement speed. So at 1250 RPM, she was running at 6.9 miles per hour with a 1.4 gallon per hour fuel burn. And she can keep that up for 843 miles. All of this while still holding back at 10% reserve of the boat’s 190 gallon total fuel capacity.

As for handling, this is really a fun boat to drive and while we try to stay neutral, it’s hard not to feel like a kid in a candy store on this boat. She handles so well and it’s so easy to drive that a comfort level puts anyone at ease.

She has the interior look, feel and aura of a much larger boat. But her handling is still a roughly 31.5 foot cruiser that is still easily managed. While she’s squarely marked as a coastal cruiser, she’s probably well suited for limited offshore work as well, although our comp test day couldn’t validate that.

But the fact remains, she’s still a Swift, and they all take whatever is dished out quite nicely. In fact, she carries a CE rating of B8, making her approved for operating offshore with winds up to 40 knots and significant seas to 13 feet.

Safety is enhanced by her 4 feet of freeboard at the stern and 4 feet 8 inches at the bow. What we did find was a boat that responds well to the helm even at low speeds, so she could be operated as if she has a large rudder. Turns a brisk and sporty, so getting heavy handed could possibly get uncomfortable for guests, but for when the going gets rough, that aggressive response will come in handy, especially when tracking down a following sea.

At the dock, she’s a pussycat. She’ll have minor steering in reverse, which any single engine handler will tell you, is a valuable tool. Line her up, back her down into a slip with the wheel hard over and a shot of forward with a little bow thrust, will have her walking sideways right up to the dock, pretty as you please. It’s one of the easiest single-engine boats to operate that we’ve been on.

Well, now that we’re back at the dock, let’s take a look at some of her operational features. At the helm, we’ve got rocker switches over to the left hand side easily identifiable by icons. On the panel itself, fuel gauge, rudder indicator, Volvo Penta EVC and the digital ignitions, front and center is the tachometer, front and center a 15-inch hybrid touch Raymarine display.

Up above, the bow thruster control, trim tabs just ahead of the digital engine control, so they can be manipulated while we still have our hands on the throttle, and of course, the engine control has its host of optional features available.

Beautiful wrapped stainless steel 24-inch Destroyer wheel, cable driven to the rudder, just below footrest. And take a look at this – for the short captains, we can make it into a step, add a little bit more of a comfort level. This step also finds as useful as when we’re not using the bolster as a leaning post.

I’m happy to see that the basic needs like drink holders weren’t left out of the equation. These are molded in and notice just ahead, stainless steel hinges – this entire helm panel can be lifted up for access underneath. That’s a particularly attractive feature for the owner-operator that will be doing a lot of the maintenance.

I also like that the helm seat is double wide, and yes, it is adjustable. Of course, where do we put the things that we need at the helm – the VHF, the binoculars? Well, two storage solutions, one right next to the helm in this drawer and the other just underneath.

Operating at night, we’ve got a switch at the helm, gives us red light. We’ve got a two-piece windshield, 42 inches by 26 inches, both with wipers, washers underneath, there’s a side door to the helm that latches into multiple positions, so you can have as much or as little air as you would like flowing through the helm deck, and nothing is more convenient than this side door to the bullwarks for when you’re operating single-handedly.

Now let’s take a look at the flying bridge helm. On the flying bridge, the console is a bit modest, but still very functional. 9-inch hybrid touch Raymarine display, rocker switches over to the left for just the anchor lights and the horn, bow thruster, the digital engine control over to the right-hand side, steering wheel, stainless steel 5-spoke, and we’ve also got the tachometer and the EVC display.

Now all of the railings going around the flybridge deck can be ordered as quick release so that they can be removed. Why would you want to do such a thing? Well, if you’re going to use this as a Great Loop boat, you’ve got to fit underneath some of the bridges, so by taking out those rails and look at this – lowering the console and latching it, you can now fit under more bridges.

And I like how to get the console to collapse; it’s a pull towards you, not a push down so that when you’re getting up out of the seat, you can still use the console for support.

Now while there’s certainly a safety factor facing the ladder as you’re going down, on the Swift Trawler 30, it’s also comfortable not facing the ladder because the hatch is laid out to provide the safety that you’re looking for.

Base power is a Volvo Penta 300, here we have the D6-370, and this leads to a straight shaft. Inch-and-a-half thick sound-reducing foam is under the deck and engine hatch, keeping the engine noise between 68 decibels and a conversational 85 decibels. Just ahead we can see the aluminum fuel tank, 190 gallons, or 720 liters.

While at the dock, we have 2 30M connections, one for air conditioning, one for the ship’s electrical systems. When we are away from the dock, it’s all controlled by a 7.5 kW generator that is housed inside a hatch in the center of the cockpit deck. The hatch is easy to lift with the help of two gas-assist struts, it’s gasketed all the way around, the opening is guttered leading to a drain taking water overboard. This compartment also gives us plenty of storage space.

Just inside the salon doorway we have the controls for switching from shore power to generator power, inverter controls, the Onan generator start/stop switch, battery and water tank condition, and the 110 volt breakers, just inside this panel. The main battery switch is located just underneath the companionway staff.

Now the Swift Trawler 30 has an asymmetrical layout. The side decks are 18.5 inches on the starboard side, 9 inches to the port side, nice high boards keep the safety factor comfortable, 36 inches on the side deck, and as we come forward, the rail height drops the safety factor down to only 32 inches.

Fully fold we’ve got a Lewmar windlass leading out to a stainless anchor roller. I’d like to see some method up here for securing both the chain and the rope road. Over to the starboard side, we have access to the road underneath plus the remote control.

Well clearly, the design team at Beneteau have continued to make a great handling boat that brings the trawler experience within reach of more people. And that’s my look at the Swift 30 from Beneteau. For Boattest.com, I’m Captain Steve. We’ll see you on the water.