R23/C24 versus Beanateau Antares 8 (23 feet)

[cruz-in]

Good Morning All,

While hunting for an R23, I came across the Beanateau Antares 8. I found it an interesting comparison to the R23/C24.

Thing we liked most on the Antares 8 was the aft deck flexibility and the side door to the deck. The aft deck can be ordered as the fishing version or the cruising version.

An intriguing boat. Curious on your all's thoughts in comparison to the R23/C24?

https://www.beneteau.com/en-us/antares-outboard/antares-8-ob

If you plan to tow alot, one downside is the Antares 8 is 9' 2" wide.

 

[GypsyMoth]

I looked at the Beanateau Antares 9 and went with an R27, even though there is a Beanateau dealer in the SF bay area. I didn't like being nickel and dimed on what are standard features of the Ranger Tug.

I did like the fact that the Antares 9 has twin engines vs the R27s single, so I added a kicker for redundancy. I probably would be a bit happier with the additional width, but I haven't been displeased with beam on the R27.

Mostly, I didn't like that the Antares considered most features 'options' at additional cost.

Overall, I'm very happy with my boat, and even though there are no dealers in the SF Bay, I have been very happy with support I get from the factory remotely.

 

[aintmissb]

Pretty sure the Antares 8 doesn’t have a side door. The Antares 9 does - I agree I like that feature a lot, many of the Scandinavian boats have it.

 

[cruz-in]

I agree the Antares 9 and Merry Fisher 895 are a compelling package. Twin engines and the side helm door are nice. Large aft deck with good seating options and dual staterooms is interesting... Standing headroom below decks fo me ( 6' 2") is nice.

Totally agree on the "options". Base on an Antares 8 was around $100 k. It was optioned to get over $200k! It did have every single option... Including full bank of lithium batteries, inverter, AC, etc..

Equipped like a R23 the prices are comparable.

 

[KlaassyC]

We briefly had a NC 795 (2022 model) prior to our C28. The 795 is very similar to the Antares 8. Our favourite feature was the wider beam with the wide starboard walk around that made getting to the bow and loading stuff on the roof much easier. The automatic Zipwakes are also a significant improvement over standard trim tabs.
However, in general the quality is significantly lower. The flooring is a very slippery laminate that squeaks terribly with any movement. The cabinets fly open with any wake or waves, the hardware is very light duty.
Having said that, some of the fibreglass layups were quite heavy duty. The rear cockpit overhang was close to 3/4” thick, so much heavier than the C28.
We had ours optioned out to closely match standard Cutwater options and the total price was still lower by 15-20%.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cruz-in]

The layup of the fiberglass does seem quite significant. On the Merry Fisher 895 they have an offshore version with dual motors and an even more significant hull layup. Interesting about the interior hardware, I did not notice the light duty nature. However, I was only on it for 15 or so minutes.

 

[KlaassyC]

The 895 is a substantially larger boat than the 795, but it was well out of our budget. If you're reasonably handy, the majority of the deficiencies can be relatively easily dealt with and you would have a nice boat.

 

[Brian98133]

I had totally forgotten about the Antares 8 until this post. My wife and I were touring the local boat show a few years back, before we had ever set foot in a Ranger Tug. The Beneteau was there, and we were looking heartily at this model, as it just fit what we were looking for (downsizing for the first time in my life, and wanted an outboard and glass-enclosed helm/galley).

I don't remember exactly, but RT was a few boats away, and after spending quite some time on the Antares, we stepped on the RT. Both of us noticed the fit and finish, as well as the overall 'feel' of the RT seemed far superior to our admittedly untrained/unprofessional eyes. I'm a larger dude, so the extra beam of the Beneteau would have been nice... but I couldn't get over how 'at home' we felt in the RT.

Configured our R23 that day with Andrew, and have been super happy campers since! 😀

 

[cruz-in]

Well our looking at the R23 in comparison to the Antares 8 and Merry Fisher 795 have led us to want a slightly larger boat. We are now looking at the R27 versus Antares 9 and Merry Fisher 895...