You can order your new Beneteau Monte Carlo 47 in the sexy hardtop version...



...Or as a Flybridge. In either case you get a nicely finished French yacht that will turn heads in any marina. Belowdecks, they are the same.

Mission: Incroyable!

The Monte Carlo 47 combines the Gallic flair for styling – the French claim to be better at this than the Italians are – with European standards of boatbuilding.



The forward sunpad offers little in the way of SPF protection, but looks mighty comfortable. Why do French boats always have such pretty girls onboard? Note double rails around the bow; why not all the way aft?



The Monte Carlo 47 was designed from scratch for IPS drives, not modified from an existing hull. The designers made room for dinghy stowed between the Volvos, too.

Appliances are 110-volt, so the genset will come in handy, especially if you like to anchor out at night. We suspect most Monte Carlos imported into the U.S. by dealers will have all of the above, or at least A/C and a genset.



The Hardtop Monte Carlo has a cockpit grill and wet bar, but in the Fly the ladder lands here, so the unit is redesigned in that boat.

Climb in Comfort

Both versions of the Monte Carlo 47 are the same belowdecks, but Beneteau designers altered the cockpit slightly in the Fly to provide room for protected access to the flying bridge. Rather than a ladder from the cockpit, the Monte Carlo has a stairway from inside the deckhouse, a safer means of ascent, especially in choppy weather.



That attractive couple may not realize they’re sitting on the garage door, but it’s a nice place for preprandials nevertheless. Both Monte Carlos have similar deckhouse saloons with lots of comfortable seating.

Both models have a seating unit aft that converts to a sun pad. But it also lifts to reveal the “garage,” a space large enough for a 9’ inflatable with outboard. You slide the tender in or out, just like they do on megayachts, and it’s a lot handier than hoisting it on a davit or wrestling it onto the swim platform. Rollers help the boat into and out of the water, and you can leave the outboard mounted.



Touch a button and electro-hydraulic pistons open the garage door, where there’s room for up to a 9’ inflatable tender with outboard. There’s seating and a table on top of the door; it converts to a sunpad, too.

Accommodations

There are two layout options, each with a double-berthed cabin amidships and forward. The amidships stateroom is designated for the owner, and includes an ensuite head and seating benches on either side. The forward, VIP, cabin has shared access to the second head, which also opens onto the saloon.



Both models have similar arrangements. This is the two-cabin option, with the master amidships, VIP forward. A third cabin can replace the dinette to starboard.

In between, buyers can opt for an L-shaped dinette or a third stateroom, this one with twin berths, opposite the galley. There’s a large dining area on deck, so no matter which option you choose you’ll have a place for the whole crew to eat. But the lower dinette option provides a place for folks to hang out down below.



If you don’t want the belowdecks dinette, you can have a third stateroom in this area, with twin berths. We were taught that only fools and admirals could sit in passageways; I guess she’s out of uniform.



The amidships master is full-beam, with an easy-access berth and seating port and starboard. Hullside windows let in natural light. A TV is optional, but who wants a boat without one? The ensuite head has a Vacuflush toilet and a shower compartment behind glass doors.



We’re not crazy about low-profile flying bridges suitable only for sitting, but they’re common on European boats. But maybe that’s just us...

But the boat is well-built to CE Category B standards (suitable for short offshore voyages), intelligently designed and arranged – we’d forego the third stateroom for the dinette – and beautifully finished. We like the garage for the tender and the amidships master stateroom. Since we haven’t tested the boat, we can’t speculate on performance, but IPS usually coaxes max speed out of a given horsepower. In short, we recommend checking out the Monte Carlo 47 if you’re in the market for a sleek cruiser that doesn’t look like the boat in the next slip. It’s got that Gallic attitude under its two hats, which in a boat can be a good thing.



We think the Hardtop is nicer looking than the Fly. A sunroof will let in lots of light and air, and there’s no stairway taking up cockpit space. Or maybe it’s just the red hull that makes the difference?