BENETEAU First 30 reaches 100 deliveries in 500 days, establishing a new era of planing cruisers through team innovation.
The delivery of one hundred boats in just 500 days marks the result of a journey that began at boot Düsseldorf in January 2025, when BENETEAU First launched the First 30. Rather than simply introducing a new sailing boat, the brand established a new category—the planing cruiser—promising sailors that the joy of planing could be accessible to anyone stepping on board. Producing 100 planing cruisers with a team of 150 people within 500 days required immense trust, commitment, and passion. The vessel embodies the best of Seascape’s passion and high-tech expertise combined with BENETEAU’s extensive experience and organization. The journey involved continuous learning, challenging established beliefs, and adopting new practices, as reflected in how the team behind her success viewed the process.
Lidija Zaletel, Business Director, Seascape d.o.o.
“We have gone through a period of profound change and transformation. What made it possible was the trust we built, the way we adapted, the discipline we brought into our work, and the resilience to keep building the boats and the team together day after day. What stays with me most is a deep sense of gratitude for the chance to play a part in this journey, and for what we were able to create along the way — something none of us could ever have achieved alone”
Kristian Hajnšek, CTO, Seascape d.o.o
“Before we drew the first line, we knew First 30 was a tall order. It carries the reputation of a boat thousands of sailors trusted for years, so the bar was already set. Our job was to design a modern incarnation, genuinely fast, without losing that trust — and to do it at a price point of 100k€; that meant every gram of fibre and resin, part of equipment, every bolt, and every euro had to earn its place. What made that possible was bringing naval architecture, structural engineering, technology and production thinking into the same room from day one, instead of handing the design down the line stage by stage. That’s also why we could go from concept to test sailing in less than a single year. The result isn’t a boat we simplified to hit a budget — it’s one where every trade-off between speed, weight and cost was made deliberately, while keeping the promise of delivering a new and exciting boat to the market”.
Sébastien Nolasco — Group Bénéteau Design Centre Director
“The biggest progress with First 30 is not in the boat-building knowledge, because at Seascape it was already very good — but in terms of organisation. It’s amazing, the progress we did together, and the capacity of the team to progress and to go forward on something not easy: to create very nice serial boats – of planing cruisers. I think the changes the team made in organisation are truly incredible“.
Luka Zajc, —Head of Production, Seascape d.o.o.
“The journey was far from easy. By the time we had built the first 100 First 30s, we had changed practically everything in production: completely reorganised the facilities and optimised the boat’s flow through the entire production process, standardised work processes at each station, introduced two-shift work in lamination, and recruited and trained additional staff.At the same time, we established a more systematic and structured approach to training our teams. But the biggest challenge was changing our mindset — building trust in working together and in a shared process where individualism could no longer have a place. We are still looking for new ways to optimise our processes and make them even more robust and predictable. I am proud that during this journey we proved to ourselves that, together, we can achieve anything we set our minds to“
