BENETEAU First 18 User manual

BENETEAU FIRST 18 ASSEMBLY MANUAL
VERSION 2.0
June 2020
PREAMBLE
Dear new owner,
Congratulations on your new Beneteau First 18 and welcome to the First family of passionate sailors!
We hope you are going to enjoy sailing her as much as we enjoyed in her creation. Although she is
very simple in concept, we believe that process of discovering her potentials will give you plenty of
satisfaction and fun for many years.
This assembly manual was written with one single goal –to make your first interaction with your
brand new Beneteau First 18 as easy, smooth and enjoyable as possible. It's leading you through the
rigging of the boat in by our experience the most practical steps.
Assembly Manual is not replacing the Owner's Manual, which is the official document delivered with
the boat. Please read it carefully and familiarise yourself with the boat before using it.
We would love to hear back from you!
You're reading the second version of Beneteau First 18 Assembly manual, and it is possible parts of
the manual will not be clear or even confusing. We encourage you to give us your valuable feedback
and would like to hear back from you about your experience. You can contact Tit Plevnik on
[e-mail].
A lot of joy with your new boat and fair winds!
First Team

1. PREPARATIONS
Initial assembly of First 18 in the standard configuration in a team of two persons will take you at
around 4 hours. All consecutive assemblies are considerably quicker and should after some practice
take you 3060 minutes.
First, find yourself a flat and smooth place; ideally, you would do it on the grass. In case you are
assembling the boat on the concrete of asphalt, we strongly recommend the use of protective
materials for the equipment, especially for the rigging of the laminate sails, which could quickly get
damaged.
Before unpacking of the boat and equipment, position the boat in a way that you have at least 5 m of
free space behind the boat for stepping the mast.
Warning: Before assembly make sure, that the way to the launching slip or crane is free of any
overhead power lines, trees or other obstacles or they are higher than 9 m, which is the air-draft of
Beneteau First 18 on the trailer. These obstacles can damage your boat and are potentially dangerous
to yourselves! Remember that carbon fibre is an electric conductor.
Rigging tools & equipment
The boat comes equipped with basic tools you need for the assembly: open spanners for the shrouds
sizes 6 mm, 12 mm and 13 mm and 6 mm Allen key for gooseneck axe.
Besides, you need some extra tools:
-multitool (or pliers, knife and flat screwdriver),
-lighter (or even better gas torch),
-(black or grey) electrical tape
Recommended materials:
-marine grease
-Teflon ballbearing conditioner
-Teflon lubricant in a spray
-Two wooden supports for rigging of the mast.
Ronstan deck-equipment
Fitting of Ronstan Orbit Blocks™ with Dyneema® Links
ATTACHMENT AT 90° (PARARELL DYNEEMA LINK)

1. Use a shackle key or small screwdriver to release one side of the Retainer Clip. Use a finger to
hold the other side of the Retainer Clip in place.
2. Remove the free end of the Dyneema® Link from its recess in the head of the block.
3. Pass the link through the mounting point.
4. Press the end of the link over the Retainer Clip and firmly back into its recess in the block. A
little tension on the link may help to settle it into position.
5. Snap the Retainer Clip back into place over the link. An audible "click" confirms secure
attachment.
ATTACHMENT AT 0° (TWISTED DYNEEMA LINK)
1. Use a shackle key or small screwdriver to release one side of the Retainer Clip.
2. Remove the end of the Dyneema® Link from its recess in the head of the block.
3. Twist the link anti-clockwise 360° (i.e. first twist 180° to form a figure-8 shape, then twist
again).
4. Pass the link through the mounting point, taking care to keep it twisted as described above.
5. Press the end of the twisted link over the Retainer Clip and firmly back into its recess in the
block. A little tension on the link may help to settle it into position.
6. Snap the Retainer Clip back into place over the link. An audible "click" confirms secure
attachment.
7. Rotate the block clockwise back to 0° and pull slightly to align and tension the link
symmetrically.
CARE AND MAINTENANCE of Ronstan Orbit Blocks™ with Dyneema® Links
Dyneema tie: The point onto which the Dyneema tie is secured must be smooth and rounded, free of
sharp angles and rough surfaces. The tie can wear out over time through exposure to UV and variable
weather conditions. Check ties regularly and replace them when they begin to show signs of wear.

Blocks: Sand, salt and other factors may damage the ball bearings and blocks. It is important to rinse
all blocks with freshwater and clean them with a gentle soap. Lubricate bearings with Teflon-based
lubricants. Never use oil-based lubricants or petrochemical products.
Orbit blocks Ratchet mode application
MANUAL MODE
1. RT blocks leave the factory in Manual mode, with the black MODE switches on both sides
of the block positioned away from the red ON/OFF knob.
2. Use the red ON/OFF knob to turn the ratchet ON or OFF.
AUTO MODE
1. With the block in Manual mode, turn the ratchet off by rotating the red ON/OFF knob to the OFF
position.
2. Slide the black MODE switch firmly toward the red ON/OFF knob until it locks into the recess in
the knob. Repeat with the MODE switch on the other side of the block.
3. The block is now in Auto mode.
4. To return to Manual mode, slide the black MODE switches on both sides of the block firmly away
from the red ON/OFF knob. Now use the red ON/OFF knob to turn the ratchet ON and OFF.
*OPTION - Securing the trailer
Most of Firsts 18 are delivered with trailer option. If so, you need to secure the trailer before
entering the boat. Jam the tyres with wedges and adjust the back supporting leg to prevent tilting
back.
In case the boat is delivered on some other supports, make sure it can not move or tilt back and that
the entering of the boat is safe.

Opening of the boat
The entrance of First 18 is closed with black GRP plastic cover and vertical plexiglass, both locked
with wire and numeric lock. The wire is on the top fixed around the mast foot and on the bottom
locked on the hiking straps attachment point on the cockpit floor.
GRP cover and vertical plexi are used to lock the boat and during road transport. When sailing on the
water use neoprene cover is obligatory for closing the entrance.
Warning: Prior the road transport, always lock the boat with the supplied locking system. Locked and
fixed wire will prevent the black GRP to detach and potentially damages the vehicle and persons
driving behind you.
Remember the way how the wire if fixed on the mast foot for later locking of the boat.

Code at the delivery is set to 0000. Precisely align all four numbers in line with white marks and open
the lock by pressing the black button on the bottom.

To change the code on your unique 4-digit number, please follow the instructions of the lock
supplier.

Entrance plexi and on-deck hatch may be still protected with the protection folio. Check both sides of
the plexi and hatch and if folio is still installed, remove it altogether.

2. STANDARD EQUIPMENT OVERVIEW
2.1 Mainsail and boom equipment
Mainsail connected parts (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-2x mainsail A-frame Dyneema ropes with spliced ends,
-3x Ronstan RF55101 blocks,
-1x Ronstan RF55111 block,
-2x spliced Dyneema loops,
-1x textile vang strap,
-1x Ronstan RF35101 block,
-1x Ronstan RF45101 block,
-1x Ronstan RF20202 double block,
-1x spliced Dyneema vang cascade,
-2x Dyneema soft shackle,

-1x Dyneema rope with a double overhand knot on one side
-1x vang purchase rope, red-white
-2x mainsail reefing shackle with a soft shackle
-1x twisted mainsail halyard shackle,
-1x cunningham purchase rope, black-white,
-1x mainsail sheet, red-black.
2.2 Jib system equipment
Jib system connected parts (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-1x Ronstan RF5121 trapeze cleat,
-1x Bartels swivel
-1x Dyneema soft shackle
-2x Ronstan RF35101 block
-0,75m 1,5mm Dyneema rope
-1x Bartel furler with 4-hole plate, shackle and Dyneema loop
-1x solent/jib cunningham (black-white)
-1x jib furling line (red-white)
-2x jib sheet (blue-black)
2.3. Gennaker system equipment

Gennaker system connected parts (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-1x snuffer bag
-2x gennaker sheet (grey-blue, tapered)
-2 m 1,5 mm Dyneema rope for snuffer fixation on the ring
-2 m 3 mm nylon rope for snuffer cabin fixation
-1 m 3 mm nylon rope for snuffer aft fixation
-1x Ronstan RF25100 block with lashing rope
-2x Ronstan RF56100 block with ratchet
-2x Ronatan RF45101 block
2.4. Shrouds and halyards

Shrouds and halyards connected equipment (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-1x set of shrouds (2x side shroud, 1x forestay)
-4x velcro safety pin
-1x set of open spanners, sizes 6 mm, 12 mm and 13 mm
-1x 6 mm Allen key
-1x mainsail halyard (red)
-1x gennaker halyard (green)
-1x jib halyard (black-white)
-1x Loos tension gauge
2.5. Hiking straps equipment

Hiking straps connected parts (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-2x padded hiking strap
-2x 0,5 m elastic cord
-2x carbon spacer tube
-6x 0,5 m 3 mm Dyneema rope
2.6. Steering system equipment
Steering system connected parts (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-2x First 18 rudder blade
-2x 0,5 m 6 mm nylon rope with a double overhand knot on one side
-1x Ronstan RF3132 tiller extension
2.7. Keel system equipment

Keel system connected parts (from left to right and from top to bottom):
-Assembled keel safety pin
-Spare keel safety pin screw
-Spare keel-plug
2.8. Standard North Sails set of sails
From left to right:
-gennaker in the sail bag
-jib with battens, batten loader and sail bag
-mainsail with battens, tensioning key, batten tensioners, protective stickers and sail bag

3. Deck preparation
3.1. Jib furler
Check that the jib furler drum opening is adjusted slightly on the starboard side when attached on
the forestay chainplate.
In case the drum opening is not facing on the black plastic leading eye on the deck, it can be adjusted
by opening the nuts on the bottom of the furler.

Attach jib furler to the bow chainplate and secure the pin with G-ring (it should be placed on the
inside, facing backwards).
Tape the pin with the electrical tape.

Fix the jib furling line on the drum with an overhand knot, as shown on the picture.
Neatly furl the rope into the drum until it's almost full

Pass the furling line through two plastic leading eyes on the deck to the cleat on the cabin.
There should be left about 1,5 m of the furling line aft of the cleat. Secure the end of the furling line
with a double overhand knot.

3.2.Vang double block assembly
Remove the shackle from the Ronstan RF20202 double block.