Group Finot updated its entry-level trailer-sailer for Bénéteau, the First 210, in 1998. The result was the First 211 – in many ways very similar to its predecessor and equally successful. The accommodation was a little better, with bunks for four, but the hull and rig were substantially the same.

As befits a boat aimed at the young family moving up from a dinghy, the interior is colourful, bright and simple. The lifting keel box allows a reasonably easy crawl through to the forward sleeping platform, which is curtained off from the saloon. Either side of the casing is a single burner cooker and a washing-up bowl. There is a useful amount of stowage and sitting headroom.



Performance is lively and fast. The keel is narrow and deep, giving good, if twitchy windward performance. She can be dried out on the keel and twin rudders.

In 2004 the 211 was restyled into the 21.7 and there are now 2,300 of all three variants afloat.