Beneteau First 260 / 25S

07/18/2023

After SIX years, finally the 2nd part of the refrigeration post! Late but lots of learnings.

Six years on, and after a couple of people asked, I figured that it was time to do part #2 of the refrigeration story. A long time coming, b...

07/12/2023

A detailed write-up on the jib car pull-back system on BlueJ.

One nice 260 feature is the factory remote genoa car adjustment system. As non-overlapping headsails are very sensitive to car position, be...

05/31/2023

New mast instrumentation makes all the difference! Read more here.

http://rarerarebird.blogspot.com/2023/05/integrated-mast-electronics-and-racing.html

05/11/2022

New bowsprit and Code Zero! Read all about the selection, install and performance here: http://rarerarebird.blogspot.com/2022/05/of-sprits-anchors-and-code-zeros.html

10/12/2020

Thx to a group member, BlueJ is rocking a brand new set of seat cushions, including seat backs that were not an option in 96. Looks great!

08/13/2020

The good life.

08/12/2020

Who has a tiller-pilot installed?? I've ordered an ST2000 with a remote, but I cannot find a single picture of a First260 with one installed. I have questions around the best mounting, and how long a drop arm it requires. I'm assuming that it will look like this etap 24 install, but I'm looking to get educated. Who has details/pics to share??

07/06/2020

Racegeek D10 in true wind mode. What an amazing instrument for the First 260. Top line speed, middle line heading. Depth mode for cruising, lift/knock for upwind racing,or true wind downwind, the bottom line adjusts to your program.

06/18/2020

Hey all! Hope everyone is safe and sound in these crazy times. Hope this helps out some of you: Here is an amazingly simple solution to a problem that has vexed our boat for years. Cross sheeting. Until now, I've never figured a way to get the leeward jib sheet to the windward side; mostly because I've focused on getting to the CABINTOP (primary) windward winch for racing. While soloing yesterday, I noted that the active sheet (turned by the leeward winch) has an almost perfect run to the windward spinsheet block, where it therefore has a perfect run to the spin winch. This works perfectly for soling, and will work great for crewed races in puffy conditions, where a joint main/jib ease would better keep the boat flat. Before this required a crew member low; and it worked out better to just keep the weight high and drive through the puff. Now we get the best of both worlds. It does deflect a tiny amount on the seatback coaming, so I'll add a small SS strake there to prevent wear. FAST!

03/26/2019

Over the winter I have gotten several readers asking questions about the 2nd set of (spin) winches we have mounted on BlueJ's side decks. So in reply, I have created a detailed answer on the blog. https://rarerarebird.blogspot.com/2019/03/spinnaker-winches.html