A bit of history, and what led to the purchase of Vitesse (formerly Wild Cat).

Vitesse’s Origins

She was originally built in France in 2002, and delivered to its first owner in England.  After a couple of years she was shipped over to Western Canada and eventually found her way down to San Francisco, where her owner apparently decided to switch from sail to power.  The gear list at this time was pretty bare bones, and the sail inventory was decent at best.  She at least contained a nice new 110% jib and a relatively unused asymmetrical spinnaker.  Aside from that, this was a no frills boat.  What she did have, though, is a deep draft keel (6'11") and a regular main.  Oh, and a blue gelcoat hull with full teak decks.

Why a Beneteau, and Why the 473

I began shopping for a boat after my father sold his Beneteau 38s5.  My wife gave only two criteria.  Must be large enough to house our family of 5 as a quasi-condo, and must have a walk off transom that doesn't require you squeeze yourself around the wheel (as on my Dad's Bene).  Seemed pretty straight forward.  Not!  My criteria was a little more detailed.  Having raced J105's, J90's, Nelson Marick's, etc, I wanted a boat that would meet my wife's criteria, but still be fun to sail.  ie; a performance cruiser.  A friend of mine gave sound advice on this subject.  He said, "Buy a boat to race or buy a boat to cruise.  Don't try to do both."  I asked myself if it is possible to buy a cruiser that can perform.  Usually the two don't go hand in hand.  Next, I was looking for a good value.  I don't plan to sail around the world or up to Alaska, so I needed something that was heavy enough and long enough to handle good sized Pacific seas and plenty of wind, but not be built like a tank.  The logical conclusion was a medium displacement boat with as much LOA as I could afford (both before and after the purchase).  Simplicity was also key.  When looking at some of the boats out there, you wonder how the owners manage to keep them running (or even afloat).  I love looking in the engine room of Doug's Celestial 48 or Bob Gorman's GulfStar 50.  If someone took you down below blindfolded, you'd think you were in the engine room of the USS Enterprise.  It's amazing how many pumps, hoses, gauges, tools, and motors they jam into the boat.  I am not a mechanical or electrical engineer, so that simply doesn't work for me (plus it's slow).  I really wanted a newer (not new) model boat with simple systems.  Lastly,  I wanted to be able to make her my own.  It was important for me to be able to add gear and systems that suited our needs.  I really didn't want a boat that contained antiquated systems that are slow and unreliable.  I especially didn't want to regret the most important element of the boat, which is the rig and sail plan.  Furling mains, shoal draft keels, fractional rigs, etc simply didn't fit into my criteria, as I know those features would have lead to dissatisfaction and a regret in the purchase decision.

My father had owned two Beneteau 38s5's starting back in 1990.  This gave me over 15 years of experience on this boat brand, so it obviously made the short list.  I had decided to focus in on the Beneteau 423, Catalina 42MkII and the J120.  The J120 fell off the list simply because it's geared more toward racing than performance cruising.  I love those boats, and always admire them as they pass by.  Beautiful, well built, fast and just fun to sail.  Oddly enough, the 473 came into the picture simply because my wife had suggested we go a little bit longer, and likely forego buying a 42' now, only to sell it in 5 years for a bigger "condo."  Plus she went back to the split wheel walk off transom thing.  I poked around a bit and found only one available in the SF Bay.  I decided to make an offer, but the broker would not budge on the price.  Then shortly after I began that process, Vitesse showed up on the market through McGrath Yachts in Sausalito.  In 1992 I saw a Beneteau First 42 in Brickyard Cove motor on by me.  It had the blue hull and teak decks.  I told myself when I grow up, I will get that boat.  Well, Vitesse appeared on the market with the blue hull and teak decks, and I had grown up.  The rest is history.  I did get a pretty darn good deal, so I'm still happy about that.  That other 473 stayed on the market for another year.

Since purchasing Vitesse in 2006, I've mainly sailed her in the SF Bay, down to Monterey and Half Moon Bay, and up in the Delta.  She's everything we were looking for, and quite a bit more.  I've been very pleased with how comfortable we are when using her as a condo in the Delta.  There's enough room for everyone to live comfortably, and the boat is simple to sail and maneuver.  In fact, the sailing is the best part (of course).  She will sail totally balanced in 20kts of wind with full main and 110%.  And she's really, really fast.  So I've achieved that important part of the decision criteria.  We've also had quite a bit of fun flying the symmetrical spinnaker.  Reaching 12kts nearly dead downwind is not usually normal for a cruising boat.  I am certain if we were a bit more brave and went at a hotter angle, we would have likely hit 15kts.  In any case, she's a blast to sail.