Skip to content
Hull Gauge
Recomputed 5 Nov 2026, 03:30 UTC

Beneteau First 305vsHunter 31

Beneteau against Hunter · used asking prices, listed in the UK and the US

At the same age, the Hunter 31 asks 26% less than the Beneteau First 305; on the headline Gauge Values it asks 19% less, which compares the whole fleets rather than boats of the same age. We can't yet say which holds its value better: the Beneteau First 305 has no published depreciation curve.

same age · 3 shared build years · 8 and 9 boats in them · Indicative · in today’s prices · asking, not sold

02

Year by year

Each build year's Gauge Estimate, for the 3 years both have boats in. Pooled across those years (8 and 9 boats), the Hunter 31 asks 26% less than the Beneteau First 305.

Beneteau First 305Year builtHunter 31
£15,000 (10)
1987−23%
£11,500 (16)
£15,000 (10)
1986−23%
£11,500 (17)
£15,000 (10)
1985−23%
£11,500 (18)
Gauge Estimate by year built · comparable boats in brackets, built within three years either side · — below eight comparable boats; a year where neither has eight is left out · the gap is the right-hand model against the left
03

What your budget buys

£5.5k£14k£22.5k
Beneteau First 305
none
no build year’s Gauge Estimate is at or under £14,500
1
the one boat listed now asks £14,500 or less
Hunter 31
1987
newest build year whose Gauge Estimate is at or under £14,500 (£11,500, 16 comparable boats)
0
of the 3 boats listed now ask £14,500 or less

At £14,500, only the Hunter 31 has a build year within reach.

04

A year of ownership

Each at its Gauge Value, on a South Coast marina berth, 44 engine hours a year (the median of 103 UK-listed sailing boats that report hours). An estimate in pounds from published rates, not a quote.

Beneteau First 305MeasureHunter 31
withheld
Depreciation (not in total)
£500
£5,000
Berth
£5,000
£1,200
Maintenance
£1,000
£450
Lift-out and antifoul
£450
£150
Insurance
£150
—
Fuel
£200
£6,800
Total a year, before depreciation and fuel
£6,600 (better)

Each line is the middle of the cited range, to the nearest fifty pounds. Depreciation is a year of age on each model's published curve, at its Gauge Value, and stays out of the totals.

The Beneteau First 305 has no published depreciation curve, so its depreciation is withheld.

Fuel is left out of both totals: for the Beneteau First 305, fewer than three of its listings give the engine power.

Sources: Lake Yard price list 2026 · BerthFinder · Boatsetter · Velos Insurance; Admiral Yacht Insurance · Boating Magazine, "Calculating Boat Fuel Consumption" · Littlehampton Marina fuel prices

05

Specification

Beneteau First 305MeasureHunter 31
9.14 mfrom listings
Length overall
9.50 mfrom listings
Sail
Type
Sail
“from listings” marks figures read from the listings themselves; unmarked figures are from our model register and not yet checked against a builder’s published source.
06

Questions

Which is cheaper, the Beneteau First 305 or the Hunter 31?

At the same age the Hunter 31 is cheaper: the Hunter 31 asks 26% less than the Beneteau First 305 across 3 shared build years. Their Gauge Values, the median asking prices of all the boats we observed whatever their age, are £16,000 and £13,000.

Which holds its value better?

We can't say yet. The Hunter 31 loses about 3.9% of its asking price a year of age, but the Beneteau First 305 has no published depreciation curve: we fit one from at least 20 boats across six build years and publish it only when the fit holds. We have 10 Beneteau First 305 boats across 4 build years.

Which spends less time on the market?

Boats of the Hunter 31 had been listed a median of 73 days when we last saw them; too few Beneteau First 305 boats were seen on two dates to say. That is time listed so far, not time to sell, which we don't measure yet. 14% of the Hunter 31 boats we saw 14 or more days apart cut their asking price; too few Beneteau First 305 boats were seen that far apart to say.

How do you compare them like for like?

We compare boats of the same build year. For each of the 3 years both models have boats in, we take the ratio of their median asking prices in today's prices, then pool the years, giving more weight to years with more boats on both sides. The figure is Indicative because the thinner side has 8 boats in those years. The Gauge Values compare the whole fleets instead, so they mix boats of different ages.

Other comparisons

Go deeper