Beneteau First 305vsHunter 34
Beneteau against Hunter · used asking prices, listed in the UK and the US
At the same age, the Hunter 34 asks 6.4% more than the Beneteau First 305; on the headline Gauge Values it asks about the same, which mixes ages: its boats are older (median build year 1985 against 1986). 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 12 boats in them · Indicative · in today’s prices · asking, not sold
Head to head
The better figure on each line is in orange. Where either side has too few boats, we say so rather than pick a winner.
Year by year
Each build year's Gauge Estimate, for the 3 years both have boats in. Pooled across those years (8 and 12 boats), the Hunter 34 asks 6.4% more than the Beneteau First 305.
What your budget buys
At £16,000 your money buys a year newer in the Beneteau First 305: a 1988 against a 1987.
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.
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
Specification
Questions
Which is cheaper, the Beneteau First 305 or the Hunter 34?
At the same age the Beneteau First 305 is cheaper: the Hunter 34 asks 6.4% more 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 £16,000.
Which holds its value better?
We can't say yet. The Hunter 34 loses about 5.4% 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 34 had been listed a median of 427 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. 20% of the Hunter 34 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.