Shindig - The Beneteau First 235

This is my first post so I thought I'd post a short story and a few images of my yacht Shindig. I began to seriously search for a small yacht in 2006. I was looking for a good compromise - a serious cruiser racer that would be comfortable while giving a good preformance in club races.
I'd seen the Beneteau First 235 in the US in 2005 when visiting my Kiwi mate Nick who is also a sailing tragic (he'd have to be, he's a Kiwi - they only have 2 sports in NZ, sailing and rugby!). I returned home to discover that Beneteau hadn't imported this model to Australia so set to looking at other options for a small keelboat. I'd just about given up when I saw GES International on the Boatpoint website. I imediately called my mate Cocky (yet another yachty tragic) on the Sunshine Coast and he kindly offered to take a look over the boat for me. The rest is history, I flew up the next day, I had a good look over it with a Marine Surveyor and took it for a sail with Cocky. I bought it the next day.


GES International at Scarborough Marina the day I bought her.

She's a Beneteau First 235, one of only two in Australia. The other is owned by Lawrence Hansen out in Perth. I bought Shindig in Brisbane from Scarborough Yacht Sales (Penny and her team are excellent by the way!) in Feb 2007 for a song ($23,500). It had been owned by a local that didn't know too much about sailing or boats and it was a mess. It had been shipped to Australia from Japan by a Japanese businessman and was rather uninspiringly called GES International. I trucked her to Nelson Bay and have been doing her up ever since with the help of Matt Bonser at Noakes Boatyard in Nelson Bay, Michael Lee of MDL Manufacturing (masts and rigging at reasonable rates and great service) and my best mate from high school Graham 'Nuddy' Nelson.

The boat is now in good condition and set up well with the addition of new electrics, electronics and most of the deck fittings replaced including:

Tacktick Wireless Instruments
Garmin GPS 292
Simrad T22 Autotiller
Icom VHF Radio
Dual battery system
Auto Bilge Pump

View of the upgraded cockpit with all new electronics & fittings

Furlex 100S furler
Lewmar ST16 winches
Spinlock XAS rope clutches
Assorted Ronstan cleats, pulleys, etc
Plastimo Contest 101 Compass

etc

etc...

Fitting the new furler with Michael Lee of MDL Manufacturing.

New Sails:

A fully battened, loose foot mainsail by John Herrick sails of Nelson Bay
A furling 150% genoa by Justin Mitchell of Mitchell Sails Toronto

Shindig is now looking much better. The addition of original striping and Beneteau decals has really set it off well and she looks good on the water. I'll post a few stories of trips and races as we go...