This year, Beneteau USA brought Monte Carlo motorboats to our shores. The 43’ MC4 is the smallest of the line, which is not a bad deal at all. She gets all of the big-boat technology and fittings of her larger sisters—the MC5 and the MC6—and luxurious cruising accommodations for 2 couples, while offering spirited performance and excellent efficiency from her twin 370-hp D6 Volvo IPS 500 pod drive power systems.

Beneteau’s design, engineering and construction systems produce boats that are bold without being bizarre, strong but light, and elegant without being outlandishly expensive. Thus the MC4 sports touches like stitched leather on the salon table, superyacht LED indirect interior lighting, Alpwood laminate with matching grain in the cabinetwork, and self-closing drawers on quiet slides. The full-width midship master cabin offers a king-size island berth with extensive storage, comfortable seating and a private head. The guest cabin offers a queen-sized island berth with private access to the day head.

The single-seat lower helm offers good sightlines for the skipper and electrically articulated windows for fresh air. The bright salon, with galley-up opposite a dinette, sits on the same level as the cockpit, with hefty sliding glass doors that can open fully to blend the 2 spaces. A flat screen television hides on a slider behind the galley’s spice rack. The foredeck offers a pair of huge sunpads, while the flybridge offers another sunpad opposite the helm and a summer galley with a U-shaped dinette.

Engineering shows in a hydraulic swim platform that can launch and retrieve a dinghy weighing up to 770 pounds, a neat little after helm for docking (complete with IPS joystick) on the starboard side of the cockpit and deck hardware with rotating fairleads. The compact engine room offers generous access all around the engines, including the robust 13.5 kW Onan genset. Our test day didn’t offer seas to challenge the MC4’s dramatic, sculpted chines and sharp bow entry, but our test boat showed reasonable fuel economy and quick handling from 11 to 35 mph.

Details:

• LOA: 45′ 3″
• Beam: 13′ 4″
• Draft: 3′ 9″
• Bridge clearance: 17′ 10″
• Displacement: 26,500 lbs.
• Transom deadrise: 15˚
• Fuel: 290 gals.
• Water: 106 gals.
• Base price: $683,200

For more information go Beneteau USA website or call (410) 990-0270

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