The yacht builders at Jeanneau have landed a real coup with their extremely innovative walkaround cockpit. The novel layout was first introduced with the Sun Odyssey 440 (test in YACHT 16/2017), which was honoured with the coveted European Yacht of the Year 2018 award for this - but not only for this. A brief explanation of the inventive and highly functional concept: the side decks slope sharply aft to the level of the cockpit floor. This allows completely barrier-free access from the cockpit to the foredeck, even without climbing over the coamings.
In the meantime, the idea has also been realised on a larger ship with the Sun Odyssey 490. Now Jeanneau wants to explore the feasibility further down and has announced a new, exciting Sun Odyssey 410. It is now intended to transfer the walkaround idea to the popular market segment around twelve metres hull length, which is particularly interesting for charter. What's more, the new boat, designed by Marc Lombard in collaboration with the Jeanneau design team, comes with a slightly negative bow stem and a long bow nose for a gennaker and code zero. In addition, the hull, which is very voluminous, especially in the foredeck, is fitted with long chine edges, which fold the freeboard over the entire length of the ship towards the waterline. And the hull-deck connection in the foredeck area is heavily bevelled, which saves weight, strengthens the structure and ensures less air turbulence above deck. What's more, the ship, which is very wide aft in particular, naturally comes with double rudder blades. So there's plenty of sportiness for the latest ship in Jeanneau's Sun Odyssey touring programme, now in its eighth generation.
A wide and folding bathing platform separates the open and generously designed cockpit from the stern when sailing. Mainsheets and genoa sheets are redirected via the coachroof and coaming to two winches within reach of the helmsman. As usual, the halyards and other trim lines lead to two winches on the companionway. The sail plan initially only provides for a short overlapping genoa, which is sheeted via 3D-hole points. A self-tacking jib is not planned.
The interior design is also exciting. The book can be ordered with two or three double cabins and one or two bathrooms, each with a separate shower compartment. The variation also provides a spacious bathroom for the owner's area in the foredeck. In this case, the rectangular double berth (2.00 x 1.50 metres) is installed at an angle, the berth dimensions remain unchanged. The design of the saloon is very unusual, but equally interesting. Jeanneau has come up with an idea and installed a so-called "day berth" in the centre of the saloon, a kind of chaise longue in the middle. The idea is that you can also lie down here comfortably while travelling. The galley with plenty of storage space and large work surfaces is attached to the side as a large U. The excitingly unusual layout is a real novelty on the market for series-produced boats of this size.
Apparently, the first two Sun Odyssey 410 vessels are due to be completed soon. YACHT will soon be testing the concept and will, of course, report on it promptly. A price list has not yet been drawn up. Nevertheless, Jeanneau has already given an initial, rough price indication: the new Sun Odyssey 410 is expected to cost around 160,000 euros in the basic version ex shipyard, not including VAT.
Promising start: Sun Odyssey 440
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Michael Good
Editor Test & Technology
