After years of model offensives, the French market leaders are keeping a conspicuously low profile in 2012. The new products from Beneteau and Jeanneau for the autumn can be counted on one hand. Meanwhile, Bavaria and Hanse are putting on the pressure. However, the largest sports boat manufacturers are not leaving the field entirely to their domestic competitors. Jeanneau is countering Bavaria's Vision series with the Sun Odyssey 41 DS.
Alongside the Sun Odyssey 469, this model with large glazed areas and a slightly raised saloon is the only new launch for the 2012/13 trade fair season and is closely modelled on the 44 DS both visually and conceptually. Like the latter, the 41 DS has a grey stripe above the large cabin windows that is as characteristic as it is idiosyncratic, resembling an eyebrow. This makes it easier to identify with earlier DS yachts.
More remarkable than the look, however, is the layout. The cockpit of the new Jeanneau is positioned extremely far aft and relatively high. This creates space below deck. With a huge owner's cabin aft, two heads compartments and a comfortable guest cabin in the bow, the 41 DS offers plenty of luxury for four people. Consequently, Jeanneau has dispensed with further versions, which makes sense in this length segment because a three-cabin layout would only lead to unpleasant compromises.
The almost avant-garde design of the 44 takes the 41 DS one step further: two-colour contrasting ceiling panels, white lacquered fittings in contrast to vividly grained walnut root wood, the saloon sofa in the style of a chaise longue, the galley sink can be opened up - plenty of ideas from stylist Franck Darnet went into the interior design. Judging by the initial sketches and computer animations, the new Jeanneau will perhaps be the most sophisticated, but certainly one of the most modern twelve-metre yachts to be built in large series.
However, it is not quite 2012. The dimensions and lines suggest that the 41 DS is not a completely new design, but is based on the hull of the successful Sun Odyssey 409. This should not be a drawback: the Briand design is "Europe's Yacht of the Year 2011". As with this yacht, Jeanneau offers either a self-tacking jib or a 108 per cent genoa as a headsail. Price: 154,900 euros ex shipyard plus VAT, or 184,330 euros gross.
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Jochen Rieker
Herausgeber YACHT
