Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40DS

Like the Sun Odyssey 43 DS reviewed on the previous pages, Jeanneau's 40 DS is a yacht which will not disappoint buyers or charterers who like to sail. The same designer, Daniel Andrieu, has produced a smaller version which offers surprisingly sprightly performance and manages to avoid looking too boxy: perhaps the toughest challenge for a deck saloon yacht of this size.

The 40 hull (with deeper keel and rudder and a bigger rig) has already proven to have a good pedigree in its Sun Fast incarnation on the European racing circuit, so perhaps the Sun Odyssey 40 DS's performance should not come as too much of a surprise.

NOVEL FEATURES
Jeanneau is a company which doesn't seem to mind stepping around conventional sailboat 'rules' and with the 40 DS it has introduced several novel features. The most striking of these is the standard deck layout, which places the steering wheel and seat at the forward end of the cockpit to starboard, adjacent to the companionway. When you're driving you feel like you're sitting up at the helm of a powerboat or baby battleship.

The arrangement has some real advantages, including excellent all-round vision from a raised vantage point and good, direct communication with anyone enjoying the views from inside the deck saloon. A conventional cockpit layout is, however, available as an alternative.

Another unusual feature is the in-mast furling as a standard inclusion. This offers the advantage of being very easy to use, but there is a real trade-off involved, with a hollow-leeched, battenless mainsail providing far less sail-power than that of a conventional battened mainsail. Personally, I would opt for the taller non-furling spar and bigger sail plan offered as an option.

Nonetheless, these features add up to a boat which is clearly equipped to accommodate less experienced yachties, whether they are regular boaties from the powerboat side of the great divide, or are newcomers to the marine scene who have simply been bitten by the sailing bug (it can happen to the best of us!).

This would be an easy and enjoyable craft for a charter party of sailing neophytes, and Jeanneau is to be commended for devising ways to simplify the sport and make it more accessible.

Another novel inclusion is the aft cockpit table, which can be rearranged at a lower level to provide the base for a sunbed across the transom area.

COSY AND BRIGHT
The 40 DS is available with two or three cabin interior layouts. Both have the same deck saloon, a smaller version of the 43 DS's with a U-shaped settee and dining table to starboard, and two seats and smaller table opposite on the port side, doubling as a navigation station. Some may complain that this arrangement does not provide sufficient space for serious navigation, but Jeanneau has probably made a realistic assessment of the percentage of usage likely to involve this type of activity.

There are two bathrooms: one on the port side of the companionway and the other as an ensuite on the starboard side of the forward cabin. The galley is on the starboard side of the companionway and again offers a slightly scaled down version of the 43 DS's amenities, with a twin basin stainless steel sink supplied with pressurised hot and cold water, nifty dish storage compartment, two-burner Eno stove/oven, big 170lt refrigerator compartment and storage areas below and behind the Antium and laminated countertops.

The forward cabin is the same on both the two and three cabin versions, with a large double V-berth, small benchseat, ensuite bathroom, hanging locker and storage space.

It's in the aft quarters that the two versions differ, with the two cabin version offering a large double berth cabin on the port side, and storage space to starboard, which is sacrificed to make room for a slightly smaller double berth in the three cabin version.

Teak joinery, teak and holly floorboards and cream/sand coloured soft furnishings combine with floods of natural light admitted by the deck saloon windows to provide a very cosy and bright interior, enhanced by halogen lighting and ample hatches.

On both the 40 and the 43 DS, there are deep storage spaces under the saloon floor, which is raised to allow panoramic viewing through the deck saloon windows. Fuel and water tankage is placed along the centreline in these compartments.

ON THE WATER
The standard engine is a Volvo 40hp diesel, but the test yacht was set up with the optional Yanmar 56hp model which provided some serious muscle under power, thumping into a 15-20kt breeze and lumpy seaway.

The furling main and headsail were simple to set and handle with three of us onboard, and the boat was a real pleasure to drive: manoeuvrable, responsive and lively. We definitely could have done with a more efficient mainsail off the breeze, but to windward the boat proved well balanced and not prone to hobby-horsing through the short, sharp seas, in spite of the addition of the deck saloon superstructure.