Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 and Sun Odyssey 49 Deck Saloon

If you're in any doubt that we're experiencing climate change then try cruising north along the eastern seaboard in early winter. Once known for the sailor's blessing of fair winds and following seas - read brisk southerlies - our winters have become fizzers. No rain, no snow, no cold, no waves, and worse, no wind.

The breathless winter has left the sailing set gasping and ghosting, so we decided to cast the lines in the wee hours and motor hurriedly to sea for some convection wind. You know the stuff, the offshore wind that's drawn from the cool land by the warm sea, especially strong on the east Australian coast thanks to El Nino.

As luck or good planning would have it, a 15 knot south-westerly was stirring offshore, daubing the blue canvas with streaky white wavelets that danced to their eventual demise on the sandstone cliffs along Sydney's Heads. That wind surrendered by midday, but by then we had a lungful of salt air and, more the point, a taste of what Jeanneau's brace of French cruising yachts can deliver.

Fair winds, following seas, and a decent diesel supply for motorsailing are just some of the requirements of the cruising sailor. A seaworthy vessel heads the list. Add specialised boating needs and different interpretations by yacht designers and you get an infinite number of solutions.

Even mainstream French yachtmaker Jeanneau realises there's more than one way to skin a cat or hatch a cruising yacht. Take its dashing new 49 Deck Saloon, a very different animal from its Jeanneau 49 Sun Odyssey yacht sailing alongside me on this winter morning. Both boats sport the same Philippe Briand-pedigree 49ft cruising hull, which was first released at the Paris Boat Show in 2003, but the differences in the deck lines are obvious: the first is avant-garde, the other archetypal.

Briand, a naval architect whose clients include the French production-yachtmakers Beneteau and Jeanneau, lays claim to no less than 10,000 yachts plying the open ocean. He builds fast boats, too, designing America's Cuppers and Mari-Cha III, one of the quickest superyachts sailing today.

BUILT TO CRUISE
Displacing 12,600kg and 12,650kg respectively, the Sun Odyssey 49 and 49 Deck Saloon carry the same 3750kg standard deep-draft cast-iron keel. The Deck Saloon has an in-mast furling main for a total 97sqm of sail; the Sun Odyssey has a fully battened mainsail for a total 114sqm sail area.

 The test boats, however, had virtually identical sail plans. Seeking more performance for occasional twilight and around-the-cans club racing, the owners of the 49 Deck Saloon fitted the bigger fully battened mainsail aka the Classic Rig. That main is 38 per cent bigger than the standard furling main and the yacht felt quite powered-up in 16kt of true breeze. A yet-more-slippery Jeanneau 49 with deeper keel and taller mast is also on the drawing board.

As with all Jeanneaus, these two 49-footers sported solid fibreglass hulls with polyester resin reinforced with Kevlar in the bow sections, top sides, all the slam areas, and around the keel. Their 9/10th rigs centred on a time-proven twin-spreader, deck-stepped aluminium mast with fixed twin backstays and discontinuous cable rigging.

The boats had Profurl furlers for their #2 Dacron genoas and lazyjacks for their mainsails for quick set and dropping of sail. The reefing system is single line. The owners of both 49s fitted the optional - though fast becoming mandatory - electric genoa winches and the Deck Saloon was fitted with an aftermarket 24V bowthruster.

The Harken winches, tracks, turning blocks and travellers are mounted across the coachhouse for a clear cockpit, with the spinnaker pole and running rigging option. All the halyards lead back under fibreglass covers on their coachouse via Spinlock jammers to the cockpit.

Optional teak decks and toerails, wide non-skid walkways, handrails and twin lifelines help with your passage forward in a seaway. The windlass comes standard, upgraded with dual-station controls, as do designer cleats, stainless-steel fairleads and the open bowsprit or pulpit.

Both boats had standing-height storage compartments each with a stainless ladder in their bows for stashing sails, tools, the outboard motor, ducky, dive and fish gear.

Further storage exists in the cockpit, which is a comfortable size and well suited to the Australian way of cruising. Sculptured helm seats that serve as quasi pushpit seats flank the walkthrough transom and the 1.8m long moulded cockpit benches or daybeds.

There's a central in-floor wet storage locker, gas-bottle locker for twin bottles, and deep lockers under the seats. Mid-cockpit is an oversize teak table with more storage space, a light and drinkholders. Aft is the deck shower and steps leading down to the swim ladder.

Piece it altogether, and throw a boom tent up, and the cockpit is just perfect for doing long lunches from Pittwater to Port Douglas. The cockpit worked when sailing, with all the sheets near to hand, plenty of internal seats and an autopilot for set-and-forget cruising.

IN FOR THE LONG HAUL
Cruising yachties need water, fuel, power and fridges for self-sufficiency. You should be able to last a week with the 700lt of water kept in polypropylene tanks under the berths, providing you exercise restraint with the 40lt hot-water service.

Fuel capacity of 240lt serves the Yanmar motors - a 75hp on the Sun Odyssey and the maximum 100hp on the Deck Saloon because "when the wind isn't blowing you want to get places fast," explain its owners.

The bigger motor hurtled the Deck Saloon to 9.5kt, but the Sun Odyssey was a knot or so behind. Both motors could be accessed from all sides via removable panels in the cabins and under the companionway steps, with quick access to the engine dipsticks, fuel filters and sea strainers. The motors were smooth running, and quiet.

Power comes by way of three house batteries and a separate engine-start, or the Shorepower connection when docked. There are options for a 4kW Onan generator in a dedicated mounting spot, watermaker, air-con, and microwave oven. Or you can simply upgrade the alternator for more oomph.

Jeanneau agent Ron Jacobs says these French yachts sell on the strength of their human factors, such as the big cockpits and generous fridges. For example, each boat comes standard with 230lt top-loading icebox with 12V fridge unit and an insulated icebox alongside can be turned into a freezer.

A SEA OF DIFFERENCE
If not patently obvious on the outside, the difference between the two 49-footers is clear when you descend the companionway steps. With its raised deck and surrounding eagle-eye safety glass windows, the Deck Saloon is a much lighter and brighter boat, a more contemporary design, than the more traditional flush-decked Sun Odyssey.

A chic city yacht that makes a statement about style, the 49 Deck Saloon is an open-plan boat available with either three cabins and three heads or just two heads as sailed here. The yacht was owned by energetic Sydney sailing partners Scott Keogh and Steve Jeffress.

With mod-cons such as a bowthruster, push-button halyard winch and the latest Raymarine electronics package with television at the helm, the 49 Deck Saloon is an inherently great boat for entertaining. All the light and headroom make for an interior that's inviting when anchored. Its saloon features U-shaped seating and two armchairs around a dinette to starboard that converts into an optional double berth. Opposite is a lounge seat for two near a wetbar. But for the (safety) glass splashback, the U-shaped galley and navigation station across the way could be deemed conventional.

 By contrast, the Sun Odyssey comes in the three-cabin-and-three-head layout seen here or a four-cabin-and-four-head charterer's version. The Sun Odyssey's saloon has a full-length galley running along the portside, oversized navigation station with funky Swedish-inspired timber captain's chair tucked down the aft corner, and a U-shaped dinette with a fixed island benchseat. The owner, an ex-charterer, sails this yacht with his wife and children aged one, seven and eight. He points out that the broad expanse of the Deck Saloon would be difficult for his children to negotiate safely. For families, the Sun Odyssey might well be a better boat.

This is a clear case of horses for courses. The traditional Sun Odyssey cruising yacht has a huge nav station that's perhaps overkill for today's modicum of multifunction gauges, and an unconventional full-length galley that won't be too supportive (without a harness) in a seaway.

The contemporary Deck Saloon, on the other hand, has a traditionally small U-shaped galley offering support for at-sea meal prep, and a similarly compact nav station. Clearly, the emphasis with it is on the open-plan living space designed to cater to the cocktail hour.

However, whichever you way you lean with these 49-footers, the boats deliver a nice spread of amenities for cruising. Besides the aforesaid fridges, there's storage for foodstuffs and provisions, dedicated storage for crockery and cutlery, a gimballed gas stove/oven, extractor fan and opening portlights, plus generous benchtop space.

The navigation stations are similarly big on storage space, with facias for flush mounting radars and plotters, room for stowing charts, safety gear, pencils and reference books, hey, even provision for an optional washing machine. Elsewhere, you'll find a surfeit of storage in surrounding hatches, sub-floor lockers, hanging lockers in the cabins, and built-in wardrobes in the master cabins up front.

The master cabins on the Deck Saloon and the Sun Odyssey are especially big. Each has a 2m long island double bed, and a lovely salty feel derived from traditional satin teak joinery, which stretches to a desk with ottoman, lots of book shelves and clothes storage. A door at the head of the saloon keeps the riff-raff out of the master suite and the owner's ensuite, which has a separate shower stall and an electric loo.

Both boats had additional modular aft cabins each with a double bed and, on the Sun Odyssey I noted a lee cloth to keep the one-year-old contained. It is possible to order the boat without the divider between these cabins, thereby creating one giant full-width owner's aft cabin. With the Deck Saloon you get room to sit up and read a book in bed.

 The guests' and day head located conveniently to port near the companionway contains a handheld shower, manual loo (backup for the owner's electric number) and a useful wet locker for the foulies. The moulded surfaces are designed to be easy to clean. The soft furnishings, work surfaces, joinery and general finish of the Jeanneaus have come a long way; the boats are a lot less cut-and-shut than I remember. And while the Sun Odyssey had a more traditional feel to its teak, the Deck Saloon appeared to use a lighter and brighter shade of timber. Or maybe that was just the light flooding through the hatches and windows.

SAILING NORTH AND SOUTH
Twin wheels afford a good view forward from the high and low sides to the telltales and to the Raymarine 12in combo GPS plotter/radar and depth sounder unit mounted on the aft end of the base for the cockpit table. The Deck Saloon sported the latest Raymarine E120 unit that accepts video input - the boat's television was wired in so you could watch cricket as you cruise.

Conversely, the Sun Odyssey had aftermarket rodholders on its stanchions and, on a cruise to Port Stephens, the owner hooked a marlin on the troll.

Whether it was my rusty helming, a tight outhaul, or the weight from full water and fuel tanks, I'm not sure, but the Deck Saloon was slightly slower than the Sun Odyssey that pulled away on a run. I've since learnt that it was more likely the fact that our prop was locked in gear, while the sister ship helmed by a colleague was in neutral. (Having said that, I'd be disappointed if the venerable Vanessa Dudley didn't out sail me).

Both yachts' steering was balanced, with very little weather helm, and a determined motion through the water. While they are high-volume yachts, they are built to CE European standards for up to 10 people in Category A, which translates to ocean voyages in winds over 40kt and waves beyond 4m tall.

In just 15kt on a beam reach along the coast the two 49-footers felt surefooted and stiff, comfortable and easily sailed. I noted speeds up to 8.4kt on a beam reach in 16kt of wind. I get the impression these laden yachts need at least 15kt to lift their skirts and charge off into the fray. Which is something a lot more cruising sailors will be doing come August when the real winter winds blow. Nice cruising yachts, the pair of them.

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