Jeanneau's Sun Odyssey 409, finalist, European Yacht of the Year

by Sail-World Cruising on 11 Aug 2010 The Sun Odyssey 409, Jeanneau's newest model, is one of the finalists in the European Yacht of the Year 2011, in the Family Cruiser category. These are the accolades that all yacht designers and shipyards can be proud to be awarded.

Journalists from eleven European magazines every year elect their favourite yachts, after exhaustive evaluating, measuring, testing and discussing of all the criteria of the nominated yachts.

The accolade 'European Yacht of the Year' has an exemplary function as inspiration for the shipyards, never to pause in their

ambition to build fascinating sailboats.

Last year,the results were as follows: The winner in the 'Performance Cruiser' category was the Grand Soleil 46 and the Dufour 405 took the title of 'Best Family Cruiser'. The top boat in the Multihulls category was the Outremer 49. The winner of the 'Special Yacht' title was the Seascape 18, while the Hallberg-Rassy 372 won the award for the 'Best Luxury Cruiser'.

Anyone searching to purchase a new sailing boat would be hard pushed to ignore one of these obviously superior

yachts.

Here's how Jeanneau presents their new yacht to the public:

The challenge by Jeanneau to renowned yacht designer Philippe Briand was to take every element that embodies the Sun Odyssey range and make it better. The result is a yacht that is modern and elegant with a contemporary hull chine, a graceful coachroof and extremely uncluttered deck.

The key innovations in the Sun Odyssey 409 include the complete rethinking of the deck and sail plan to make

this yacht, not only fast, but incredibly easy to handle.

It is available as standard with conventional mainsail and 105% short-overlap headsail, for cruising with both furling mainsail and genoa, for short-handed sailing with self-tacking headsail, or for club/twilight racing with a more
powerful 140% genoa.

Down below, the attention to detail can be felt throughout. A contemporary interior design has been realised using the finest materials available. In addition, more choices of high-end fabrics and different flooring make the space customisable to each owner’s tastes. Several interior layouts are available including a two cabin single head, three cabin single head, or three cabin twin head.

For more information, visit the www.jeanneau.fr!Jeanneau website.