Family cruiser

Here is a new Marc Lombard design for Jeanneau's Sun Odyssey series that covers pretty much all the bases. It's clear to me that the boat was designed primarily as a fast family cruising boat but Jeanneau offers two models, one of which is the "Performance" model, so I expect they had in mind a few families who would race the new 33i from time to time.

With a D/L of 152 I would consider this a moderate displacement design. The L/B of 2.97 indicates a very beamy boat. Anytime the L/B gets below 3.00 you have a beamy boat. Note how broad the transom is on this model. The stem is almost plumb and it has a very generous radius on it, so it shoots a plume of water straight up the stem when the boat is moving. You can choose from three different keel configurations. There is a standard draft keel drawing 6 feet, 3 inches, a swing keel version that draws 2 feet, 9 inches with the keel up and 6 feet, 7 inches keel down. There is also a fixed shoal-draft keel drawing 4 feet, 9 inches. The standard keel is the only one I have drawings for and it is a fin with a large, beaver-tailed bulb weighing 3,308 pounds. Note the exaggerated fillets at both the leading and trailing edge of the keel where it meets the hull. This can help to spread the keel loads out over a large area of the hull. It can also be a pragmatic feature used to allow the same "footprint" to be used for a variety of keels without requiring changes in the mold for the different keel models.

This design has an ambitious layout for a 33-footer. The settee on the port side appears to be truncated by the chart table, but in fact the settee extends aft under the table so it can be used as a full-length berth. Look how far the V-berth is pushed forward. This is one of the benefits of the plumb stem. So while the near plumb stem increases the sailing length of the boat it also allows the layout to expand forward. There is a big, double quarterberth tucked under the cockpit. Once you get into the berth I'm sure it's fine but if the first person in wants out in the middle of the night it could be interesting.

The deck plan shows a huge cockpit. There is wheel steering and a folding dining table coming off the pedestal. The helm seat opens up for access to the transom swim step. Winches are moved aft to put them within easy reach of the helmsman and leave plenty of room forward for you to exit the cockpit. The low coaming tops are angled to provide a comfortable place to sit to weather. The side decks are very clean with the chainplates well outboard and jib tracks well inboard. There is a large well in the bow for ground tackle. All halyards are led aft to one winch on the port side of the companionway.

The rig is very normal with an SA/D for the performance model of 17.7, which is still rather modest by today's standards. The spreaders are swept 20 degrees. The drawings show a mainsheet arrangement that is so far forward I doubt that it would work well. If you keep pushing the mainsheet forward it eventually becomes the vang. However, the pics I have show a mainsheet coming down to a traveler in the cockpit where it will work nicely for trimming. This is the standard for the performance model.

With teak decks and a teak toerail this is a nice looking, well-proportioned boat.

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LOA 32'8"; LOD 31'11"; LWL 30'1"; Beam 11'; Draft 6'3" (standard), 4'9" (shoal); Displacement 10,242 lbs.; Ballast 3,308 lbs.; Sail area 554 sq. ft.; SA/D 17.7; D/L 152; L/B 2.97; Auxiliary Yanmar 3YM20 21-hp; Fuel 37 gals.; Water 42 gals.

Jeanneau America, 105 Eastern Ave., Suite 202, Annapolis, MD 21403, (410) 280-9400, www.jeanneauamerica.com.

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OBE: $118,360
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