This month we are going to look at three new family cruising boats from European builders. It is my thought that by doing this we will see a well-defined formula at work for designing the modern Euro cruising boat. I will focus on these similarities as we go through each boat.

Marc Lombard designed the Sun Odyssey 349 with help from the Jeanneau design team. In a typical case, Lombard handles the hull, appendages and rig, and the factory team would take it from there. That's my guess for this boat. The 349 is a moderate displacement boat with a D/L of 151.

It's a wide boat with an L/B of 2.9. If you look at the plan view, looking down on the boat, you will see that max beam is carried back almost to the transom. For fun this month, I'll measure the relative width of the transom by comparing it to the boat's maximum beam (Bm). The percentage of the maximum beam at the transom is calculated by dividing the beam at the transom (Bt) by the max beam, Bt/Bm and multiplying by 100. For the 349 it's 96%. For context, the Bt/Bm for the 1971 S&S Swan 65 is 32%.

The 349's chine helps push volume aft where it can be used for accommodations. Two of the three boats this month have chines. The keel shows exaggerated fore-and-aft fillets in profile and an L-bulb at the tip. The draft is 6 feet 5 inches and there are twin rudders. To me the sheer looks either dead straight or very slightly reversed.

There are two interior layouts. You have the option of mirror image double quarterberth sleeping rooms (not grandiose enough to be called staterooms), or you can go with one double quarterberth to starboard and gain a shower stall to port. There is a small two-burner stove, a small single sink and a small icebox outboard in the galley. It's not much of a galley for a boat almost 35 feet long, but it is adequate.

The port settee in the main cabin is truncated to make room for a chart table. Forward of this is a V-berth. This V-berth is pushed as far into the bow as physically possible.

The cockpit is huge. The twin wheels are well apart opening the transom to a large fold-down boarding platform. There are two rigs: the performance rig with a SA/D of 19.94 and the standard rig with a SA/D of 18.92. The difference is 33 square feet and that comes from the square-topped mainsail. The chainplates are outboard on the hull. The spreaders are swept 30 degrees. That's a lot but with a square-topped main, you can't have a standing backstay so you need the sweep. The mainsheet is a bridle type with no traveler.

Now, let's see how those design elements are built into the Dufour 410, in the next review.