Jeanneau Sun Magic 44 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Sun Magic 44 is built on a solid fiberglass hull with a fiberglass deck, and the interior is finished in teak much like contemporary production cruisers of the era. Jeanneau constructed its production hulls in this period through traditional hand lay-up fiberglass, and the deck here is a straightforward fiberglass molding rather than a cored sandwich. The boat's ballast ratio sits at 35 percent, with an iron fin keel carrying roughly 8,155 pounds of ballast inside a 22,050-pound displacement — a figure that places the hull among moderate racers by its displacement-length ratio of 246, yet keeps real ballast weight low enough in percentage to favor volume over ultimate stiffness.

Keel configuration was not standardized. Buyers could choose a fin keel drawing about 6.99 to 7.29 feet depending on load, or a stub/centreboard keel that lifted the draft to just 4.89 to 5.19 feet. The shallower option opened minor coves and shallow marinas otherwise closed to the deep-fin sistership, while the fin version kept a more conventional trade-wind profile. The capsize screening value of 1.96 and a motion comfort ratio of 28.4 describe a hull that balances offshore credibility with a tolerable motion profile for a 44-foot cruiser.

Rig and Handling

Andrieu gave the Sun Magic 44 more than one rig configuration. The standard was a masthead sloop, but an alternative masthead rig was also offered, and the boat carries more sail area than only 38 percent of comparable sailboats — a statistical quirk the record uses to call her slightly underrigged. With the ISO 8666 reference sail the sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 15.4; flying a 135 percent genoa lifts that to 18.3, a meaningful jump that suggests the boat benefits from overlapping headsails in anything short of a breeze.

Under power, the Yanmar installation turns a shaft drive and pushes the hull to 8.0 knots, just above the theoretical displacement hull speed of 7.9 knots — a marginal gain consistent with a 34.75-foot waterline. The wetted surface of about 548 square feet and an immersion rate near 1,694 pounds per inch speak to a hull that responds slowly to loading but holds its lines when trimmed.

Accommodations

Below, the Sun Magic 44 follows the teak-interior convention of late-1980s production cruisers. The 13.92-foot beam and 43.75-foot length provide the volume Andrieu's generation of Jeanneau cruisers exploited for forward and aft cabins with a central saloon. The 127-gallon water and 58-gallon diesel capacities support extended cruising without frequent replenishment.

Refits and Ownership

Ownership of a Sun Magic 44 today means engaging with a 1980s Jeanneau: iron keel corrosion at the stub or fin, shaft-drive seal life, and teak interior upkeep are the predictable cycles. The variety of rig and keel options means any given boat must be assessed on its own specification sheet, not assumed to match a sister hull. Enough examples exist that spares and knowledge persist in the owner community.

The Verdict

The Sun Magic 44 is a thoughtfully proportioned Andrieu cruiser whose multiple rig and keel options let it serve both deep-water passage makers and shallow-water cruisers. Its slightly underrigged sail plan rewards a genoa, and its shaft-drive Yanmar is a conservative choice. The teak interior and iron keel are era-typical rather than design flaws.

Pros