Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 Buyer's Guide
The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 on the used market is a French-built cruiser produced from 1990 to 1992 and designed by Guy Ribadeau Dumas, now out of production and followed by unrelated later designs sharing the name. As a 41-foot fiberglass monohull with a masthead sloop rig and a three-cabin interior, it draws buyers who want a straightforward early-1990s cruiser rather than a current-production boat.
Layouts on the Used Market
Owner three-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available, and ex-charter examples are common. The documented accommodation plan provides sleeping for six: a bow cabin with a double V-berth, a main cabin with a semi-circular settee around a round table, and twin aft cabins each with a double berth. The galley is on the port side just forward of the companionway ladder with a two-burner stove, ice box, and double sink, and the navigation station faces it to starboard. The head sits just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side, and each aft cabin has a centerline sink.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market, boats commonly carry a bimini, autopilot, chartplotter, dodger, cockpit shower, heating, solar, furling main, radar, AIS, EPIRB, and life raft. Less common but seen as owner upgrades are watermakers, inverters, bow thrusters, hot water, washing machines, dinghy davits, teak decks, and boats with circumnavigation history. The original galley equipment — two-burner stove, ice box, double sink — and the inboard motor are baseline; added systems reflect owner cruising intent rather than factory standard.
What to Inspect
The documentary record for the Sun Odyssey 42 lists no known structural defects, drainage failures, or flooding paths, and no quantified wear measurements are published. The boat is built predominantly of fiberglass with wood trim, with a fixed fin keel and partial skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a wheel; inspection should confirm the wood trim condition and the integrity of the partial skeg-mounted rudder bearing, but no model-specific advisory is documented beyond normal age-related checks for a 1990–1992 fiberglass cruiser.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats typically appear in Panama, Türkiye, Greece, the United States, Germany, and France. For a shopper, the practical checklist is short: confirm the three-cabin layout matches the owner or ex-charter version you want, verify the galley and aft-cabin sink plumbing, check the rudder and keel hull joints for age-related wear, and review the installed electronics against the commonly fitted tier.
- Decide between more common owner three-cabin and available alternate layout
- Expect ex-charter examples to be common
- Confirm wood trim and partial skeg rudder condition
- Match equipment to commonly fitted vs owner-upgrade tiers
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 7 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 25 | 1 | $ 60,000 | — |
| Sep 25 | 2 | $ 88,064 | +46.8% |
| Nov 25 | 2 | $ 112,544 | +27.8% |
| Feb 26 | 1 | $ 59,325 | -47.3% |
| Mar 26 | 1 | $ 84,633 | +42.7% |
| Apr 26 | 1 | $ 90,352 | +6.8% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 88,064 | -2.5% |
Where they're listed
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 listings appear across 6 countries. Panama has the most listings with 2 (25.0%), followed by Turkey and Germany.
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
10 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance Sun Odyssey 45.2 | 46.42' | $ 126,121 | 127 | 35 |
| Performance Sun Odyssey 45 | 45.01' | $ 165,836 | 92 | 36 |
| Jeanneau Sun Sun Odyssey 34.2 | 33.75' | $ 56,613 | 41 | 11 |
| Bavaria Cruiser 42 | 42.62' | $ 111,076 | 35 | 11 |
| Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42.2 | 41.99' | $ 77,771 | 25 | 2 |
| First First 42 | 42.92' | $ 49,500 | 21 | 9 |
| Bavaria Yachts 42 Ocean | 43.96' | $ 105,000 | 16 | 4 |
| Moody 42 | 41.79' | $ 64,165 | 14 | 2 |
| Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42.1 | 41.99' | $ 84,633 | 9 | 4 |
| Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42You are here | — | $ 89,208 | 8 | 1 |