Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 I Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

At just under 15 meters overall and 4.5 meters abeam, the Sun Odyssey 49 I is a beamy boat. She displaces 27,800 pounds and carries 8,269 pounds of iron ballast, for a ballast-to-displacement ratio of around 0.30 and a displacement-length ratio near 161.

Briand’s hull has a fine entry, ample freeboard, solid shoulders, and beam carried well aft. The midsections are deliberately flat-bottomed to maximize interior volume. The nearly plumb bow carries twin bow rollers, with a deep sail locker just aft of the anchor locker.

At the stern, teak steps run up the sugar-scoop transom to the cockpit. A low, sleek white cabin top sits above the forward-sloping coachroof, which has good nonskid across its rounded corners. Reviewers noticed the Kingston Gray hull color, although standard white gelcoat remained available.

The standard keel is a 7-foot-1-inch bolt-on bulb. Jeanneau also offered a 5-foot-7-inch shoal version and a taller-performance, 7-foot-9-inch cast-iron option.

Rig, Cockpit, and Handling

The cruising rig uses a conventional aluminum, two-spreader mast—a Sparcraft stick on the reviewed boat—with a 140-percent genoa on a Facnor furler. All sail-control lines lead aft to rope clutches and winches on the cabin top. The low-aspect ratio rig is a breeze for shorthanded sailing.

The mainsheet can run to the cabin top or, optionally, through a German system. That arrangement clears the forward cockpit of working sheets and leaves the forward winches solely for halyards. The upper shrouds attach to hull chainplates, while the lower shrouds meet a fitting beside the cabin house.

Twin leather-covered wheels and teak-faced helm seats provide a secure, comfortable steering station. Once the headsail and main were balanced, testers found that the boat self-steered comfortably both upwind and on a reach. One owner described the handling as viceless.

With the standard 75-horsepower Yanmar and effective sound deadening, testers heard only a subdued hum at seven knots and felt no vibration. An optional 110-horsepower Yanmar gives the boat motorsailer authority when fitted.

Accommodations

The three-cabin layout places a large owner’s stateroom forward. It includes a double island bed, separate head and shower enclosures, and a desk to port. Two double cabins aft share a head.

A four-cabin, four-head charter version replaces the desk and part of the navigation station with extra heads while retaining the dinette and in-line galley. In either form, the saloon is vast. A U-shaped dinette seats ten, while a centerline bench provides additional dining space and helps brace the cook. To starboard, the navigation station incorporates a wine locker.

The full-length galley runs along the port side, with double sinks, a fridge, and a freezer. The test boat had a deep double sink and a double-box, top-opening fridge. Fixed hull and cabin ports, together with five to six roof hatches, bring in abundant natural light. The result is extraordinary comfort at sea or at anchor.

Construction Details and Known Issues

One cost-driven compromise appears in the flexible four-cabin mold. A proud moulding in the owner’s cabin serves as a receiver for the optional fourth-head wall. In a three-cabin boat, however, it looks like an unfinished blemish.

A surveyed example also showed rough-finished lay-up patches on the inner hull beneath a saloon access panel. More functionally, water from the fridge collected in shallow pockets around the bilge sump’s gauze filter. Jeanneau told the reviewer that the bilge sump was redesigned on later boats, removing the need for that filter. The test hull was subsequently refitted with the new arrangement and a smoother path for water to drain.

Engine Access, Refits, and Ownership

The engine compartment is well planned. It can be serviced from the front and through secondary panels in the aft cabins. There’s also room for owner additions, such as fitting a high-output alternator instead of a generator.

Owners have lowered the boom and added sail panels to improve twilight-racing performance. The fixed backstay has also been converted to an adjustable setup using a block-and-tackle at the helm.

As a liveaboard or charter platform, the Sun Odyssey 49 I is well equipped. Jeanneau’s value-for-money tradition also places her among the lower-priced 45- to 50-footers of her era.

The Verdict

The Sun Odyssey 49 I is a thoughtfully packaged Briand cruiser. She gives up a little racing precision in return for genuine short-handed ease and a remarkably open interior. The flat midsections provide volume, while the range of bulb keels offers several draft choices. An injection-molded, balsa-cored deck and Kevlar reinforcement through the bow reflect a modern production approach.

The proud moulding and early bilge-sump detail are minor blemishes on an otherwise well-resolved boat.

Pros