Design and Construction
The hull is solid hand-laid fiberglass finished with ISO gelcoat on the topsides and protected below the waterline by a blister-resistant barrier coat, while an interior counter-molded grid is glued and laminated to the hull to provide reinforcement, with special cutouts ensuring access to high-load areas anchor. The cored deck is injection-molded, shedding weight and adding stiffness, a construction approach that keeps the 30,644-pound displacement purposeful without bloating the 15-foot-4-inch beam. Cast-iron ballast of 9,480 pounds sits in a bulb keel with a standard draft of 7 feet 5 inches, and a shoal option of 5 feet 8 inches was offered. With a low coachroof and profile carrying considerable beam well aft, the 509 presents a handsome double-spreader fractional sloop whose CE Category A13 rating underscores its offshore intent.
Rig and Handling
The 509’s high-aspect-ratio sail plan can be adapted to a variety of sailing styles, from a big genoa on side-deck tracks to a small overlapping jib or a self-tacking jib on an athwartships track forward of the mast. The double-ended German mainsheet is led to primary winches easily reached from the twin helm stations, and all mast lines run to coachroof winches either side of the companionway. There are no secondary winches and no room to fit them, a limitation offset by the tidy lead of the single centerline backstay that cuts between the two wheels. A welded tack attachment at the outboard anchor roller supports asymmetric spinnakers and large free-furling reaching sails. Under the standard 75hp Yanmar saildrive, the boat made 7.2 knots at a calm 2,000 rpm against a mild contrary tide, reached 9.1 knots at 3,400 rpm, and spun a 360 within its own length when turned hard at speed; stopping took a little longer than usual while the folding prop reoriented itself. Designer polar predictions put her at 7 knots in 14 knots of true wind at 40 degrees apparent, and 7 to 8 knots at wider angles.
Accommodations
Below, the 509 offers three, four, or five cabins and can sleep ten without using the saloon. The test boat’s three-stateroom arrangement placed a master suite with head and separate shower forward, and two aft cabins with full-size doubles sharing one head. Headroom is 6 feet 6 inches, and berths measure 6 feet 9 inches by 5 feet aft and 6 feet 8 inches by 5 feet 4 inches forward. The aft-to-starboard galley drew particular praise from the tester, with centerline sinks, a forward “tea galley” holding a front-opening drinks fridge and cutlery drawer, and opposite a large nav station with full-chart desk and deep top-loading locker. A wide cockpit with drop-down transom and twin helm stations provides large storage lockers under the benches despite two below-cockpit cabins, though testers noted the coamings sit a bit low for seated back support and there is no comfortable seating directly behind the wheels.
Equipment and Deck Layout
Up forward, a large sail locker and anchor well sit side by side, though the sail locker lacks shelving for quick-grab items. The deck carries a full Harken hardware-and-winch package, dual Lewmar helms and windlass, and the optional 360 Docking system tying a bow thruster and rotating saildrive leg to a single joystick. The steering pedestals double as curved seatbacks for the cockpit benches, a nifty arrangement that complements the very comfortable side seats and well-placed foot cleats at the helm.
The Verdict
The Sun Odyssey 509 is a thoughtfully engineered flagship that rewards its owner with a stiff, quick hull, a genuinely adaptable rig, and a belowdecks plan that scales from private cruiser to charter platform without losing its logic. The construction is conservative and access-minded; the deck layout is modern and command-friendly. Minor ergonomic quibbles aside, it remains a benchmark mid-size cruiser of its generation.
Pros
- Solid hand-laid hull with reinforced interior grid and blister-resistant coating
- Versatile fractional rig adaptable to genoa, jib, or self-tacking configurations
- Spacious three-to-five-cabin layouts sleeping up to ten
- Well-equipped cockpit with twin helms, drop-down transom, and easy sail handling
- Strong under-power performance with joystick docking option
Cons
- Cockpit coamings low for seated back support; no seating behind wheels
- No secondary winches and no space to add them
- Sail locker lacks shelving for smaller items
- Stopping delayed by folding prop reorientation
