The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 319 has just won the SAIL Magazine Best Boat award for cruising monohulls under 40ft. Read our first owner’s impressions here. As he says, “The Sun Odyssey 319 is quite simply amazing!” When you see this yacht in the flesh it really is a true family cruising yacht with a remarkably clever layout, simple yet effective cockpit, and it sails very well indeed. There is no doubt that it ticks all the boxes being the roomiest yacht in class, and the most competitively priced, and includes wheel steering as standard.
Sun Odyssey 319 first impressions – Jon Davies “Santai”:
“As the proud owner of Jeanneau’s first Sun Odyssey 319 to the Australian market, I am 110% satisfied with the design, quality and performance of this beautiful yacht. I have owned many yachts over the years including two Dufours in the last 5 years and this yacht beats them all on every aspect. Being 192cm tall, the full headroom of over 6’4 inches throughout is a welcome change to having to stoop to move around below deck. Even the forward cabin has the same headroom with a cleverly lowered floor. All berths, the forward V berth, the aft cabin double berth and the 2 saloon berths are 2m long. I’ve slept in them all and all are generously proportioned and comfortable. The saloon berths almost double in width by removing the seat backs and hanging them on the seat fiddle. Each converted saloon berth is almost wide enough for two!”
“The single wheel at the helm frees up useful space otherwise taken with twin wheels, a feature simply not needed on a yacht of this size. I’ve had 8 adults in the cockpit and am still easily able to handle the jib sheets from that position and the coachroof mainsheet winch with just one step forward. In just 5 weeks I’ve done over 600 miles around Sydney Harbour and Pittwater in winds from 5-35 knots and am absolutely impressed with the ease of handling and incredible performance. She sails past numerous other larger yachts and attracts many compliments as she shows her stern to gazing eyes. I sold my last two new yachts after just 2 years as I was unimpressed with their design or performance.”
“This 319, I purchased sight unseen and so was hoping she would stand up to the Jeanneau reputation for quality, design and performance. This is a perfect cruiser and can easily sleep 6 and handle a near Gale (I know, I’ve done it already) in complete comfort and safety. The cockpit and saloon comfortably seats 8 people. The cavernous cockpit lockers are over 2m long and one metre deep providing plenty of space for an inflatable tender, outboard motor, life raft, fenders, etc.”
“The Sun Odyssey 319 is quite simply, amazing!”
