Sun Odyssey 40.3 or 39i ?

[breezydays]

Hi, new to the forum and seeking advice. Approaching retirement in a years time and looking for a boat . Wife and I mostly with occasional friends and grown up children. We are UK based and are thinking of either a 40.3 or 39i. We have a fair amount of experience boat sharing but neither of these two boats . Probably spending a month or so at a time cruising and who knows maybe a trip across the pond in the future. Advice appreciated ! 

[MalcolmP]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I will kick off with what may be a debated response. As a 39i owner who loves his boat I am clearly biased. The 39i has done everything we wanted after quite a lot of extended sailing. I think the 40.3 has much better internal woodwork, the 39i in the first 2 years 2007/08 had woodwork which marked easily but the updated model I believe this shortfall was overcome, although probably still not up to the 40.3 quality. 

I have not sailed the 40.3 but the 39i ergonomics work for us and I like the fraction rig and it does have Selden spars which I think are better than the Z Spar that the 40.3 has.

Appearance is always in the eye of the beholder but personally I liked the original SO40 more than the deck layout revised 40.3, but think the 39i is overall by far the nicest lines. The 40.3 has many more deck hatches which must be great in hotter climes.

The 40 and 40.3 both have alloy toe rails which you need to take care do not get damaged

Overall I don't think you will go far wrong with either boat. General conditions options and maintenance will be the biggest issues

Do let me know what you decide

Malcolm

[Deleted]

As Malcolm already said, the woodwork of the SO40.3 is much better. Personally I think this is also applicable to the ambiance. To my opinion the older types are much more boat. The new "woodwork" is difficult or even impossible to repair. If you don't mind how the boat will look like in 10 years time you choose the 39.

Furthermore I think the quality of the older boats is much better. For instance take a look at the ss steel parts for the anchor rest and fore stay. The yards have to cut down their costs to stay competative and this results in lighter equipment and poorer quality.

I have no glass bowl, but in terms of rest value in 10 years time the 40.3 might show up more valueable.

[hoppy]

I have to SO 40 which is obviously better than the 40.3 and 39i Johnny come lately's.

I do like that the the 40.3 has space for 2 winches in the cockpit which the 39i (and sadly my 30) lacks. It does make it easier if you want a German mainsheet set-up or if you have a gennekar

[breezydays]

Thanks guys very useful. On a related topic , one of the boats I am interested in has teak decks. Some of the forums are set against these. What do you think ?

[On y va]

The SO 40 hull is (relatively and until the new Sun Fast 3600, also designed by Daniel Andrieu) the fastest hull designed and built by Jeanneau....... still properly built not influenced by the "lets go budget to compete with Bavaria and Hanse", with actual teak inside and not an Ikea interior.

Easy choice....

[so40gtb]

To some extent, this is a "traditional construction" vs. "new construction" debate. The SO40 series was built the traditional way, with tabbed bulkheads, floorboards atop stringers, and separate cabinetry components. Some of us prefer that - being able to get to nearly all areas of the hull interior. The hulls of the SO40 series boats are identical; the differences are within and atop the hulls. I think of the SO39i as being the "intermediate" boat - the first step into the construction techniques of the current product line.

We're hauling our SO40 for the winter on Thursday. This is our third year on her, and we have been very happy with the boat. Malcolm noted the alloy toerail, which certainly looks great but, lacking perforations, can't support temporary block attachments to assist oddball temporary rigging necessities. That''s a cosmetic positive and sailing negative. The interior cabinetry is traditional - we like the darker color and richness of the wood. Being able to install a second set of cockpit winches would be nice (but not inexpensive), but we've had few, if any, issues underway since a second set of cabintop winches were installed - and we use our gennaker frequently when cruising mid-summer.

I do like the interior plan of the 40.3 slightly better than that of the 40. Slightly less galley space, but a better head arrangement. You can put as large a holding tank as you desire on the 40.3, but the 40 comes with a miserable 40-liter tank that is inadequate for cruising in no-discharge waters. To overcome this issue and endless Admiral worry, I designed a 75-liter tank for our boat, which was custom-fabricated.

Our boat has been wonderful on the water. It's not tender; we never feel like we're losing control. It gives you time to react to suddenly-bigger winds, rather than needing to stay ahead of the conditions (the situation with our SO34.2). If the boat rounds up, it is because the helmsperson was inattentive, not because it overpowered the helm.

We know two SO39i owners and both like their boats. One is the Performance version and has won several distance races. The other is the standard version. Its interior seemed crowded to us, but the boat we were on was cluttered. There are probably better plastics and materials sandwiches in the 39i.

The teak decking is certainly pretty, but you either have to like natural weathered gray or be willing to spend lots of time maintaining its look. A boat that was finished brightly and ignored (we've seen a 39i in this condition) looks awful.

--Karl

[breezydays]

Thank you, just a couple more questions. I hear people talk about the differences between Jeanneau and Beneteau along the lines that it's easier to work on a Jeanneau. Can anyone explain? Are there any known issues , particularly with the 40.3 that I should understand / look out for ? Finally is the 40.3 capable of taking a gantry (if that's the right word!) on the stern to mount solar panels, wind generator etc ? Thanks

[hoppy]

Oct 22, 2014 18:41:41 GMT breezydays said:

Finally is the 40.3 capable of taking a gantry (if that's the right word!) on the stern to mount solar panels, wind generator etc ? Thanks

Normally they are referred to as a n "arch" or "solar arch"

That will be no problem. I have one on my SO40 and the stern is not greatly different.

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