Sun Fast 40
Jeanneau · Daniel Andrieu · 1998
Updated
The Sun Fast 40 is a 11.71 m displacement racing yacht designed by Daniel Andrieu and built by Jeanneau, first launched in 1998. It races in Class B. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 4% of the designs it races against. It is at its best in light air and struggles to hold that once it blows.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 4% of the boats it races against.
88th of 92 in its class.
This design has been found in real race results — 20 starts across 13 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
11.71 m
38′ 5″
Beam
3.94 m
Draft
2.42 m
Displacement
7.5 t
Sail area
89 m²
On the podium
Where a Sun Fast 40 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
10%
of 20 starts by 3 boats
Wins
10%
Read from 20 starts by 3 boats between 2016 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Sun Fast 40 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
REGATA DELLA GALLINARA - Trofeo della Cappelletta2026
Λαγούσες2025- "Ν. Σαρικαβαζη 2025"2025
- Campionato Intercircoli2025
- "Πορος 2024"2024
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 3 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
0%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Sun Fast 40 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Elan 45 (7 meetings), Hallberg Rassy 352 (7 meetings), Dufour 34 (Dufour) (6 meetings), Gib Sea 312 (7 meetings), Feeling 920 (6 meetings), Elan 410 (7 meetings), Sun Odyssey 40 (6 meetings), Sun Shine 36 (7 meetings), Grand Soleil 39 (Jézéquel) (5 meetings), Optima 101 (5 meetings), Sun Odyssey 36.2 (5 meetings), Discovery 300 (7 meetings), Oceanis 423 (5 meetings), Sun Odyssey 34.2 (5 meetings), Bavaria 31 (5 meetings), Oceanis 381 (5 meetings), Rush 31 (5 meetings), Sun Fast 37 (5 meetings), First 31.7 (5 meetings), Grand Soleil 343 (4 meetings), Ecume De Mer (4 meetings), Carter 33 (4 meetings), Oceanis 38.1 (4 meetings), Oyster 37 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 34 (Finot) (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 33.1 (7 meetings), Oceanis 393 (4 meetings), First 34.7 (3 meetings), Maxi 95 (3 meetings), North Wind 435 (3 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Sun Fast 40 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.49
38°
Beam reach
8.57
90°
Broad reach
9.36
135°
Downwind VMG
7.71
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It is an upwind boat first. Windward-leeward courses give it more of what it is good at than a coastal race does.
Where it gains
Its best ground is upwind in a strong breeze, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short cracked off once it pipes up, giving away time it never gets back. That is a displacement hull working to its designed speed.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Sun Fast 40
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.49 | 4.80 | 5.33 | 5.49 |
| 52° | 5.33 | 6.97 | 7.48 | 7.66 |
| 60° | 5.65 | 7.18 | 7.67 | 7.88 |
| 75° | 5.87 | 7.34 | 7.87 | 8.25 |
| 90° | 5.89 | 7.50 | 8.05 | 8.57 |
| 110° | 5.72 | 7.58 | 8.38 | 9.14 |
| 120° | 5.56 | 7.48 | 8.34 | 9.48 |
| 135° | 4.97 | 7.07 | 8.05 | 9.36 |
| 150° | 4.18 | 6.30 | 7.57 | 8.64 |
| Run VMG | 3.62 | 5.45 | 6.68 | 7.71 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 680 kg.
Rigging
Sun Fast 40 rig and sail dimensions
A Sun Fast 40 carries 14.73 m of mainsail hoist on a 5.30 m boom, a forestay 16.04 m above the deck and a 5.02 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 10 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 92 to 126 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.