Sun Odyssey 39
Jeanneau · Marc Lombard · 2006
Updated
The Sun Odyssey 39 is a 11.75 m displacement racing yacht designed by Marc Lombard and built by Jeanneau, first launched in 2006. It races in Class C. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 60% of the designs it races against. It comes alive as the breeze builds, and gives time away in the light.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 60% of the boats it races against.
64th of 159 in its class.
This design has been found in real race results — 18 starts across 4 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
11.75 m
38′ 7″
Beam
3.89 m
Draft
2.18 m
Displacement
7.4 t
Sail area
72 m²
On the podium
Where a Sun Odyssey 39 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
33%
of 18 starts by 2 boats
Wins
6%
Read from 18 starts by 2 boats between 2016 and 2024, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Sun Odyssey 39 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Memorial Koumiotis2024- :Nikolaos Koumiotis 2022"2022
Vento de l'Alguer2017- Vento de l'Alguer2016
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: 7 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
45%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Sun Odyssey 39 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
J/24 (7 meetings), First 345 (5 meetings), Sun Odyssey 37.1 (3 meetings), Bavaria 37 (3 meetings), Gib Sea 33 (3 meetings), Discovery 300 (3 meetings), Dromor 26 (2 meetings), Gin Fizz (2 meetings), Carter 33 (2 meetings), Feeling 920 (2 meetings), Oceanis 440 (2 meetings), First 38 (2 meetings), Atlantic 31 (2 meetings), Oceanis 361 (Berret/Racoupeau) (2 meetings), Moody 34 (2 meetings), Moody 38 (2 meetings), Melody (2 meetings), F&c 40 (1 meeting), Canados 37 (1 meeting), Dufour 365 (1 meeting), Oceanis 381 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Sun Odyssey 39 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
5.09
40°
Beam reach
8.54
90°
Broad reach
9.48
135°
Downwind VMG
7.72
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.
There is no obvious weak spot here. It rewards preparation and crew work more than it rewards picking the right day.
Where it gains
Its best ground is cracked off in a strong breeze, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage across the wind as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short on the run in a strong breeze, 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 Odyssey 39
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.21 | 4.54 | 5.04 | 5.09 |
| 52° | 4.96 | 6.71 | 7.32 | 7.44 |
| 60° | 5.27 | 6.96 | 7.55 | 7.74 |
| 75° | 5.48 | 7.15 | 7.82 | 8.17 |
| 90° | 5.54 | 7.41 | 7.98 | 8.54 |
| 110° | 5.63 | 7.57 | 8.44 | 9.13 |
| 120° | 5.45 | 7.46 | 8.39 | 9.58 |
| 135° | 4.86 | 7.00 | 8.07 | 9.48 |
| 150° | 4.08 | 6.20 | 7.55 | 8.74 |
| Run VMG | 3.54 | 5.38 | 6.58 | 7.72 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Roughly half carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 470 kg.
Rigging
Sun Odyssey 39 rig and sail dimensions
A Sun Odyssey 39 carries 14.17 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.45 m boom, a forestay 15.07 m above the deck and a 5.00 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 9 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 83 to 110 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.