Sun Odyssey 42.1
Jeanneau · Guy Ribadeau Dumas · 1991
Updated
The Sun Odyssey 42.1 is a 12.28 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Guy Ribadeau Dumas and built by Jeanneau, first launched in 1991. It races in Class C.
Length
12.28 m
40′ 3″
Beam
3.98 m
Draft
1.92 m
Displacement
9.2 t
Sail area
74 m²
On the podium
Where a Sun Odyssey 42.1 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
0%
of 17 starts by 2 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 17 starts by 2 boats between 2023 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Sun Odyssey 42.1 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
"Πορος 2026"2026- "Μακης Πανταζης" - Αγκιστρι2026
- Ναο Λαυρεωτικης-Ναο Αναβ.& Π Φωκαιας-Ναο Λεγραινων Αρσιδ2026
- Μέθανα2025
- "Μακης Πανταζης - Αγκιστρι 2025"2025
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: no 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 Odyssey 42.1 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Dufour 35 (7 meetings), First 45 (Farr) (7 meetings), Sun Shine 36 (7 meetings), Sun Odyssey 32 (7 meetings), Grand Soleil 343 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Design) (6 meetings), Sun Light 30 (6 meetings), Melody (6 meetings), Oceanis 381 (6 meetings), Albin Ballad (5 meetings), Oceanis 331 (5 meetings), Sun Fast 37 (5 meetings), Oceanis 423 (5 meetings), Grand Soleil 34 (Finot) (4 meetings), Gin Fizz (4 meetings), Elan 410 (4 meetings), Contest 250 (4 meetings), First 38 (6 meetings), Gib Sea 312 (6 meetings), Catalina 320 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 34.2 (4 meetings), X-332 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 40 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 33 (Andrieu) (4 meetings), Yca 29 (4 meetings), First 28 (4 meetings), Nereis 30 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 26 (4 meetings), New Gambler 35 (3 meetings), Rush 31 (3 meetings), Elan 40 (3 meetings), Hallberg-rassy 41 (3 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Sun Odyssey 42.1 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
5.08
41°
Beam reach
8.13
90°
Broad reach
8.61
135°
Downwind VMG
7.50
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 needs pressure to show what it can do. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on the beam in moderate air, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short upwind in the light stuff, giving away time it never gets back.
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 0.6 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 42.1
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 2.91 | 4.16 | 4.83 | 5.08 |
| 52° | 4.56 | 6.28 | 7.07 | 7.38 |
| 60° | 4.88 | 6.56 | 7.30 | 7.63 |
| 75° | 5.10 | 6.79 | 7.50 | 7.95 |
| 90° | 5.04 | 6.93 | 7.71 | 8.13 |
| 110° | 5.09 | 7.07 | 7.89 | 8.73 |
| 120° | 4.91 | 6.93 | 7.84 | 8.81 |
| 135° | 4.38 | 6.47 | 7.60 | 8.61 |
| 150° | 3.72 | 5.77 | 7.13 | 8.12 |
| Run VMG | 3.22 | 5.00 | 6.27 | 7.50 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Roughly half carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 590 kg.
Rigging
Sun Odyssey 42.1 rig and sail dimensions
A Sun Odyssey 42.1 carries 13.65 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.39 m boom, a forestay 15.75 m above the deck. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails