Sun Odyssey 49
Jeanneau · Philippe Briand · 2003
Updated
The Sun Odyssey 49 is a 14.75 m displacement racing yacht designed by Philippe Briand and built by Jeanneau, first launched in 2003. It races in Class B. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 9% 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 9% of the boats it races against.
84th of 92 in its class.
This design has been found in real race results — 21 starts across 12 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
14.75 m
48′ 5″
Beam
4.49 m
Draft
2.09 m
Displacement
12.7 t
Sail area
116 m²
On the podium
Where a Sun Odyssey 49 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
0%
of 21 starts by 9 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 21 starts by 9 boats between 2015 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Sun Odyssey 49 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Eolian Cup - Trofeo Franco Costa2026- Regata Brindisi-Corfù2025
- Regata Brindisi-Corfù2024
- Regata Brindisi-Corfù2023
- Regata Brindisi-Corfù2022
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
0%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Sun Odyssey 49 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Figaro 2 (6 meetings), Elan 40 (7 meetings), Italia 9.98 (5 meetings), Elan 410 (5 meetings), Farr 40 (5 meetings), Millenium 40 (5 meetings), Swan 42 (5 meetings), Sun Odyssey 509 (5 meetings), Dufour 412 (4 meetings), Sinergia 40 (4 meetings), Bavaria Match 35 (6 meetings), First 45 (Briand) (4 meetings), Dufour 44 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 50 (Judel/Vrolijk) (5 meetings), Sun Odyssey 42 (Lombard) (6 meetings), X-412 (7 meetings), J/105 (4 meetings), First 35 (Farr) (5 meetings), Grand Soleil 37 (Design) (4 meetings), First 47.7 (4 meetings), Comet 45 (4 meetings), Comet 36 (4 meetings), Oceanis 393 (4 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 39 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 410 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 46 (Jézéquel) (3 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 37 (3 meetings), Archambault 40 (3 meetings), First 34.7 (2 meetings), First 35 (Berret) (2 meetings), Sun Odyssey 45 (2 meetings), Mumm 36 (2 meetings), Dufour 40 (3 meetings), Sun Odyssey 440 (3 meetings), Grand Soleil 46 (Carkeek) (2 meetings), Elan S5 (2 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Sun Odyssey 49 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
5.77
40°
Beam reach
9.35
90°
Broad reach
9.96
135°
Downwind VMG
8.21
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.
This one is at home going to windward. Windward-leeward courses give it more of what it is good at than a coastal race does.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on a reach when it blows, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short on a broad reach 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 0.6 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 49
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.40 | 4.85 | 5.52 | 5.77 |
| 52° | 5.33 | 7.26 | 7.99 | 8.28 |
| 60° | 5.74 | 7.59 | 8.26 | 8.54 |
| 75° | 6.11 | 7.86 | 8.52 | 8.98 |
| 90° | 6.01 | 7.90 | 8.68 | 9.35 |
| 110° | 5.81 | 8.04 | 8.95 | 10.01 |
| 120° | 5.67 | 7.93 | 8.88 | 10.20 |
| 135° | 5.03 | 7.43 | 8.61 | 9.96 |
| 150° | 4.21 | 6.50 | 8.03 | 9.21 |
| Run VMG | 3.65 | 5.63 | 6.97 | 8.21 |
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 49 rig and sail dimensions
A Sun Odyssey 49 carries 16.07 m of mainsail hoist on a 5.55 m boom, a forestay 17.00 m above the deck and a 6.26 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 — 120 to 142 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.