{"id":69139,"date":"2019-12-09T16:23:36","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T21:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=69139"},"modified":"2023-05-06T22:48:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T02:48:20","slug":"boat-of-the-year-2020-jeanneau-sun-fast-3300","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/sailboats\/boat-of-the-year-2020-jeanneau-sun-fast-3300\/","title":{"rendered":"Boat of the Year 2020: Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Sun <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300\u2014at 32 feet, 9 inches overall, 11\u00a0feet at maximum beam and 7,716\u00a0pounds \u00addisplacement\u2014is an offshore-focused short\u00adhanded racer. Concave centerline hollows at the bow and stern help reduce wetted \u00adsurface in certain modes.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

At A Glance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

Price As Sailed: <\/b>$260,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Design Purpose: <\/b>Shorthanded or crewed point\u2011to\u2011point racing<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Crew List: <\/b>Two to six<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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Dave Powlison\u2019s feet are wedged into the stainless-steel foot brace. He has a light grip on the tiller handle in his right hand. His gaze is forward, over the shoulders of his mainsail trimmer beside him, then travels over the backs of three big guys sitting comfortably on the rail and out of his sightline. The boat is perfectly balanced. Fifteen knots of wind on a flat bay is the sweet spot for this 32-footer under the seat of his pants. He\u2019s entranced, and you can tell because his forward hand floats midair, digits outstretched as if their tips are feeling the wind direction and heel angle. In this moment, Powlison likes this boat a lot. It\u2019s his frontrunner for Boat of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was on the helm, I just wanted to be on it for much longer,\u201d he says. \u201cI would have enjoyed sailing it all day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

For shorthanded offshore aspirants, Powlison\u2019s sentiment should be all you need to hear, because when there\u2019s only you and the autopilot for the next 48 hours, a balanced helm will be all yours to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Sun <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Sun Fast 3300\u2019s cockpit ergonomics are about \u00addoublehanded efficiency. The helmsman has full access to mainsail and backstay controls. Headsail adjustments and halyards lead aft to the companionway. <\/span>\n Walter Cooper <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Greg Stewart\u2014the naval architect of our BOTY panel\u2014specializes in underwater appendages and knows balance when he feels it. \u201cWhat impressed me most was the upwind sailing,\u201d he says. \u201cThe balanced ends were really nice. It\u2019s not excessively wide in the back, but the biggest thing is all the volume forward. It\u2019s comfortable to hike and all that tumblehome gives you a lot of interior volume and buoyancy when you press the boat hard. It\u2019s a fun and lively boat to sail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Beneath the red, white and blue vinyl wrap, the Sun Fast 3300 is a remarkable hull form, drafted by Jeanneau\u2019s Daniel Andrieu and Guillaume Verdier, designer of the wicked 100-footer Comanche<\/i> and a long list of fast boats. The hull shape can best be described as powerful, and most definitely designed for the big-deal races in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Jeanneau\u2019s Mike Coe says the boat targets the shorthanded scene and might someday be considered a candidate for the 2024 Olympic offshore discipline, but in the meantime, the big event for new owners is the doublehanded Transquadra Race, from France to Martinique. In Europe, Coe says, it\u2019s all about windy, downwind races, but for North America, the right boat has to get upwind, in light air too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Sink-side <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n There\u2019s a sink-side seat for enjoying a freeze-dried meal to port, and the nav station is opposite to starboard.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

With a carbon rig and a big sail plan, the Sun Fast 3300, he says, is more than capable. And this is where Verdier\u2019s clever thinking comes into play: In particular are curved hollows, referred to as concaves, on centerline. There\u2019s one at the bow and one at the stern. In light air, Coe explains, when you want the stern to stop dragging, you sink the bow a bit. \u201cIn heavy air, especially downwind, the stern just kind of sinks onto the concave and induces planing. The boat just sort of grips and rips along.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

So foreign were the concaves to Coe, that when he first saw the boat in jack stands at the boatyard when it arrived, his reaction was that they\u2019d accidentally dented the hull. Not so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

For the hyperactive shorthanded sailor, there are plenty of adjustments to tweak as conditions change: fine-\u00adtuning, water ballast, a five- to six-sail inventory and a three-\u00addimensional jib-lead system, among other things. But such tweak-ability does result in piles of rope at your feet in the \u00adcockpit, the judges point out. It\u2019s the nature of the beast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

However, where there are ropes, there\u2019s much work to be done in shorthanded sailing, so the pit area at the companionway is both a busy and happy place. While your partner is getting pelted at the helm, you can tether in, take a slightly protected seat and play the sails or nod off in your foul-weather gear. It\u2019s only an overnighter anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Nav <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Note the location of the starboard water-ballast tank, aft of the nav station.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

To get out of the weather completely, climb a few steps down the companionway and take in the view through either of the large forward-facing \u00adwindows built into the cabin top. While the auto\u00adpilot is engaged, you can cook or navigate while keeping tabs on sail trim and an eye to leeward. There\u2019s not much glitz belowdecks, the judges say, but that\u2019s the point. The 3300 is no crossover cruiser. Inside the bowels of this white Vinylester-infused capsule are nothing but rudimentary accommodations: galley, nav station, convertible settees and aft berths that fold up to add additional pipe berths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of people end up buying boats with too much interior and wish they could get rid of it once they start racing it,\u201d Stewart says. \u201cWith this boat, you\u2019ll never have to worry, because you\u2019re not buying it in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

If distance racing and \u00adputting the boat away wet is what you desire, he says, this is the level of interior you\u2019ll come to appreciate. Forward, inside the pointy end, is the head and plenty of space for some of your sail inventory, which would include two spinnakers in turtles, code zero on a furler and two hanked jibs. The carbon rig is deck-stepped, which makes the boat easier to ship by container, Coe says, a nod to its consideration as a 2024 Olympics-worthy contender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"inside <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Sun Fast 3300 cabin<\/span>\n Walter Cooper <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe keel head is a bow tie shape that goes into a socket in the bottom of the boat really easily,\u201d he says. \u201cThe sprit bolts on and the rig is short, so it all packs into a \u00adcontainer neatly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Coe had raced the boat in a doublehanded overnighter on the Chesapeake Bay a few weeks before its Boat of the Year appearance, and while he and his teammate, Cate Terhune, allegedly got caught on the wrong side of a 180-degree shift in the middle of the night, they paced well in a race that was all upwind, some of it light. They never got a chance to savor the 3300\u2019s sweet spot. Thankfully, the judges did for their test sail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all set up right and would be a great boat for anyone wanting to get into doublehanded racing. It hits its design purpose perfectly, the hull shape is innovative, it\u2019s well-built; and it was a ton of fun to sail.\u201d\n\u2014Chuck Allen\n\n<\/p>\n<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe helm has a lot of bite, upwind and down,\u201d is judge Chuck Allen\u2019s takeaway. He\u2019s a longtime sailmaker, senior BOTY judge, and predictably the first guy to grab the helm. \u201cI tried a bunch of times to try to wipe it out. It never came close. But it could be sticky in light air. It has a lot of wetted surface, so you have to pay attention to where the weight is and use those hollows. You can tell it likes to reach, and it definitely likes more wind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Jeanneau <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300<\/span>\n Walter Cooper <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of sail \u00adcontrols that will allow crews to stay dynamic with sail trim and boathandling. \u201cYou\u2019ve got three-dimensional jib trim, and everything is led right; it\u2019s all easy to get to,\u201d Allen says. \u201cUpwind, the main likes to be above centerline to get a bit of heel angle going, and downwind you can sail fairly deep in any type of breeze. Outside jibes for doublehanding will be no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

There are fine-tune cascades for the running backstays and the mainsheet, as well as the water-ballast system should you need additional righting moment. Port and starboard fill-and-dump buttons are mounted right at the companionway, and in less than a minute, the pump will top off the 52-gallon tank. (There is no transfer system between the two.) That\u2019s the equivalent of about 430 pounds of crew weight on the rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

While ideal for rank-and-file shorthanded American sailors, Powlison\u2019s take on this clear choice for Boat of Year is that it\u2019s not necessarily a beginner\u2019s race yacht. \u201cIt\u2019s a sophisticated boat that\u2019s set up really well for a pair or team of accomplished sailors,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd like I said, it\u2019s was the one boat I just wanted to keep sailing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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See All Winners<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

Other Winners:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n