Sun Fast 30 One Design, sea trial for a fast and revolutionary one-design yacht

The new Jeanneau Sun Fast 30 One Design is a sailboat designed to make offshore racing accessible to everyone. With a starting price of under 150,000 euros, it undoubtedly represents not only a viable alternative for crews wanting to race in one-design with a reasonable budget but also an ecological choice since the new Sun Fast 30 One Design is the first production sailboat to be built with a special, entirely recyclable composite material.

The hull and deck have been laminated using vacuum infusion method using Elium® resin, developed by Arkema, which, besides making the product fully recyclable, offers mechanical performance superior to that of polyester resin, with significantly reduced weight.

The hull lines, designed by VPLP Design, are aggressive and converge into an even more sporty rounded bow. The keel, which brings the draft to two meters, is composed of a cast iron blade with a bulb at the end.

The mast, boom, and bowsprit are made of carbon, while the generous sail plan of 59 square meters includes a square top mainsail and a J2, essential for quickly pointing upwind, while, when conditions get tough, a J3 is rigged. The sail area downwind is also remarkable, where a Code 0 and two asymmetric spinnakers are provided, with the largest of these reaching a whopping 137 square meters. Quite impressive for a sailboat with a dry weight of just 2,650 kg.

The standard equipment of the Jeanneau Sun Fast 30 One Design is decidedly rich; it already includes everything needed to sail and participate in offshore races, both in terms of deck layout and electronics, autopilot, and safety.

The interior is, for obvious weight reasons, minimal, although there is a large chart station with seating, a toilet, and the essential berths. A 10-horsepower Nanni engine, equipped with a sail drive, completes the overall equipment of this racer.

But now it’s time to cast off the lines and discover how this yacht performs at sea.

Jeanneau Sun Fast 30 One Design Sea Trial

It’s hard not to feel comfortable with the deck layout of the new Sun Fast 30 One Design; the space is generously abundant, and everything is exactly where it should be, within reach of hand or foot, especially with those beautiful foot chocks that provide so much security when the boat heels. Sitting on the windward bench, with the tiller extension in hand, I can reach and adjust the helm and the mainsheet and traveler, great! The genoa trimming is instead handled by the leeward winch, from which you can also easily adjust the clew in a three-dimensional way.

The wind is weak today, the sky is overcast, and the air heavy. The sea surface is lightly rippled; there might be at most 2/3 knots of breeze, so we hoist the mainsail and, with little conviction, also the J2. We bear away slightly, and the Sun Fast 30 One Design immediately picks up speed, about 3 knots, while the hull glides lightly over the water, leaving a clean wake astern, without the slightest sign of friction.

I spot ahead an area where the sea surface is darker, indicating there might be more pressure there. However, we need to tack to reach that stretch of water, and at this speed… yet, with a bit of finesse, the Sun Fast 30 One Design changes tack without slowing down, or hardly so.

Then we reach the area where the wind is weaker, and things change. Here, there are 5/6 knots of breeze, but for this boat, they are more than enough to take off like a rocket. In the blink of an eye, at 30° off the apparent wind, we’re already nearly matching the wind speed. We bear away to 40°, and the speed increases even more; we’re making over 6 knots, and the wake remains clean.

We tack to stay in this zone and bear away to hoist the Code 0. Once unfurled, it allows us to sail at 70/80 degrees off the apparent wind without losing speed. It’s clear that we’re sailing solely on apparent wind; the Sun Fast 30 One Design generates it abundantly, aided by the almost total absence of waves. This is confirmed by the other sailboats in the bay; while we sail swiftly, they’re practically at a standstill, held back by their weight. On the other hand, the Sun Fast 30 One Design has practically the same sail area as the Sun Fast 3300 but weighs a whopping 800 kg less!

The ability to be fast in light winds is crucial for a sailboat that must participate in long offshore races. Nighttime and windless conditions are precisely where fast boats gain an advantage over the rest of the fleet.

I would have liked to test this sailboat in medium to strong winds. This hull seems tailor-made for planing downwind, especially when the large asymmetric spinnaker is hoisted, allowing the Sun Fast 30 One Design to unleash all of its 137 square meters of canvas.

Conclusion

The Sun Fast 30 One Design is a well-conceived racer. Agile and fast even in light wind conditions, as in our case, it will certainly allow less affluent sailors to engage in exciting offshore races. Complete with all the necessary equipment for racing and designed to simplify maneuvers, it is ideal for both single-handed and double-handed racing.

Technical Specs