Review of Sun Odyssey 34
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.
The boat has more than one rig.
One option is a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.
Another option is a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.
The Sun Odyssey 34 has been built with different keel alternatives.
Fin keel
The Sun Odyssey 34 is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.90 - 2.00 meter (6.23 - 6.53 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Unknown keel type
Sun Odyssey 34 can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.71 - 1.81 meter (5.61 - 5.91 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Sailing characteristics
This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.9 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Sun Odyssey 34 is about 188 kg/cm, alternatively 1055 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 188 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1055 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.
Sailing statistics
This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Sun Odyssey 34 is 2.85.
The ballast ratio for Sun Odyssey 34 is 31%.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 33m2 (355 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.
Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.
Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.
Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale
If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.
| Masthead rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 28.3 m | (92.8 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 28.3 m | (92.8 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 28.3 m | (92.8 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 10.0 m | (32.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 10.0 m | (32.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 25.0 m | (81.9 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 22.0 m | (72.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.2 m | (13.8 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 8.4 m | (27.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 8.4 m | (27.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Fractional rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 27.6 m | (90.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 27.6 m | (90.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 27.6 m | (90.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 10.0 m | (32.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 10.0 m | (32.7 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 25.0 m | (81.9 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 22.0 m | (72.0 feet) | 12 mm | (1/2 inch) |
| Cunningham | 4.2 m | (13.6 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 8.3 m | (27.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 8.3 m | (27.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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