&b SUN-LIBERTY 34 Back in the early 1980s, Jeanneau set a radically new trend both in yacht design and building with their Sun-Fizz, a forty-foot performance sailboat claimed to be the first of her size with twin quarter cabins and a layout much loved by the yacht charter industry. Now, ten years on, Jeanneau. are again breaking new ground with their Sun-Liberty 34, a subtle blend of conventional boatbuilding, advanced materials and a more traditional yet exciting interior design aimed squarely at the discerning private owner. Sun-Fizz marked the beginning of a vange of yachta that now include, at one end of the spectrum, the twenty-three foot, wing-keeled traller sailer Sun-Way 21, and at the other, a fifty-one foot ocean cruiser-racer called Sun-Odyssey. One is obviously aimed at the young family while the other is intended for more extensive deep-sea cruising and racing, Not much in ‘common there you might think, but not co ‘According to Jeanneau, both share an underlying philosophy of combining per- formance sailing with comfortable, spa- ous accommodation. 2 However, another factor contributed to the success of the Sun-Fizz; she was the first yacht of her size to be ‘produetion’ ‘built and so had a considerable advantage ‘on price over her individuslly built rivals But the passage of time has seen an in creasing number of major builders ex panding inte the ovor-thirty-foot produe tion market with the result that Jeanneau rno longer seem io have the competitive edge when it comes to the bottom line. At £54,875 plus VAT, Euroyachts, Jean- neau's main UK distributor, admit that the Sun-Liberty is perhaps more expen: sive than many others of her size, She compares directly with, say, the Debler 34 at £44,500, the Sadler 34 at £44, even the Aft cabin 346 from Moody at 50,190 (al ex. VAT), According to her builders the reason for hor higher price is reflected by hor qual ity and finish. A great deal more effort has ‘been put intoher interior design than ever efore; und it shows, Another fector is the extensive uso of Kevlar in the hull. This is something perhaps not apparent when you look at the boat but provides very ‘much higher impact resistance than con- ventional GRPeonstruction —an impor tant point when you consider the debris that today litters our sea. There is also a third factor: although Jeanneau plo- neered the productionisation of larger yachts, they recognise that some of the compromises accepted in the name of economy are not always conducive to the best results, There are times when erafts- manship and finish count more than speed of assembly. Designed by Daniel Andrieu, anyone seanning the lines of her hull, one could be forgiven for thinking that all yachts are beginning to look the same— certainly all modern Jeanneeus including the Sun- Liberty 34. She has very flat bottom sec: PRACTICAL BOAT OWNERUNDER SAIL * UNDER SAIL * UND! ons, sweeping up in a soft eurvetoan all but straight sheer line, Her forward see- ons have a moderately sharp entry while alter sections are broad with abigh level suoyaney carried well aft, The overall result is a very buoyant. shape desigmed to slip oasily through the water with little Her keol which is simply bolted di ble seulant between bull and keel, is semi-elliptical with a bulb to keep the centre of gravity low, There are, in faci, tbvo options: a standard keel giving a draft of 6. 3in and ashallow draft version with th 10in draft. Keel bolts ars in pairs linked on the inside of the hull by stain loo eteel plates which are laminated ever mainly {o provide a final seal 1 the keel bolts and to ensure that they stay lacked firmly in place. A series of box section floors strengthen the keel attachment area and a pair of longitudinal stringers either side increase she stiffness at the tava of the hilgos ‘The construction ofher hull is « combi nation of traditional GRP boatbuilding techniques coupled with modern mater als. Sadly, her builders would not reveal the types of resin used in either the gel: ccoat or the lay-up. All they would say was hat they use a traditional resin — poly AUGUST 1990 with a small touch from Jean- nnoau. The gelevat is spray applied and is hand laminated lay-up, But he conventional glass mat amination, Jeann: rin the fo followed by inaddition ta used in the woven mat containing 2) percent Kevlar by weight. It was developed especially for Jeanneau by Du Pont in collaboration With Chomarai who are responsible for ‘weaving the material ‘This combination of glass and Kevlacis said to overcame the problems some build: fers have experienced with Kevlar rein: forcoment where resin tanded lo ran off but eo far as tho owner is concerned, Aramat K provides one overriding bene Ti: weight-foreweight it doubles tensile strength and impact resistance, And it’s interesting to note that Jeanneau have used this increased strength as a reason for reducing hull weight. They prefer instead, to give the customer the benefit of a strongor hull When designing thedeck, comeone has ‘obviously remembered that the deck is not just something wo keep the inside of the boat dry. For instance, the centre section ‘of the coach roof has been left completely Jear and a sot of cushions ean be fitied neaily between the handrailstocreatean {RSAIL % EDITED BY DAVE GREENWELL excellent sunbathing ares. Unusual aboard a thirty-lour footer but indicative ofthe thought and experience winich have one into her design, Similarly, helyards mainshest and topping lift are led hack to the cockpit through conduits in the eabin top. They oxi just forward of he winches which are seLin recesses on either side of the companionway. The result is a eom: plete lack of ‘string’ across the coachroot which, ifnothing else, makes things lot neater, There is room Lo rig spare hal: vards should her owner so wish Another striking feature of the deck layout is her very eloar side decks, made possible by her double apreader rig with narrow shroud base, Shroud plates are sel in the angled sides of the coachraot: allowing the jib sheet tracks ta be sitedon, the coachroof edges, maintaining clear side decks and providing a tight sheeting angle. As standard, she is fitted with slab roofing and the reefing lines are taken te the base of tho mast, If en owner should 20 wish, the reefing lines can be brought back through the conduits Lo the cockpit Another on-deck feature worthy af note is the anchor and chain siowage locker which allows the anchor to be stowed ready for immediate use and will self Jauneh and stow 33Rie oe ‘The dock moulding itself has bals sandwich reinforcement (o provide light: ‘weight stiffness and the bull to ded: joint comprises a inward [acing flange on the hnull on which the deck sits and is through bolted onio a Sikafex sealant. The joint incorporates an aluminium toe rail which holds a rubber fender strip and provides exira support for the stanchion bases, ‘Noticerhle by thoir absence, however, are eats for springs Below decks, the major development is in the way they have used the aecommo- dation space, Until now, mest production oathuilders have kept at least one eye fixed firmly of the charter fleet market when planning a new boat, and that has eon especially go for the big European builders, Very bluntly, the more bodies that can sleop aboard act hotter. A good example of this is perhaps Jeanneau's Sun-Light 31 which has = waterline length of under twenty six feet and in one version, ean sleep up to seven adults, Jeanneau, however, have re-discovered the idea thal some owners want a comfart- able yacht rather than a sailing dormitory And so the Sun-Liberty 84 was conceive ‘asa fast sailing yacht with a layout suit able for either a couple with two children or just two eouplos. Benoit Coquard was esponsible for the styling and décor, and from what we have seen so far, she cer tainly rellects the care lavished on both e overall concept and the detailed de: sign of her accommodation, Using curved ‘seating in the matin salocn he has ereaied a ‘round living space which should be ‘equally eosy with two or five people sitting round the fold-down table. On thepractieal sie, the five.inch thick saloon settee cushions have removable covers and the grade of foam satisfies the standards laid down by Bureau Veritas for fre resistanee. Both the forward and ter cabins have their own heads compart- ‘ments and with doors shut, there issufli- lent Boor area inboth to stand and dress, 4 ‘The L-shaped galley is to port of the companionway and is separated from the main saloon area by the chart table. Commendabls, sleanneau have had the foresight ta install conduits under the cabin headlining between the chart table and the base af the mast to simplify the fitting of navigational instruments. ‘Our only real criticism of the accommo- ation is that the quarter cabin has only. ‘one exit, which would make escape very ifficalt in the case of a fire in the main saloon area. This is a problem few build- fers have addressed as yet. and we would like to see full size escape hatches rather then small opening ports between quar- tercabins and cockpita. What about warranties? With Jean rneau So secretive ubiout the resins they use it's important to know exactly where you stand if anything should go wrong. Euroyachts and Jeanneau offe ‘sear warranty on all boats sold in the UK to private customers, This exvers notonly the ‘standard’ hull warranty but any mojor defects, they say, arising in the main structure of the beat. It docs not, however, cover ‘boughl-in’ components such as winebes, mastsails.. But on the subject of warranty, we no- ticed an interesting piece in an American hoating newspaper Soundings. Out of three claims they investigated made against three separate builders in cases where replacement would have been in order, only Jeanneau agreed to provide the aggrieved owner with a now boat to replace his Jeanneau 94 that had prob. Jems around the keel area. At the time of writing, Jeanneau have ita production Sun-Liberty 34. available for us to sail. However, when they unvel! her at Lhe Southampton Boat Show next month, she will not be an untried boat. Several pre-production models will have boon put through full season's hard sailing, That should have sbelzen out any (eething troubles and will ensure that owners of the frst buats off the production line are not part of a development pro: ‘gram — something other builders would ido well tg emulate. Meanwhile you will be able tocheck her out yourselfatthe Show and Inter this year we will report on her sailing abilities ° Sun-Liberty 34 LOR ncecnnnernnnenen 33M 19in Hut Leng 27 ae ‘in uw : ist Sn tax Beam St Gin Weterlire Beam lat ain Draft (dee fr.. Stn Displacement “36210 Ballast Sal Ares Genoa. Mainsai Price (ex VAT) “esa 875.00 Buller CO eanneau Uk. Agen Euroyachts Clyde Pace, Glasgow Te 041 429 3766 South Coast Otice. Hamble Point Marina Hamble Tel: (0703) 488607.