Our team travelled this year to the Jeanneau worldwide dealer meeting, hosted in a private and relaxed setting on the Atlantic coast just near to the factory giving us the opportunity to view the new models that Jeanneau will bring to the market and discuss with the factory any issues that have been presented by our customers to give them feedback in altering the existing models to better suit our client’s needs.
After a long day of travel our team arrived to meet with our colleagues at the hotel, just a short walk from Port Bourgeny and settle into an important afternoon of meetings led by Jean-Paul Chapeleau (Jeanneau MD) discussing what the future holds for this ubiquitous and market leading brand.
The team then settled in for a Gala & Awards Dinner that allowed us to meet and interact with our partner dealers from around the other markets in the world, to gauge their own thoughts and to share stories of the season with one another.
One of several highlights for our weekend was the awarding of a Jeanneau ‘Dealer of the Year’ award in recognition of our contribution and work with the brand. Jamie Tibbott (Group MD) said ‘We are thrilled to receive this award which recognises the hard work and commitment that our team have put in for the last several years in promoting the brand and builds yet further the bridges that we have with our friends and colleagues at the factory’.
After a, ahem, ‘early’ finish the next morning – the next day focused on further individual meetings with the different teams at the factory and the opportunity to test out several of the new models at Port Bourgeny including the Sun Odyssey 490 launched late last season and now in full production (with an ever extending wait list), this allowed us to see the boat in its natural environment and in about 16knots of true wind speed she never once dropped her progress through the water below 8.5knots, and despite our team pushing her as hard as they could to put her guardrails truly in the water, never once did the inclined side decks ship and water at all keeping the crew and helm, safe, dry and happy.
The Sun Odyssey 490 was also equipped with the ‘Assisted Sail Trim’ system developed in conjunction with Harken Rewind Winches which allows for the helmsman to set how they want to keep the sails trimmed relative to the wind whilst also, if desired, set a maximum angle of heel above which the system eases the sheets to reduce heel action, particularly useful on a gusty day like the day we tested on.
The final enjoyable moment we made was seeing the brand new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410 at the factory in person. Taking from the Jeanneau 440 and 490 sister ships with the inclined side decks, large open saloon and unrivalled owners cabin it was a real moment of clarity as the whole new range comes into focus.
This new model comes with its own upgrades and features including an aggressively raked bow for style, a chaise longe style seat, huge amounts of stowage in the saloon and an option, unusually for a 40ft boat to include a forward heads to the front of the saloon.
Come enjoy the adventure with us, for more information on any of the new models, to arrange a sea trial or just to find out more about the range we welcome you to please give us a call or drop us an email where our team will be happy to help.
