High performance armoury

The new Sun Fast 30 is 880kg lighter than the SF3300 with the same upwind sail area and fractionally less downwind

With a vigorous range of winning designs in the 28-34ft range, to say that the combo of Jeanneau and their UK agents Sea Ventures have today’s key racing sector covered is somethng of an understatement...

To have one sprightly and successful 30-footer in your stable at a time when inshore and offshore racing in this size continues to increase in popularity is both fortunate and enviable. But to have a fleet of three highly appealing modern 30-footers that are as suitable and successful in fully crewed racing as they are shorthanded is surely more than just a coincidence.

To have such an embarrassment of riches is probably not be quite how UK South Coast-based Sea Ventures would describe their position, yet the reality is that after more than a decade of handson experience in this popular and growing corner of the sport they have become the go-to experts when it comes to advising those who are looking to move into the 30ft racing scene.

‘It’s true that we are proud of what we have been able to achieve both for the sport and for our clients,’ says managing director Nigel Colley, an enthusiastic shorthanded and solo sailor. ‘As Jeanneau dealers we had an early advantage with boats like the Sun Fast 3200 which was not only one of the most popular production 30-footers of her era, but built much of her reputation in the Transquadra Race where she proved herself as being a manageable and versatile design for anything from inshore to transatlantic racing.’

Today, while the Sun Fast 3200 is still considered to be a good starting point for those wishing to dip their toe in the water, there is plenty more choice. With over 100 built, Jeanneau’s offshore pocket rocket, the Sun Fast 3300, has proved to be the new benchmark in the double-handed scene, but this year sees the arrival of the new Sun Fast 30, which brings another option to the table. And then there’s the Farr X2 that’s also represented by Sea Ventures and that, on the face of it, is aimed at the same market.

So where do these boats fit in the 30ft scene and what sets each of them apart?

Sun Fast 3300
While her bluff bow and bulbous forward sections give her an almost scow-type appearance and suggest that the 3300 has been designed to excel in a particular set of conditions, designers Daniel Andrieu and Guillaume Verdier actually set out to create a versatile all-rounder. What they hadn’t expected to do was to create a trend-setter, but as the 3300 notched up impressive offshore results across a wide range of events and conditions, word spread fast and success bred further success.

Winning the ORC doublehanded world championships, the Transquadra and her class in the 2019 and 2021 Rolex Fastnet Races put her into the spotlight. Her performance under both ORC and IRC proved to be important factors as well, helping to spread the success further afield to the east coast USA and Australia where Lee Condell and Lincoln Dews finished in second place in the twohanded IRC division of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2022.

The Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 is the current benchmark boat in the thriving doublehanded offshore racing scene

But aside from the double-handed success, the 3300 has also become well known for its ability to cater for a full crew, as well as the way in which the design can be optimised for different styles of racing or rating systems. And while achieving this might be considered to be at the expense of creating a strict one design, the reality is that the 3300’s solid credentials make her an easy boat to adapt to suit local fleets, yet without committing her to an extreme configuration.

Sun Fast 30
The Sun Fast 30 is the newest addition to the Jeanneau racing range. The concept started as a collaboration between the RORC and UNCL to create an entry level 30ft offshore racer. The project, which was developed by Multiplast before being taken into production by Jeanneau, was also aimed at being suitable for both shorthanded and full crews.

Broadly speaking the SF3300 and SF30 have similar voluminous forward sections making it difficult at first to see where the division between them lies, but it is what you can’t see that sets the 30 apart.

Traditionally there has been a school of thought that believes that for a boat of this size to be successful under IRC it needs to be heavy. And while this may be the case, carrying such extra weight clearly hinders performance. Instead, at 880kg lighter than the 3300 and with the same upwind sail area and fractionally less downwind, the SF30 breaks with this thinking from the outset.

Naturally, being three feet shorter helps to save weight but keeping the layout simple above and below decks has also seen gains.

The SF30 is also fundamentally different from the 3300 as she was conceived as a strict one design from the outset. This extends beyond a detailed specification that includes the instrumentation and the autopilot, through to limiting the sail inventory to just seven sails that can only be replaced on a three yearly cycle. The construction of the sails is also restricted to panelled sails as moulded sails are banned.

Having been selected for the World Sailing Doublehanded World Championships that will take place in Lorient this year and Cowes in 2025, the strict one design element is key.

Farr X2
Meanwhile, at 30ft LOA the Farr X2 may be the same length as the Sun Fast 30 and designed to cater for shorthanded or full crews, that is where the similarities end. Designed as a high-performance yet easy to manage machine, this is a semicustom boat that can be optimised to suit a wide range of racing areas and styles.

From the outset her appearance is markedly different.

The Farr X2 is a semi-custom boat that can be extensively optimised

While France may dominate the style of shorthanded racers in northern Europe where the bulbous scow shape is commonplace, this is not a configuration that has always translated elsewhere in the world. Instead, the X2 has a fine entry and dreadnought bow with lines that open out to a maximum beam that is carried well aft on a hull that has no tumblehome.

She’s also equipped with 250kg water ballast tanks aboard a boat that is 1,000kg lighter than the Sun Fast 3300 which means that she’s fully powered up in just 10 knots of breeze.

And yet, while she’s clearly a potent performer, the carbon rig (which is standard) and a refined deck layout makes it easy to change gear. The twin topmast backstays deliver the ability to tweak the rig quickly and efficiently while having the security of a full width chainplate and aft swept spreaders to achieve inherent fore and aft support.

Given the focus on shorthanded sailing, the ability to cross sheet using the four winches was something that the design team took a great deal of time developing. Even the water ballast controls can be operated on deck to avoid crew having to go down below.

The coachroof design is another area that the development team focussed a great deal of attention on as they combined the needs of a narrow headsail sheeting angle with the considerable protection that is afforded by the overhanging deckhouse structure.

Constructed from Infused Vinylester/ E-glass with PVC foam cores, this is also a sophisticated build throughout that provides the foundation for a versatile racer that can adapt to a wider range of international rules.

So, while these three boats may share similar vital statistics there is plenty to separate them once you get close up. From the strict one design focus of the Sun Fast 30, to the fully configurable Farr X2 and the super versatile Sun Fast 3300, these are three pocket rockets with three very different characters.

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