Jen Sun Fizz 40

[Csail]

Any advice on buying/owning/problems etc would be appreciated.

 

[santeana]

Was quite sniffy about JenBens until I chartered a Sun Fizz for a couple of weeks some years ago. Despite this unfounded prejudice I was most impressed with her handling, speed under sail, seakeeping and comfort, both underway and in harbour. Not qualified to give the sort of chapter and verse, Andy, you're looking for but I know of a woman who is. Contact (thro e-mail or tele-con) Jeanne Pockel who lived aboard the Sun Fizz "Watermelon"for 16 years travelling far and wide. Jeanne founded the Cruiserlog Sailing Forum. You can make personal contact through: http://www.cruiser.co.za/hostmelon500.asp
Cheers, Ron

 

[Norman_E]

How old is it? I ask because I looked at a Jeanneau Voyage 12.50 from about 1989. It was in pretty good shape except for bad osmosis. The broker told me that most Jeanneau boats of that age had either had osmosis treatment, or needed it, because the resins used by Jeanneau at that time had not stood the test of long immersion in seawater very well.

 

[jimi]

As I understand it, osmosis depends on the temperature of the water the boat's been kept in. The warmer the water the more likely osmosis is, even on relatively new boats.

 

[Norman_E]

This was in Turkey, but apparantly the type of resins used in the gel coat in particular were changed in the early or mid 90's, and the later formulations are not so osmosis prone.

 

[Salty John]

I once bought a Jeanneau Symphonie, having formed the opinion that Jens were better than Bens, but it didn't last long. It developed a crack alongside the keel in a grounding and had to be repaired at substantial cost. I suppose it wasn't designed to be dropped off the bow wave of a supertanker onto a spoil bank. Since then I've gone back to encapsulated lead in full keels.
Actually the boat was well thought out and the finish was good. Many boats of that era had osmosis problems so be careful if looking at mid -late '80's boats