SEA TRIAL: Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 455

Jeanneau's newest cruiser borrows luxurious design aspects from the builder's larger yachts while remaining manageable for a couple.

Aerial view of a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 455 sailboat underway on deep blue water, sailing with mainsail and headsail fully deployed.

The latest Jeanneau Sun Odyssey is designed for simpler sailing.

Although Jeanneau has built its Sun Odyssey sailboat line for 40 years, the French manufacturer has little hesitation to revitalize and refresh its range of Sun Odyssey models. Last year, it was the 415. This year, the 455 will grace boat show docks.

I was lucky enough to hop aboard for a pre-premiere sea trial of the new SO 455 ahead of the Newport and Annapolis boat shows, where it will be available for public viewing this fall. And I admit I was excited to view this boat, because I was looking at what is essentially the 25-year-newer version of my own boat, a Sun Odyssey 45.2. Even better, I couldn’t attend the sanctioned press sea trial (which was apparently quite rainy), so I got a private sea trial instead on a bright July morning in bustling Newport Harbor.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Reimagined cockpit layout with split tables and helm consoles
  • Beam carried well forward with scow-ish bow
  • Forward U-shaped galley with near-centerline sink
People relaxing and dining aboard a motorboat anchored in a calm turquoise cove, with rocky shoreline cliffs in the background and boating gear visible on deck.

Jeanneau brought cockpit features from its larger 60-foot yachts aboard this 46-footer

The first thing that stands out about the 455 is the yacht-style cockpit layout, with split cockpit tables, consoles at each helm, and generous helm seats. These features are all common on Jeanneau’s Yacht line, which includes 55-, 60-, and 65-foot models, but the 455 is the first Sun Odyssey to sport them. The split tables allow easy transit between helms and cabin, and the consoles keep chartplotters and engine controls close at hand. Iroko, a tropical hardwood with similar characteristics to teak but with more sustainable roots, adorns the cockpit floor. Some lines are led aft to either side of the companionway, while others are led all the way aft to the helm stations, cleverly tucked outboard of the cockpit seats to avoid the risk of guests sitting on them or entangling themselves. There’s a dedicated life raft locker in the cockpit sole, just forward for the genset.

Side profile of a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 455 sailing yacht underway on open water with white sails raised and waves breaking along the hull.

Jeanneau leans into modern sail handling configurations, with a reasonable 115% genoa and soft bridles and tweakers instead of rigid travelers and tracks.

The 455 boasts Jeanneau’s signature walkaround side decks, allowing easy transit from cockpit to deck without hopping over cockpit seats. On deck, a Dyneema bridle replaces a traditional traveler, another feature Jeanneau has been integrating into its recent Sun Odysseys. When I asked the dealer about what owners think of the bridle, he reported that, “People don’t think they’ll like it – they think they want a traveler – but once they sail the boat a bit, they realize they get similar performance with much fewer moving parts and almost no holes in the deck.” The genoa, too, is modernized with tweaker controls in lieu of rigid tracks for precision sheeting control. The only challenge I could spot in the deck and rigging layouts was where to put a dodger – there isn’t much real estate between the mainsheet bridle and clutches, although I’m sure it’s possible.

The moderately high-cut 115% standard genoa felt reasonably sized, and we managed to eke out 3.1 knots of speed in only 3.5 knots of true wind. Although I’d love to take the helm again in a bit more of a blow, her shape suggests that the 455 may be a bit stiffer than similar modern models from competitors. Although the 455 retains the near-plumb bow and ultra-wide transom that are popular at the moment, the designers also brought the beam quite far forward and made a bow shape that I can only describe as scow-ish. It seems plausible that, unlike other ultrawide-transomed boats with more delicate bows that can get twitchy on a heel, the 455 may keep a more stable center of buoyancy when sailing on her ear.

Spacious interior of the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 455 featuring a bright main saloon, U-shaped galley, dining table, and large hull windows for natural light.

The 455’s nearly-15-foot beam is evident in the cabin, with a V-berth forward cabin and logical main saloon layout.

The carried beam is also evident below, with a genuinely large forward owner’s cabin that has plenty of floor space to open the myriad drawers without shoving yourself into a corner. The hanging lockers are deep, and there’s even a built-in hamper. The main saloon includes a somewhat unique U-shaped forward galley with near-centerline sink, deep overhead storage, a forward-facing nav desk with a sleek chair that is equally usable as a lounge spot, and a bench that can be moved in and out of the main dining table via a clever hinge. Although the exact number of cabins and heads is somewhat customizable, the trial model subbed a starboard day head for a wonderful utility room with a dozen drawers for tool storage and dedicated freezer. A workbench or washer/dryer would also work nicely in that space.

Dedicated utility room aboard the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 455 featuring built-in cabinetry, open storage shelves, a stainless-steel freezer, and overhead hull windows.

Although an owner could choose to put an extra day head here, the storage options afforded by a dedicated utility room are hard to pass up.

Jeanneau also remains committed to reasonable cruising systems. While it can feel like some builders try to put as little horsepower as possible in the engine compartment, a 57-horsepower Yanmar is standard on this 25,000-pound boat, although the dealer noted that many of their initial orders are opting for the upgraded 85-horse. The 52-gallon fuel tank and 100-gallon freshwater tank are, believe it or not, the exact same size as I have in my 25-year-older Sun Odyssey 45.2.

Jeanneau’s Sun Odyssey line has been an exercise in refinement, and this year’s 455 hits the marks. It seems likely to become a favorite among the monohull-dedicated modern cruising crowd – and is a worthwhile stop on your boat show tours.

Main Specs

Length46'10"
Beam14'9"
Draft7'10" standard (shoal draft available)
Displacement24,800 pounds
Engine57 hp
Fuel Capacity52 gallons
Price$407,000

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Published: September 2026

Author

Kelsey Bonham Bailey

BoatU.S. Magazine Associate Editor

Following a childhood filled with varnish and Chesapeake Bay brine, at 20 Kelsey refit her own sailboat top to bottom, then skippered the 30-footer down the ICW. She’s been an instructor on boats up to 100 feet, has won several awards from Boating Writers International, judged the NMMA Innovation Awards, and holds her 25-ton Master’s license. Kelsey brings her on-water and environmental experience to the magazine’s news, personality, lifestyle, and product coverage. She and her husband sail a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45.2 in New England.