“True innovation in monohull sailboat design can be a bit elusive these days. That’s not to say that there are no more new ideas, but it does seem that many new tweaks and introductions are a bit incremental: let’s say evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Just when it seems that we’ve seen it all, though, something comes along that breaks with conventional thinking and pushes old habits into new directions. A clear example of this kind of thinking is the new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490.”