Back in the mists of time – well, 2002, French manufacturer Jeanneau launched a boat that was to set a trend for many years to come. This was the Jeanneau 54 DS. A semi deck saloon luxury cruiser that launched a thousand pale imitations. The new Jeanneau Yachts 55 is the natural successor to this yacht and you might think that sticking to this tradition of innovation is difficult. After all, we live in an age where most boats are all pretty well designed but often just a tad, well, forgettable. This is not a charge I can level at the Jeanneau Yachts 55. OK the hull shape itself is pretty similar to its contemporaries but step on deck and things take a turn towards the most distinctly different.
So let’s go back to the start. The Jeanneau Yachts range is its top end luxury brand, sitting above the standard cruising Sun Odyssey range and quite apart from the sporty Sunfast range. The aim is to provide luxury bluewater cruisers that a couple can handle with ease. Other boats in the range are the 60 and the 65. The Jeanneau Yachts 65 broke ground when it was launched in 2015 (as the Mk1 64) by demonstrating that there was a market for what they termed ‘mini superyachts’. The boat took many styling tips from this sector of the market and also had a certain ‘motorboat’ feel which is hard to
