PILEAS

Sun Odyssey 490 — Cruising the Greek Islands Under Sail There is a particular pleasure in exploring Greece the way it was always meant to be explored: under sail, at a pace set by the wind rather than the clock. The Sun Odyssey 490 is built for exactly that kind of cruising — a yacht where comfort is present without ever announcing itself. The 490 reads as the considered evolution of the Sun Odyssey line: the familiar strengths of the range, refined rather than reinvented. Life on board is unforced. Nothing asks to be admired; everything asks to be used. Below deck, six cabins accommodate up to twelve guests. Four are laid out with a double bed, one offers a single bed, and one is fitted with bunk beds — a configuration that works as easily for two or three families sailing together as it does for a group of friends island-hopping through the Cyclades or the Ionian. The appeal here is straightforward. Mornings spent swimming off a quiet anchorage before the day boats arrive, long passages with the sails trimmed and the coastline sliding past, evenings alongside in a fishing village where dinner is a few steps from the quay. This is sailing as the point of the holiday, not merely the transport between stops. Her crew handles navigation, provisioning and the daily rhythm of the yacht, leaving guests free to decide how much or how little the day should hold. Greece is the cruising ground — and few coastlines reward a sailing yacht more generously.