Dufour 32 Classic

Brief Notes

Builder

Dufour Yachts (France)

Length OA

32' 3"

Sail Area

581 sq ft

The Dufour 32 Classic is a modern small sailing cruiser that offers an excellent compromise between sailing performance and comfort, with a remarkably well finished and spacious interior for a mass production boat.

Length WL

27' 3"

Rig

Sloop

Beam

10' 10"

Cabins

forecabin, saloon and aft cabin

Draught

5' 8" or 4' 2"

Berths

4/6

Displacement

9,612 lbs deep keel or 9,766 lbs shallow keel. Also lift keel version - see below

Engine type

Volvo diesel

Ballast

2,811 lbs

Engine bhp

19

Keel type

Choice of shallow or deep draught bulbed fin keels with spade rudder. There was also a Dufour 32 "Dériveur Intégral" with lift keel and higher total displacement and ballast figures of 10,163 lbs and 3,274 lbs. The lift keel version has a draught of 2' 0" keel up and 5' 11" down.

* The sail area, displacement and ballast figures quoted here are as given by an 2018 enquiry to Dufour France: both a 2003 Dufour brochure for yachts sold in the UK and the USA distributors 2001 specification sheet have quoted different figures, notable a higher displacement with a slightly lower ballast figure for the US Dufours specification. It could be that boats for different markets were built differently, or that specifications changed between model years - these "Classic" series had a moderately long production run.

The Dufour "Classic" range was introduced in 1995/96. All were designed by J. & J. Designs, and were intended as comfortable cruisers with good sailing performance. The 32 is the second smallest of the range. The yacht shown here is the deep fin keel version, with wheel steering. The hulls are GRP sandwich with high density PVC foam core, laid up using vacuum bagging techniques, and the decks are GRP balsa sandwich construction. Production appeared to cease in early 2004.

Standard boats were tiller steered, with wheel steering as an option. There are advantages to tiller steering in a yacht of this size, both in terms of response and feel of the helm, and opening up the cockpit space when moored or anchored.

Yachts seen here are no longer for sale - the data is online as a free information service for buyers researching boat types. THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COVERED BY COPYRIGHT, AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF YACHTSNET LTD.

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The standard boat was tiller steered, though wheel steering was an option at extra cost - see photos below. The only snag with wheel steering is that the pedestal and wheel takes up a lot of cockpit space when not sailing.