Review of Dufour 525 Grand Large
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The hull is a double hull which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.
The boat is equipped with 8-10 berths and 750.0 liter fresh water capacity.
The Dufour 525 Grand Large is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.
The Dufour 525 Grand Large has been built with different keel alternatives.
Unknown keel type
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.00 - 2.10 meter (6.56 - 6.86 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Unknown keel type
Dufour 525 Grand Large can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.35 - 2.45 meter (7.71 - 8.01 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The Dufour 525 Grand Large has been equipped with different engine alternatives.
Alternative 1:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta diesel engine at 75 hp (55 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.2 knots
The transmission is a saildrive.
Alternative 2:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta diesel engine at 110 hp (81 kW). Calculated max speed is about 8.8 knots
The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.
The fuel tank has a capacity of 500.0 liters (132 US gallons, 109 imperial gallons).
Sailing characteristics
This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Dufour 525 Grand Large is 1.95, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.
Dufour 525 Grand Large holds a CE certification:
The boat is by European Union certified as Class A. OCEAN:What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 9.0 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Dufour 525 Grand Large is about 451 kg/cm, alternatively 2525 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 451 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 2525 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.
Sailing statistics
This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Dufour 525 Grand Large is 29.3.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Dufour 525 Grand Large is 3.06.
The ballast ratio for Dufour 525 Grand Large is 30%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Dufour 525 Grand Large is 174 which categorizes this boat among 'light racers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Dufour 525 Grand Large with ISO 8666 reference sail is 15.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 18.4.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 71m2 (764 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.
Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.
Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.
Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale
If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 44.4 m | (145.8 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 44.4 m | (145.8 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 44.4 m | (145.8 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 15.0 m | (49.2 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 15.0 m | (49.2 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 37.5 m | (122.9 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 33.0 m | (108.2 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Cunningham | 5.8 m | (19.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 11.6 m | (37.9 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 11.6 m | (37.9 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
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