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Review of Dufour 40E


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Dufour 40E is a large sailboat designed by the Italian maritime architect Umberto Felci in the late 2000.

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Hull

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.


Interior

The boat is equipped with 6-8 berths and 360.0 liter fresh water capacity.


Rig

The Dufour 40E 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.


Keel

Unknown keel type

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.10 - 2.20 meter (6.89 - 7.19 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Dufour 40E is 1.97, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.


EU classification

Dufour 40E holds a CE certification:

The boat is by European Union certified as Class A. OCEAN:
Designed for extended voyages where conditions may exceed wind force 8 (Beaufort scale) and significant wave heights of 4 m and above but excluding abnormal conditions, and vessels largely self-sufficient.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Dufour 40E is about 321 kg/cm, alternatively 1802 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 321 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1802 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Dufour 40E is 3.17.

Slim Wide 66% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 66% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Dufour 40E is 30%.

Low High 10% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 10% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Dufour 40E with ISO 8666 reference sail is 17.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.6.

Low High 54% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 54% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 93% 0 50 100
The Dufour 40E has more rig than 93% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.


Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

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.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 37.2 m(122.0 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard37.2 m(122.0 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard37.2 m(122.0 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet 12.3 m(40.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet12.3 m(40.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet 30.9 m(101.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet27.2 m(89.1 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Cunningham5.5 m(17.9 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap10.9 m(35.8 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul10.9 m(35.8 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Dufour 40E it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References