Review of Dufour 41 Classic
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 sandwich construction 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 interior is like many other boats made of mahogany. Mahogany belongs to the hardwood species, known for being water-repellent and resistant to decay. It has an attractive wood grain and holds wood polish and varnish well.
The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 400.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.
The Dufour 41 Classic is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.
The Dufour 41 Classic has been built with different keel alternatives.
Deep keel
One option is a deep keel. A deep keel provide a better healing moment than a shallow keel.
The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.95 - 2.05 meter (6.40 - 6.70 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Shallow keel
Another option is a shallow keel. A shallow keel allow to sail both coastal and inland waters.
The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.
Dufour 41 Classic can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.55 - 1.65 meter (5.09 - 5.39 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Unknown keel type
The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.71 - 1.81 meter (5.61 - 5.91 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The Dufour 41 Classic has been equipped with different engine alternatives.
Alternative 1:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD2030 diesel engine at 29 hp (21 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.6 knots
Alternative 2:
Dufour 41 Classic may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta diesel engine at 50 hp (37 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.4 knots
The fuel tank has a capacity of 150.0 liters (39 US gallons, 32 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 41 Classic is 2.05, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.7 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 41 Classic is about 265 kg/cm, alternatively 1485 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 265 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1485 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 41 Classic is 23.9.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Dufour 41 Classic is 3.00.
The ballast ratio for Dufour 41 Classic is 33%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Dufour 41 Classic is 212 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.
SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 21.76
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 44m2 (473 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.
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 | ||
| Jib sheet | 11.9 m | (39.2 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 11.9 m | (39.2 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 29.9 m | (98.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 26.3 m | (86.3 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
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