Review of Dufour 530 Performance
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 boat is equipped with 680.0 liter fresh water capacity.
The Dufour 530 Performance 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.
Torpedo keel
But be aware that even though a T keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.80 - 2.90 meter (9.19 - 9.49 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The Dufour 530 Performance has been equipped with different engine alternatives.
Alternative 1:
Dufour 530 Performance may be equipped with an engine at 75 hp (55 kW)..
Alternative 2:
The boat may be equipped with an engine at 110 hp (81 kW)..
The fuel tank has a capacity of 440.0 liters (116 US gallons, 96 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 Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 9.4 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 530 Performance is about 500 kg/cm, alternatively 2802 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 500 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 2802 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 L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Dufour 530 Performance is 3.11.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 87m2 (936 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 | 15.5 m | (50.9 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 15.5 m | (50.9 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 38.8 m | (127.1 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 34.1 m | (111.9 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
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