Review of Dufour 27

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.

Fin keel

The Dufour 27 is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

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. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.58 - 1.68 meter (5.18 - 5.48 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD6A diesel engine at 10 hp (7 kW).

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Dufour 27 is 2.15, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Dufour 27 is about 155 kg/cm, alternatively 868 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 155 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 868 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Dufour 27 is 2.97.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 58% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Dufour 27 is 40%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 50% of all similar sailboat designs. This righting moment (ability to resist heeling) is spot on average!

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

The SA/D for Dufour 27 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 62% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

The Dufour 27 has more rig than 76% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for Dufour 27 is 34

The relative speed performance is 34 which means that a it is faster than 34% of all similar sailboat designs.

Dimensions of sail.

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.

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

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Dufour 27 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.

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.