This month I spend 2 days in a beautiful boat, a Dufour 34E. It is a 10m from Dufour yatching company. The french company spent the last 40 years in the cutting edge boat construction, designed to race. The Dufour 34 E Performance was the very first in the Dufour Performance range. It was named Yatch of the year in 2003, the Dufour 34E won lot of prestigious sea races, like the “Copa del Rey” in 2004, the “Spi Ouest France” 2008 across all classes, and the “Voiles de Saint Tropez” 2009.
Mr Michel Dufour had the sea on his blood. This engineer-designer founded his sailboat manufacture in 1964 at La Rochelle, France. Since his first collection called Sylpie on the same date, Dufour never stopped innovating and bringing into the sailboat industry new materials, new building techniques and always a perfect design.
The Dufour 34E is typically the brilliant result of the company heritage. True to their roots and their passion for sailing, all the company managers, designers and of course employees have a deep vocation for sailing. According to them it is the only assurance of perfection. And this kind of personal investment is also shared with specialists around the world that distributes Dufour yachts. I think this enthusiasm is kept on the boats and once you buy a Dufour, well….. you want to be on board all the time !
About the boat itself. The Dufour 34 E has 2 cabins and 1 bathroom with toilets and shower. The E is for Evolution as it has a more roomy cockpit with large opening aft, lightening the boat, and the completely redesigned cabin and internal fittings make this a whole new boat — even more enjoyable and better-performing, yet still just as seaworthy.
Length overall :10.60 m
Hull length :10.28 m
Length waterline :9.13 m
Displacement :5 400 kg
Draft :1,50 m / 1,90 m
Mainsail surface :65 m²
Water capacity :285 L
Fuel tank capacity :90L
CE Certification: category A
If you want to download the full documentation, just click here and you will get a PDF file directly in your computer.
All computerized devices are available, so you can either navigate with your compass and maps, or you can basically program your on board computer and get all the assistance needed: wind speed, depth, boat speed or the course to follow. It is very impressive to see how many tools can help the modern skipper.
One big important issue can also be the place to locate the boat in a Marina. In deed free places are rare and sometimes you need to subscribe to a 3 years waiting list. Dufour developped some packages so that you get your boat and the place. Of course you do not really has the choice, so to start you need to be patient.
Here is a small video I made while cruising with the Dufour 34E somewhere at large in France.
Looking for adventure? Here is the right place.
LA
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