The French shipyard, the industry heavyweight behind world market leader Beneteau since its takeover by catamaran manufacturer Fountaine Pajot, has launched a new cruising yacht in the twelve-metre class and is focusing on massive volume. The ship is characterised by a width of 4.30 metres, which remains almost the same aft, and a full foredeck, as well as various windows and hatches in the hull and superstructure.
Italian designer Umberto Felci has given the cruising yacht a long, continuous chine and vertical sides above it to create the desired volume. The cockpit is long, but the interior is somewhat shorter. The foredeck is extremely spacious to allow for one generous or two conventional cabins at the front. With three cabins, a total of three heads are possible; if four cabins are required, the one in the foredeck has to make way.
Available as a cruising yacht for small or large crews
Nice: The deck layout can be ticked in three versions on the accessories list - mainsheet on the superstructure, led aft or also attached in the cockpit. The Dufour 41 comes with a self-tacking jib as standard, with optional short rails on the roof with line adjustment for a genoa. A fixed GRP bowsprit covers the anchor gallows and serves as an attachment point for a code zero or gennaker.
In the YACHT test, the cruising yacht showed surprisingly good speeds of up to six knots upwind even under 10 knots of true wind and also proved to be quite agile in manoeuvres. As the wind increased, the cruising yacht proved to be stiff and also beautifully stiff and true to course when forced into a larger position.
Successful proportions below deck
The somewhat smaller saloon creates space for the huge cockpit and two neat aft cabins in addition to the two centre heads, one of which can also be used purely as a shower or storage space. The interior is available in light oak or darker teak with real wood veneers. The price starts at 273,700 euros.
