First photos of the test: Dufour 37 - the ten-metre yacht that wants to be a big one

Jochen Rieker

· 28.09.2022

First photos of the test: Dufour 37 - the ten-metre yacht that wants to be a big one

Photo: EYOTY/L. Fruchaud

Modern, striking. The hull designed by Umberto Felci is highly recognisable and offers good sailing characteristics even in light winds

If you do the maths, you'll immediately notice that it's not 37 feet. In fact, the new Dufour 37 has a hull length of just 32.8 feet. No shipyard has ever "pumped up" its ten-metre model so generously. But the little one doesn't need it

In the first tests for the European Yacht of the Year award, the Dufour 37 impressed both on the water and below deck. Although the model name is an exaggeration and the boat has to sail against the marketers' big-headedness - there is a lot of potential in the 9.99 metre long (or short) design.

The bow of the Dufour 37 offers plenty of volume, the hull widens considerably towards the stern

Visually, the Dufour offers great independence and a modern sail plan with only a slightly overlapping genoa on request; a self-tacking jib is standard

The fuselage is strongly contoured and, in addition to moulding edges, also has a bead in the area of the window strip

The steering columns are positioned very far aft and on the outside to keep the cockpit spacious

In the Ocean version, the Dufour 37 has four winches in the cockpit instead of the usual two

9 Images

Photo: EYOTY/L.Fruchaud

The Dufour 37 under sail and on deck

Already at its trade fair premiere in Cannes ( see YACHT report here ), she caught the eye with her spacious-looking saloon and the really impressive berth and comfort dimensions for her size. This was also confirmed in the test, where it was not so much eye and feel, but mostly the measuring tape that decided.

All the values and prices, strengths and weaknesses will soon be available in YACHT 22 (on newsstands from 19 October). Here are our photo galleries with initial categorisations in advance.

While the quality of the test boat was not quite at the desired level and, for example, the storage compartments in the saloon and galley opened upwards instead of downwards - as would be more sensible at sea - and the hinges also did not offer an opening function, the Dufour was really fun under sail and also kept up relatively well with larger yachts. All in all, it is currently one of the best offers on the market.

Light, wide, friendly design - below deck, the Dufour 37 beats all its competitors in the ten-metre class

The pantry is large enough and offers reasonable storage space - but access to the cupboards is difficult

Minimalist: no sat nav position, just a place for the radio and control panel

The aft cabin on the port side offers plenty of height above the mattress; the berth width is also fine

In the fore and aft ship, Dufour has saved the sling moulding above the lockers - nothing can be stored there at sea

7 Images

Photo: EYOTY/L. Fruchaud

The Dufour 37 below deck

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First photos of the test: Dufour 37 - the ten-metre yacht that wants to be a big one

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