1977 Dufour Yachts 2800

More than 1,300 Dufour 2800 were built over seven years, making it one of Michel Dufour’s most successful designs. Its popularity was due to a striking modern design, well ahead of its time, with a high-volume hull and a bright, airy saloon. Combined with the promise of good sailing performance from an easily managed, race-bred hull and rig, it was a popular formula.

High free board and a high coach roof with big windows sounds like a recipe for an ugly yacht. But the Dufour 2800 is surprisingly well balanced and pleasing to the eye, with the advantage of large amounts of practical, well planned space both above and below decks.

The standard fin keel is deep enough to provide good sailing performance and long enough to dry out against a wall with normal due care. The centreboard version has a minimum length stub keel for creek crawling, which seems likely to reduce performance, with possible maintenance worries should the centreboard get jammed up or down. Steering is direct from tiller to unbalanced rudder, so the rig must be well balanced at all times to keep the helm light.

Unlike more modern yachts with bulbous sterns containing an ‘owner’s stateroom’ plus massive cockpit lazarettes and a swimming platform, the 2800 has a neat, trim transom that is less likely to get pushed around by following waves.

The rig is a typical development of Half Ton and One Ton Cup racers from the 1970s, with a small, easily handled mainsail dwarfed by a very large overlapping genoa, which can require a lot of effort to winch in.

As the breeze increases, you have to partially furl the genoa before reefing the mainsail.