My review of the Dufour classic 38 sailboat.

I've been sailing on this 2003 Dufour 38 regularly for about a year now through the Windworks sailing club in Seattle. It is easily one of the finest boats in the club's fleet and I always prefer sailing on it when I have a choice. Read on for the rest of the review.

Dufour is a French company that's been around for a while, but I never heard of them before I joined Windworks. Apparently the boats were somewhat known here in the U.S. in the 1970's, but the company had some hard times and pulled out of the U.S. market in the 1980's. The came back in the mid 1990's with their newly designed boats that have were received very well and they have continued to earn a good reputation since then.

The Dufour 34 was named "European Boat of the Year" for 2003 and the Dufour 385 which came out last year as a replacement for the Classic 38 is a fantastic looking boat. It was named Cruising World's "Boat of the Year for 2005". I sail regularly on a 34 and I've been on, though not sailed the 385. They are both high quality boats.

The Dufour 38 I sail on has the optional teak decks. Since I don't have to maintain them, I find them to be very nice and greatly prefer them to fiberglass decks. They look very salty, are easier on your eyes - with less glare reflecting and are grippier than fiberglass. I have heard that they are not that much work to maintain. Those kind of statements are all relative though. Some people think Hans Christians are not that much work to maintain.

The deckhouse is a nice streamlined design, though on this boat it's clean lines are marred by the obligatory Pacific Northwest canvas and plastic dodger. In my opinion, these dodgers are really ugly, but when it rains just about every time you go sailing, you learn to put up with the ugliness. Why can't more boat manufacturers offer hard dodgers like on the Halberg-Rasseys? I was looking over a H-R 38 at at the marina in Seattle. It's wood framed, glass windowed hard dodger looked really sharp. I guess they are prohibitively expensive to manufacturer...but I digress.

The side and foredecks have a clean design as well and I rarely trip over something or stub my toe on anything. The wide side decks make traveling between the cockpit and bow a safe and easy trip with minimal gymnastics. My favorite place on this boat is sitting up on the decks, just in front of the mast.

The topsides don't seem excessive like on some newer cruising boats. They are tall enough to make the boat a dry ride and open up space down below, but not so large as to turn docking in a crosswind into a white-knuckle affair.

The cockpit is a nice size. Big enough for a few friends, but not so large that it feels unseaworthy. It does not have the all-important cup holders though. You can tell this is not an American boat. Where do they expect you to put your beer?

The saloon layout is a bit unconventional. There is a dinette to starboard, the galley kitchen is to port. There is a very solid backrest on the bench seat at the table and it is perfectly positioned to lean back against while you are working at the counters.

The interior woodwork feels high quality. Not Hinckley good, but you know you're not on a Hunter. Nav station is functional. The rest of the interior is nice quality. I've never overnighted on this particular boat, but it seems like everything is laid out to make an extended trip comfortable for 2-4 people.

This boat has a 40 hp Volvo saildrive and it maneuvers well under power in close quarters. The engine is reasonably quiet while under way. There is not as much propwalk as some boats I've been on. I have heard that this is due to saildrive unit being positioned well forward of the rudder. I think this is the only boat I sail on with a Saildrive. It seems to work well (at least we always get where we are going), though I have to say, it is a bit disconcerting looking at the 2 ft diameter hole in the hull where it resides.

The boat handles very nicely under sail. It moves easily while close hauled at 6 knots and a does a comfortable 7-8 knots on reaches. You can carry a lot of sail before reefing is necessary. The boat is very well balanced with just a hint of weather helm unless you really overpower the main. Then it will round up forceably and you will look pretty silly. Just don't do this in front of the entire downtown Seattle waterfront crowd on a Sunday afternoon. Not that I've ever done that of course...

I have sailed on this boat in 20-25 knot winds, 2-3 ft seas in the Puget Sound. Not sure what the salty term for it is, but it rides really smooth. Some boats I always seem to feel sick on. This one is not one of them. It doesn't pound to much while beating and rides flat while reaching.

Yachtworld.com shows 3-4 year old used ones going for around $130-150K. That seems like a pretty good bargain, but they may be a little hard to find in the U.S..