Description
Blending French pedigree with Italian styling, the Dufour 56 is anything but plain or boring.
Whatever your plans the Dufour 56 appeals as much to those looking for a gentle cruising yacht as someone looking to embark on a world cruise. Easy to handle with options for self tacking jibs and in mast furling made even more manageable with lines coming back to the cockpit onto electric winches.
She is beamy with broad aft sections and a generous freeboard. This modern hull design with distinct hull chines creates a wide open cockpit and an extremely light, roomy, wide open interior with plenty of natural light flooding through the deck hatches and windows. But more importantly she is offers a fast, stable and very comfortable hull for sailing in all conditions.
Exterior Highlights
The focus is very much on handling and performance and the combination of well designed keel and rudder profiles with her modern hull shape and extended hull chines creates a yacht that resists the temptation to spin out in the gusts.
She will hold her course and you will happily achieve upwind cruising speeds in excess of 8 knots and down wind depending on your choice of sails much more.
The German mainsheet system led back to the aft winches either side of the helm positions also double up for the genoa sheets winches if running with the 108% overlapping headsail.
Additional spinnaker or Code 0 winches can be fitted just forward of the helm position. Everything else is led to the coachroof winches.
The is a generous table in the cockpit fitted with a fridge and a useful stowage bin forward.
A hatch in the cockpit floor sole lets you drop warps and fenders down into the tender garage. Across the stern is the full outdoor galley with sink, Gas BBQ/Plancha so you can make the most of your time onboard when alongside or at anchor.
Right in the bow is the choice of large locker reached through a hatch in the deck or a crew’s/skipper’s cabin.
Interior Highlights
The saloon is bright and airy with two choices of wood finish and a range of upholstery options. Headroom is in excess of 7 ft throughout.
There are a range of layouts but for most private owners the preferred choice is to have the master cabin forward and two generous aft cabins all with ensuite heads. This layout allows for the popular forward galley midships which opens up the saloon and makes it easier for people working in the galley to socialise with the company in the saloon.
The seating around the large saloon table is very generous and there is an additional settee on the starboard side which also serves as seating for the chart table area.
There is ample storage throughout the boat and dedicated places to fit additional equipment such as water makers, generators, heating, air conditioning etc etc if required.
