GENOA SPECIAL – Dufour’s new course: one hull, three models

“Now we are ready for Dufour’s new course: more quality at the same price, renewal of the range with four new models in 24 months.” This is how Romain Motteau, the French shipyard’s general manager for the past few months, introduced himself at the Genoa Boat Show. A 36-year-old Frenchman from La Rochelle, married with two daughters, Motteau holds the reins not only of Dufour, but also of Fountaine Pajot, the leading catamaran shipyard and majority shareholder in the La Rochelle shipyard. “But the Dufour team, a leader in monohulls, is autonomous from Fountaine Pajot,” Romain Motteau points out.

The general manager is a great sailor
A lifetime spent in the sailing world, starting very young as a high-level racer with a victory in the World Youth Championship and ending with experiences with Extreme superfast cat racers. Since 2007, at only 24 years old, he joined Fountaine Pajot, for the past few months summing up the position of general manager in the two yards.

One boat, three models
“In Dusseldorf, the first of Dufour’s new philosophy models arrives in January 2020, the 530 replacing the 520. By June 2020 it will be the turn of the new 61, an evolution of the 63,” Motteau tells us.

“With the team of Italian designer Umberto Felci, we came up with the new 530 as the concept that will guide the entire renewal of the Dufour range. A single hull that is multiplied into three models. The first one called ‘easy’, mainly for the charter market, is a practical boat with lots of cabins and spaces exploited to the maximum. The second, called ‘ocean,’ a development of the same boat with different features, is reserved for owners: a boat full of comforts, efficient and easy to conduct even with a small crew. The third version, called “performance” for those who love performance, is a boat with equipment, sail plan and drift plan suited to make the most of the sailing qualities this hull can express, in all wind and sea conditions.”

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This is the recipe for Dufour’s new course, a single hull that is tailored to the intended use of the boat. This concept will be transferred to all models, and “I assure you that Dufour will maintain its characteristic as a shipyard that covers the entire monohull market, from 10 to 18 meters.”

Dufour also differentiates itself in this way
Motteau is keen to point out three other elements that have always been dear to Dufour and will be further developed so that they are distinctive of the new course. First, the central galley in the dinette “allows for more usable space below deck,” then the layout of the sail rigging, “like a real sailboat, to sail smoothly and improve sail adjustments.” To finish with Dufour’s flagship, the habitability and comfort of the cockpit and extreme aft area.

“All this,” Motteau concludes, “with higher quality, for which we are investing two million euros in improving the production cycle.

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