405 Dufour Boat Review

Boat Review: 405 Dufour

Source: Sailmagazine.com

French builder Dufour Yachts added this sparkling new 40-footer to its range of Umberto-Felci-designed performance cruisers late last year. It is the latest in Dufour’s Grand Large (GL) range that now comprises seven designs from 32 to 53 feet in length.

CONSTRUCTION

Dufour’s hulls and decks are reassuringly robust. Stout Twaron-reinforced stringers run the length of the hull, crisscrossed by equally strong frames that transfer rig loads down to the keel. The hull is solid, laid up by hand; the deck has a balsa core encased in injection-molded polyester, which makes it light, but very rigid.

The 405’s stem is virtually plumb and she sports a long waterline. She has a deep semi-balanced rudder that grips the water well, and the bulk of her cast iron ballast is carried in a large bulb.

UNDER SAIL

We sailed the 405 on a blustery February day. We were soon running downwind at a healthy 8-plus knots in 15 knots of cold wind. Fortunately, the light snow stopped as we turned to windward and the boat fell into a comfortable groove at an apparent wind angle of 38 to 40 degrees, and our knotmeter settled in around 8.6.

As with other designs in Dufour’s new GL range, the helm felt positive, though slightly heavy in the gusts. Most modern production cruisers need a reef at around 15-17 knots true wind speed, so I wasn’t surprised when the 405 finally lost its grip and rounded up as a prolonged 30-knot gust hit us under full sail. Bearing away on a beam reach leveled her up and wound the log up to just over 9 knots. With a single reef in each sail her good manners instantly returned and whatever we put her through after that she accepted without complaint, giving us a swift and exciting ride.

We tacked through less than 80 degrees, losing little momentum, and pointed to within 33 degrees of the apparent wind before the mainsail started to stall. Even then the 405 made a steady 7 knots. Surprisingly, when we hove-to to let the photographer back onboard, the boat stopped dead in the water with the wind around 70 degrees off the bow—a rare phenomenon on a modern sailboat.

ON DECK

The 405GL has twin wheels connected via cables directly to the quadrant above the deep spade rudder. Combined with a wide transom gate and drop-down swim platform, this allows easy access to the stern.

The helmsman has the primary winches close at hand and, thanks to the broad stern, can easily step out onto the side decks to go forward without disturbing those seated in the cockpit. All mainsail controls and halyards are led aft through clutches to self-tailing halyard winches on the coachroof. A securely fixed drop-leaf table topped with a sturdy grab handle makes moving around the cockpit quite easy.

Plentiful stowage space can be found in three cockpit lockers, two shallow and one deep, plus there is a handy liferaft locker under the aft end of the cockpit sole.

The foredeck is clear, with a recessed electric windlass and cavernous chain locker. The twin bow roller looks pretty solid and a short alloy bowsprit can be added for flying an asymmetric sail.

The fractional rig is 9/10ths with the double spreaders raked aft at a 15 degree angle. The continuous cap, intermediate and lower shrouds terminate at deck-mounted chainplates that are supported under the deck by a 1in-diameter tie rod to a large hull fillet designed to dissipate the rig loads. An inner forestay is optional.

The standard mainsail has conventional battens, an adjustable outhaul and two single-line reefing points. In-mast furling or a full-battened mainsail with lazyjacks (as on our test boat) are popular options.

The 405 has a traditional “woody” interior, which is offered with either one or two aft cabins. The former has an L-shaped galley aft and a chart/coffee table between two saloon seats, with access on both sides. The latter has a linear galley and a separate nav station with a forward-facing chart table and seat. Both layouts have two heads and an ensuite forecabin.

A large fridge, accessible from the top or front, creates a sturdy surface for the cook to lean against in both layouts. Both plans are also well-equipped with good lighting and have plenty of useful stowage space. The aft head is slightly narrower than the forward one, but there still is room to shower. Both are well ventilated with ample stowage and foul weather gear.

The U-shaped settee in the saloon has washable leatherette cushions and a two-man bench seat inboard. The deep lockers and bookshelf above them are ideal for long-term cruising, and there is further stowage space under the cushions and in cave lockers behind the settees.

Although the saloon has plenty of natural light, ventilation is limited to one small port and two hatches. Headroom is a generous 6ft 5in throughout the saloon, aft cabins and heads, dropping to 6ft 2in forward.

The aft cabins are roomy, with 6ft 7in x 4ft 6in berths and generous floor space. Three opening hatches/portlights offer good ventilation, and there is plenty of stowage space in several lockers. A panel above one berth gives access to the batteries and charger, and an optional 2.5kW generator. Water and fuel tanks are underneath the berths.

Cabin sizes are identical. If you opt for only one aft cabin, you end up with a vast cockpit locker, part of which might make a small workshop.

The 405’s 40hp Volvo engine is easily accessed for servicing. We carried out several tight marina berthing and turning maneuvers to get the feel of the boat under power. She spun round in her own length and was easy to control going astern. Our boat had the optional 55hp engine and a folding 2-blade prop, which gave us power to spare and a quiet, economic cruising speed of 7.5 knots at 2,400 rpm, with a flat-out speed of 8.5 knots at 3,000 rpm.

CONCLUSION

The Dufour 405 is well organized, both above and below decks and is easy to handle under sail. A lot of thought has been put into the basic and essential elements of cruising under sail, so she rightly deserves to be popular with coastal and offshore cruisers alike.

Boat Specification: 405 Dufour

LOA  39ft 9in

LWL 34ft 10in

Beam 13ft

Draft (board up/down) 5ft 9in/6ft 7in

Displacement 19,819 lbs

Ballast 5,150 lbs

Sail area (100% foretriangle) 881 sq ft

Auxiliary 40hp Volvo Penta diesel

Fuel/Water/Waste 52/100/12 gall

Sail area-displ. ratio 19.32 (moderate)

Displ.-length ratio 212 (moderate)

Price $209,995