Dufour 39 Center Cockpit
Sailing Magazine July 1998
Family Cruiser
by Bob Perry
The Dufour line was the first French line of production boats to be marketed in the United States. Dufour's first offering was the Arpege Half-Tonner. I sailed on these in the 1974 Chicago-Mac race. We were the slowest rated boat in the race. Dufour brought out several other models, but none were as successful as the little Arpege. Dufour then disappeared for a while, but it is back now with this new 39-footer.
Starting with the sailplan, I would say that this boat certainly has un air Francais. Considering the trickle-down effect the French boats have had on a couple of the American builders, however, you could easily mistake this for an American boat. It's not a bad looking boat, but with a wee bit too Euro for my Northwestern taste.
With a 12-foot, 7-inch beam the boat is not particularly beamy. I'd call the beam moderate by today's standards. the transom is not unusually borad and that's a pleasant change for a French boat. Note that the transom is a distinct plane apart from the hull sides and deck surface. This may be the old way of doing it, but I like to see the transom well defined and crisp. The canoe body profile looks clean and fast. Note how far aft the rudder is. The D/L is 215.
The 39 is available in two interior layouts. The only difference is in the layout fo the owner's stateroom aft. You can get the 39 with a centerline double aft, flanked by two small settees, or you can have a double off to one side with a settee opposite. The centerline double will allow occupants of the berth to come and go without disturbing each other. The centerline berth may also look better due to it's comforting symmetry. (See updated info from Dufour below)
The deck features narrow side decks and a reasonably sized center cockpit. Set-up areas to the center cockpit are sculpted into the aft end of the house. There is a shallow but broad swim platform aft. Halyards lead aft under a cover, exiting along side the companionway. The focal point of this deck is the curved windshield. This a a very practical feature and looks good on this model.
The rig is normal in all respects. The SA/D is 18.92. There are double spreaders with some sweep aft. The mast appears to b deck-stepped.
I think this boat will sail quite well. I think it looks pretty good and the accomodations look comfortable. I'm going to have to wait until I see one of these new Dufours before I make my final judgment on the boat.
April 99 - Dufour UPDATE: The 39CC is now available only with a "Centerline" Aft Berth
This article was written by Bob Perry and published in the July 1988 edition of Sailing Magazine. Drawings from the article have not been reproduced in the reading room.
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