Dufour doubles up

Renowned monohull builder Dufour has taken its first foray into the cat market with the brand new Dufour 48. Helm charter broker James Foot went out to Croatia to put hull number nine through her paces

I have a confession to make. I never thought I’d say this, but as a dyed-in-the-wool monohull sailor who has spent many years both privately and professionally railing against the rise of catamarans, I think I’ve been converted – and It’s all thanks to the new Dufour 48.

With global yacht cruising demand shifting in favour of catamarans, helped by technical leaps and vastly improved designs, it was only a matter of time before traditional monohull builders branched out and took the plunge into the murky world of twin hulls. Perhaps, inevitably, after its takeover by Fountaine Pajot last year, Dufour is at the vanguard of this group with the 48.

On first impressions, the Dufour 48 is certainly striking. Her clean, sweeping lines are as attractive as any you’ll find on a modern cruising monohull, and the dreadnought bow stands out against a backdrop of boxy catamarans from the traditional yards. There have also been hints at a greater performance level than we’re used to seeing in many cats of this size. In short, she looked both beautiful and fast.

Sailing performance: And so it proved. The Umberto Felci-designed hull is slick and very quick – we weren’t always blessed by the wind gods on this test, but did manage to get her doing 6.2kt in 9kt of breeze at 60 degrees, and she was very responsive to helm. This fast hull has the added benefit of fuel efficiency – we easily reached 8.8kt at 2,000 RPM, which is promising for long windless days.