Review of Dufour 39 Cockpit Central
Basic specs.
The 39 is available in two interior layouts. The only difference is in the layout of the owner's stateroom aft.
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Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The boat is equipped with 2 cabins, 6 berths, a galley, 290 liters (76 US gallons, 63 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity and toilet facility.
The interior is like many other boats made of mahogany. Mahogany belongs to the hardwood species, known for being water-repellent and resistant to decay. It has an attractive wood grain and holds wood polish and varnish well.
The Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is built with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.
The Dufour 39 Cockpit Central has been built with different keel alternatives.
Fin keel with bulb
One option is a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel. The advantage of the bulb is that it lowers the center of gravity which increases the righting moment and reduces the draft.
The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.63 - 1.73 meter (5.35 - 5.65 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Fin keel with bulb
Another option is a fin keel.
Dufour 39 Cockpit Central can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.88 - 1.98 meter (6.17 - 6.47 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The fuel tank, which is made of stainless steel, has a capacity of 100 liters (26 US gallons, 21 imperial gallons).
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD22L diesel engine at 50 hp (37 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.5 knots
The transmission is a saildrive.
Sailing characteristics
This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is 2.02, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.5 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is about 248 kg/cm, alternatively 1393 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 248 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1393 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.
Sailing statistics
This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is 24.3.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is 3.01.
The ballast ratio for Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is 35%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Dufour 39 Cockpit Central is 220 which categorizes this boat among 'moderate racers'.
SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 18.75
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 40m2 (430 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.
Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.
If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 11.6 m | (38.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 11.6 m | (38.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 28.9 m | (95.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 25.5 m | (83.6 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
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