Dufour 48 video

[ssmoot]

On YouTube.

Apologies if this had already been posted. I hadn't seen it here yet.

It looks a lot like a Saona 47 in a lot of ways to me. The forward lounging/trampolines. The cockpit. The 5 cabin layout of the one in the video. The salon looks a little more Lagoon or Nautitech. It looks like a pretty nice layout for the space.

Ventilation in the salon doesn't look great. The flybridge looks great, but not much room for solar.

I suspect the reverse bows mean this boat is pretty close to a Saona in size, and the video seems to bear that out. Salon is a bit bigger, the cockpit maybe a bit smaller.

There's no specs released on the boat yet AFAICT, and I'm not sure if it's going to be at Annapolis or anything.

[Thalas]

Such a strange hybrid of FP and Lagoon. Inspiration is one thing, but that cockpit is an inch by inch rip off of a Saona. The problem is that I don’t see where this boat exceeds its muses. Its 6000lbs heavier than the Saona, but with less sail area. While I’m not a fan of fly bridge helms, the Lagoon 46 helm is far superior use of space and the L46 berths are much roomier (as are Saonas).

Unless the plan is to beat FP & Lagoon on price by a significant amount, I don’t get it. That said, with all the factories backlogged replacing storm damaged cats, maybe there are plenty of people who will prefer immediate mediocrity.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Thalas

Such a strange hybrid of FP and Lagoon.

Exactly.. I also see abit of Nautitech in it..
I wouldn't consider her at all for cruising but if the price is more reasonable than Saona, it could be a good option as a charter boat.

Cheers

Yeloya

[Factor]

Heavy slow and not at all designed for sailors. Looks good at a boat show. I predict they will sell loads of them

[ssmoot]

Originally Posted by Thalas

The problem is that I don’t see where this boat exceeds its muses. Its 6000lbs heavier than the Saona, but with less sail area.

Would you mind pointing me to where you found the specs?

But yeah, that's my general take as well for what it's worth. Besides reverse bows, and a huge flybridge it doesn't seem like the boat really brings anything new to the market. Outside of charter I don't see why you'd want a flybridge that can accommodate twelve people at the cost of no room for solar on the cockpit top.

The reverse bows... I don't know. If they help smooth the ride maybe there's some benefit? But extending the waterline by 2 or 3% can't make that huge a difference can it? I mean. I don't hate it. I'm just not sure I'd want to pay for it if they're going to price it more like a 48 instead of a 46.

The salon is nice and spacious, but in a "48" that's a pretty low bar, and the airflow looks suffocating compared to the Bali, Lagoon, FP, Leopard or Nautitech boats in its class. As if it were built to run air-conditioning and generator most of the time.

That all makes me think this is a boat meant to sit at the dock behind your mansion in Ft. Lauderdale, to be taken out once or twice a month for an overnight cruise. Which is nice work if you can get it I'm sure. Just seems pretty niche.

[Thalas]

Here is where I found the specs and more info on the Dufour 48:
https://www.boats.com/reviews/dufour...amaran-review/

(sorry, you'll have to copy/paste as I couldn't get the link generator working for me)

I will say that I think more large volume competitors in the space is a good thing for the industry since they a) produce enough identical boats to be able to discover and change design flaws or mass production issues quickly and b) they are in a financial position to iterate more often leading to breakthroughs in best practices and technologies (e.g. FP putting so much emphasis on their swim platform over a traditional Davits, though the new 45 was marketed with a davits so maybe they are hedging their bets a little more these days).