Cape dory or Dufour

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by piteng

yes if teak were screwed down to cored deck but in this case it's a glue down so my understanding, it's like an area rug. though i do know they still need to be maintained

If the teak is original I doubt that it is just glued down. That wasn't done much in that era.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by piteng

Yes, agreed - I actually walked down the aisle with a Tayana 37 last month, but the survey turned south. 100% wet decks - so sadly had to abandon ship, as was not interested in doing a project.
Then, the same surveyor actually recommended I look at the Dufour which is through a reputable broker so I feel a little safer than the CD, which is with a private seller with some timing issues.

That does seem to bode well. It's like a real estate broker who sorta-kinda knows that a certain house would be a good fit.

I have a sailing buddy, Wally Moran, who runs a small, fun ICW Rally South, Sail to the Sun: https://icwally.com/ and he's been conducting the Rally in his Dufour 31, I believe (but it may be a 35'). If you go to the "About Wally" page there's a picture - and Wally's email.

If you want, ask him what he thinks - tell him LittleWing sent you.

[boatcomono]

We cruised a Cape Dory 40 around the globe from 1997 thru 2010. Como No was hull # 8 of the Carl Alberg designed CD 40s. I believe that only 16 were built. we found the design quite suitable for our world meandering. Always felt safe and confident that she would take care of us. We would be glad to share our experience and answer any questions you may have.
Como No was a 1986 model and she underwent numerous modifications and improvements over the years. First was to rid ourselves of the Staysail boom in favor of on the cabin house deck turning blocks, a custom staysail and yankee cut 90% jib. The Sailplan worked well for us in both light air and storms. Both sails were managed by Profurl curlers.
We don’t know anything about the Dufour and can’t comment there.
Good luck on finding the right boat for you.

[Cloroxbottle]

Something to consider...although the Cape Dory and Dufour have similar comfort ratios and righting moments, the Dory gets there with (1) A foot less of draft, (2) 8000 pounds less displacement, and (3) 4 fewer feet of waterline. That sounds (and looks) to my eye like a design you can trust.

[blowin bubbles]

We have some 40,000 nm under the keel of our dufour12000ct. We documented the whole experience on our blog. www.Benger.blogspot.com
The best thing we did during our refit was to replace the teak deck with KiwiGrip.

[Enfant Du Vent]

LittleWing77 said, "Ultimately, you've gotta love the boat you buy. And a sailor loves what he loves!"


My preference based on design would be the CD, but the Dufour wins for the best ad copy I've ever read....and still can remember some 40 years later, "Micheal Dufour believes a boat should be like a woman: beautiful, well-built. and responsive."

(Back then it was acceptable to be a male chauvinist pig.)

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Enfant Du Vent

LittleWing77 said, "Ultimately, you've gotta love the boat you buy. And a sailor loves what he loves!"

My preference based on design would be the CD, but the Dufour wins for the best ad copy I've ever read....and still can remember some 40 years later, "Micheal Dufour believes a boat should be like a woman: beautiful,
well-built and responsive."

(Back then it was acceptable to be a male chauvinist pig.)

Good one, Enfant!

Now that we're all becoming more switched-on, it's incredible to go back and read what was considered acceptable then.

LW77

[Rohan]

Probably chiming in here too late, but since you are planning to travel as a couple, assuming overall quality and condition otherwise are equal, my choice would be the Dufour, hands down. Here is the layout:

https://sailboatdata.com/storage/ima...ct_drawing.jpg


There is a huge difference between a 40 and 45' boat. The Dufour has a MUCH more spacious owner's stateroom, plenty of storage, plus two heads.

If I was alone, I might lean toward the Cape Dory, smaller boat simplifies expenses and maintenance. But with two people, and I assume the occasional guest, the larger layout will help with comfort and sanity.