Review of Dufour Classic 45
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. A hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The boat is equipped with 8/10 berths and 500 liters (132 US gallons, 109 imperial gallons) fresh water capacity.
The Dufour Classic 45 has been built with different keel alternatives.
L-shape fin keel
One option is a L keel. An L-shape keel is a bulb keel with the shape as an L. This keel is less exposed to seaweed, fishing nets and lines.
The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.
The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.35 - 2.45 meter (7.71 - 8.01 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
L-shape fin keel
Another option is a L keel.
Dufour Classic 45 can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.83 - 1.93 meter (6.00 - 6.30 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD22 P diesel engine at 60 hp (44 kW).
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 Classic 45 is 1.95, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Dufour Classic 45 is about 394 kg/cm, alternatively 2206 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 394 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 2206 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 L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Dufour Classic 45 is 3.18.
The ballast ratio for Dufour Classic 45 is 36%.
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): 24.26
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 58m2 (624 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 | 13.7 m | (44.9 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 13.7 m | (44.9 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 34.2 m | (112.2 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 30.1 m | (98.7 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
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