Dufour 30 Classic Specs and Starter Boat Buying Guide

The last Dufour thirty for a generation

Dufour built its name on a 30-footer, the Arpège of 1966. Thirty years later the dufour 30 classic was the yard's entry-level cruiser, part of the Classic range that ran from 30 to 50 feet. Practical Boat Owner's Peter Poland noted that this 1998 J&J design was the last 30-footer Dufour launched before the much later Felci-designed Dufour 32. In between, the range grew steadily larger, as it did at every big production builder.

Yachting Monthly tested the boat at the end of 1997 and its writers kept coming back to it. In 2021 Duncan Kent described it as particularly popular with people starting out in sailing, often with young families: pretty, almost traditional in a fiberglass way, and conservatively designed. Dufour still listed it on its website in 2003.

A Slovenian design with French manners

The design came from J&J Design, the Slovenian studio that also drew the 32 and 35 Classic. Kent pointed out that, for all the boat's conservative looks, J&J were no slouches when it came to fast hulls and modern rigs. The profile has a fairly plumb stem, a pronounced scoop in the transom, a sweeping sheer and a low, sleek coachroof that still looks good.

Below the water is a wide, shallow body with a hard turn of the bilge for form stability, a cast iron bulbed fin keel and a deep balanced spade rudder that keeps its grip when heeled. Dufour offered a shoal keel, and Yachting Monthly says a lifting keel with twin rudders was also available.

Which numbers to trust

Published specs for this boat disagree, and it helps to know why. Dufour's own French product page, archived in 2001 and 2003, gives an overall length of 9.35 m with a 9.04 m hull, a 2.98 m beam, 41 m2 of sail, 3,640 kg displacement with 1,064 kg of ballast, and drafts of 1.20 m and 1.55 m. Yachting Monthly and sailboatdata list a 9.01 to 9.14 m length, 3,100 kg displacement and about 1.15 m of draft.

Nobody has published a reconciliation. The gap may reflect different keel versions or different ways of measuring displacement, so when you look at a specific boat, check the keel type in person and use the factory figures as the reference for the standard fin keel.

• Water 180 L (48 gal), fuel 75 L (20 gal)
• Two cabins, four to six berths
• Engine listed as 10 to 20 hp in 2001 and 19 hp in 2003

Sails like a big dinghy

Every review agrees on how the 30 Classic sails. Yachting Monthly's 2009 summary called it quick under full canvas, easy to handle, close-winded and fairly well balanced. Kent went further: light but instantly responsive on the helm, quick to accelerate after a tack and fast upwind and down, damned good fun and exactly what you want from a coastal cruiser.

The rig is a simple masthead sloop on a deck-stepped Z-Spar mast with single lower shrouds set on the toerail, giving a wide shroud base. Headsail tracks on the coachroof allow tight sheeting and good pointing. The single-point mainsheet sits within reach of the tiller, though Kent would add a short track, an easy job. The older Yachting Monthly verdict also warned that the rig was rather lightly built for serious offshore work, so treat this as a coastal boat.

On deck and in the cockpit

The cockpit is laid out for short-handed sailing, with the essentials close to the helm. Genoa winches are on the coachroof, a stretch for a solo sailor but manageable without letting go of the tiller. One large, deep cockpit locker holds the fuel tank and still swallows an inflatable, fenders and lines. Side decks and foredeck are wide and clear, with a single bow roller and chain locker. The molded non-slip is reasonable, but handholds are few.

Open plan below

Below, J&J chose an open plan that makes the boat feel bigger at the cost of locker space. The furniture is built on a bonded inner molding finished in mahogany-faced plywood. The saloon sits well forward, with long straight settees and a twin-leaf table for six, which leaves room aft for a forward-facing chart table and a galley with a full-size cooker and ice box. The head is aft of the companionway and has good stowage.

Early boats have a V-berth in the forepeak screened only by a curtain; a later option added an infill and a solid bulkhead with a door. The aft cabin is surprisingly roomy with a long berth, but a single opening port makes it dark and a little musty. Headroom is about 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) in the main areas, a little less in the head and aft cabin.

Engine and access

Power is a small Volvo Penta with a saildrive. Kent's test boat had an 18 hp diesel, which he found had plenty of power for fighting a foul tide. Because the saildrive sits a long way ahead of the rudder, propwash steering in tight marinas takes a moment to bite. Access is excellent, since the companionway steps and engine box lift out completely.

Starter boat checklist

Expect $22,000 to $42,000 for a sound boat in 2026, often less for a project. At this age the survey should focus on the balsa-cored deck around fittings, the hull-to-deck joint, the cast iron keel and its bolts, the saildrive diaphragm and seals, and the rig. The UK Dufour Owners' Association, at dufour.org.uk, is a useful source of advice and parts knowledge.