Dufour 42

Sailboat specifications

The Dufour 42 is a 41’1” (12.52m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Sparkman & Stephens (United States). She was built between 1985 and 1992 by Dufour (France) and Yachting France (France).

The Dufour 42 has also been marketed as Lacoste 42.

Dufour 42's main features

Model: Dufour 42
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Dufour
&
Yachting France
Sailboat designer: Sparkman & Stephens
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
- Hull: Single skin fiberglass polyester
- Deck: Sandwich balsa fiberglass polyester
First built hull: 1985
Last built hull: 1992
Appendages: Keel : fin without bulb
Helm: Single helm wheel
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Former French navigation category: 1
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Dufour 42's main dimensions

Overall length: 42’ 2”12.85 m
Hull length: 41’ 1”12.52 m
Waterline length: 35’ 10”10.9 m
Beam (width): 13’3.96 m
Draft: 7’ 6”2.29 m
Mast height from D_WL: 56’ 10”17.32 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 16535 lb7500 kg
Ballast weight: 7121 lb3230 kg
Ballast type: Lead

Dufour 42's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 969 ft²90 m²
Downwind sail area: 1911 ft²177.5 m²
Mainsail area: 382 ft²35.5 m²
Genoa area: 587 ft²54.5 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 1528 ft²142 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 52’ 6”16 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 29’ 6”9 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 46’ 1”14.05 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 14’ 4”4.35 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 3
Spreaders angle: 0 °
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire

Dufour 42's performances

HN (French rating) iHN or "Handicap Nationale" is an empirical rating system used in France allowing various monohulls, of different sizes and designs, to race each other fairly. It is particularly suitable for cruiser and cruiser-racer. Therefore, by comparing these values, we can have an indication of the relative speed of 2 boats.: 24.0
Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 253 ft²/T23.49 m²/T
Downwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size.: 499 ft²/T46.33 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 164
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 43 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 8.01 knots