Dufour 3800 Deep draft

Sailboat specifications

The Dufour 3800 is a 30’6” (9.3m) cruising sailboat designed by Frers Naval Architecture & Engineering (Argentina). She was built between 1980 and 1984 by Dufour (France). The Deep draft version displays a deeper fin allowing a lower center of gravity and extra performance especially upwind.

The Dufour 3800 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Shoal draft version (see all the versions compared).

Dufour 3800's main features

Model: Dufour 3800
Version: Deep draft
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruising sailboat
Sailboat builder: Dufour
Sailboat designer: Frers Naval Architecture & Engineering
Sailboat collection: Half Ton class
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
Single skin fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: About 300
First built hull: 1980
Last built hull: 1984
Appendages: Keel : fin without bulb
Helm: Single tiller
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Former French navigation category: 2
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Dufour 3800's main dimensions

Overall length: 31’9.45 m
Hull length: 30’ 6”9.3 m
Waterline length: 25’ 4”7.7 m
Beam (width): 10’ 8”3.25 m
Draft: 5’ 7”1.7 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 8378 lb3800 kg
Ballast weight: 3638 lb1650 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron
French customs tonnage: 8.18 Tx

Dufour 3800's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 522 ft²48.5 m²
Downwind sail area: 942 ft²87.5 m²
Mainsail area: 188 ft²17.5 m²
Genoa area: 334 ft²31 m²
Jib area: 237 ft²22 m²
Stormjib area: 75 ft²7 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 753 ft²70 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 38’ 1”11.6 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 12’ 1”3.68 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 32’ 10”10 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 10’ 2”3.1 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Deck stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 1
Spreaders angle: 0 °
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire continuous

Dufour 3800'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.: 16.0
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.: 214 ft²/T19.92 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.: 387 ft²/T35.93 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.: 236
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.: 6.74 knots