As sailors here in the States begin to get back out on the water after a stay-at-home spring, French sailboat builder Dufour Yachts, now a part of the Fountaine Pajot Group, has announced an innovative new model that will make its North American debut at the US Sailboat Show next fall in Annapolis, Maryland, as well as plans to expand its presence here by adding a new East Coast dealer, whose territory stretches from south of New York to Florida.
Atlantic Cruising Yachts, based in Annapolis, is the largest Fountaine Pajot dealer worldwide, and it will now represent the Dufour range of cruising monohulls as well. Previously the company was the largest Jeanneau dealer in the US. ACY has additional offices in Charleston, South Carolina, and Ft. Lauderdale and St. Petersburg, Florida, as well as the Waypoints Charter Network with bases or partners in Maryland, Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean.
ACY’s Chris Bent said the company has sold on average 50-plus new sailboats annually, and he expects that volume to continue. About half of those boats go into the company’s Business Yacht Ownership programs, which include a range of charter options.
“We’re off to the races,” Bent said.
The Dufour range includes nine models, all Umberto Felci designs, ranging from the 310 to a new flagship, the Dufour 61, which will be headed to the US in 2021.
New for 2020 is the Dufour 530, with several US-centric amenities available, including a genset and air conditioning, an optional shoal-draft keel and American-sized cup holders. Interior accommodations include three- to five-cabin layouts. Three exterior styles are also available. These include Easy, with a self-tacking headsail, Ocean, with an overlapping jib and mid-boom mainsail sheeting, and Performance, which features end-boom sheeting for better mainsail control, as well as approximately 215 square feet more sail area.
ACY and Dufour have a number of fall events planned around shows in Maryland and Florida.
