Dufour 28 Mezzo Fin keel

Sailboat specifications

The Dufour 28 Mezzo is a 28’8” (8.76m) cruising sailboat designed by Groupe Fauroux (France). She was built between 1983 and 1988 by Dufour (France) with 140 hulls completed. The Fin keel version adopts a classical fin configuration, the easiest option to provide a low center of gravity.

Dufour 28 Mezzo's main features

Model: Dufour 28 Mezzo
Version: Fin keel
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Cruising sailboat
Sailboat builder: Dufour
Sailboat designer: Groupe Fauroux
Country: France
Construction: GRP (glass reinforced polyester):
Single skin fiberglass polyester
Number of hulls built: 140
First built hull: 1983
Last built hull: 1988
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 28 Mezzo's main dimensions

Hull length: 28’ 8”8.76 m
Waterline length: 23’ 7”7.2 m
Beam (width): 10’ 5”3.16 m
Draft: 5’ 4”1.63 m
Mast height from D_WL: 40’ 6”12.35 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 5997 lb2720 kg
Ballast weight: 2028 lb920 kg
Ballast type: Cast iron
French customs tonnage: 6.80 Tx

Dufour 28 Mezzo's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 471 ft²43.8 m²
Mainsail area: 166 ft²15.4 m²
Genoa area: 306 ft²28.4 m²
Jib area: 194 ft²18 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 34’ 7”10.55 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 11’ 6”3.5 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 29’ 6”9 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 10’3.05 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 28 Mezzo'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.: 15.0
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.: 242 ft²/T22.48 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.: 206
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.: 34 %
Wetted area: 179 ft²16.66 m²
Righting moment @ 1° iThe righting moment is a moment (torque) that tends to restore a boat to its previous position after heeling. Its value corresponds to the torque needed to heel the boat for this angle. Higher the righting moment is for an angle, greater is the stability.: 399 lb.ft55 kg.m
Maximum transverse section: 10 ft²0.93 m²
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.: 6.51 knots