Practical Boat Owner — January 2018

DRAKKAR 24

After several weeks of waiting for a
suitable day, we finally found one and
assembled at the Hamble River office of
the Dufour distributor, Universal Yachting.
The combined experience of the team on
board covered everything from top-level
regattas and championships to family
cruising, and encompassed boats of
almost every conceivable description. It
was good to hear what others had to say
as well, though naturally we all have our
pet likes and dislikes.
What everyone was happy with was the
boat’s performance in broad terms.
Umberto Felci, who has been Dufour’s
designer of choice for some years now,

has undoubtedly done a good job. The

boat was responsive, nicely balanced,

comfortably stiff and quick enough to

satisfy most people with realistic

expectations, clocking high 4s to low 5s

upwind in a Solent chop kicked up by a

southwesterly 14-17 knots. As you might

expect, she had a pretty wide groove on

the wind to make life easy for the helm,

but still let you know when you hit the

sweet spot.

Secure cockpit

Like some sportsboats, the Drakkar is

designed for sitting in: low stanchions and

a single guardwire preclude hiking and

also make the cockpit more secure for the

young, older or nervous. Accordingly,

there are no toestraps or opportunities for

athleticism. The further outboard you can

get your weight, the more powerful a boat

will be, but that’s not the point here.

She had plenty of righting moment in

any event with four of us on the high side.

On port tack the chop presented more of

a challenge and forced us to sail a little

deeper than on starboard, so we kept the

rig powered up and she punched through

the seas with no complaints and without

throwing a lot of spray in our faces.

With no traveller, you would need to

make more use of the kicker in a breeze

(and, of course, the backstay, which many

sportsboats don’t have). As it comes, the

kicker’s purchase is minimal and I would

want to increase it substantially. That’s

easy enough to do.

Otherwise the systems seemed to work

as they should. The 2:1 sheets for the

close-sheeting jib are taken to blocks on

long tracks along the inboard edges of the

seats. Main and jib halyards pass through

clutches on the mast. From there they can

be led aft for tensioning by a Lewmar 15

winch forward of the mainsheet that also

helps raise the centreplate. Weighing

660lb (300kg) and giving the boat a

healthy but unextreme draught when

down of just under 5ft (1.5m), the

centreplate accounts for over a third of the

boat’s weight. When it’s raised, she could

float on a wet lawn.

Thankfully the plate doesn’t bang

around in the case. Not everything about it

works quite so well, however: there’s a lot

of glugging and splashing when the

boat’s under way and water streams in

continuously through the various

apertures in the case. The raised cockpit

sole makes sure it drains straight out

through the open transom, but it does

mean you won’t remain dryshod unless

you’re wearing boots.

A fully-retracting centreplate makes far

more sense than a daggerboard on a boat

of this nature when it comes to beaching,

The powerful backstay is useful to have but the emphasis is on simplicity when it comes
to rig and sail controls. The main and jib halyards pass through clutches on the mast

Removing slop between rudder and stock

would make the steering more positive

The rig is modestly proportioned, but the spinnaker got the Drakkar going nicely
downwind. She hops up on the plane readily and goes well to windward too