Dufour 44 - Please, never again

Why would Sunsail do such a thing?

Dufour 44 – Odyssey in the Sun

A review by Frank Richter – Reports, Hobby, Travel, Sailing

There are moments when you realize that you are no longer a customer, but an unpaid beta tester. For me, that was the day Sunsail / Moorings excitedly announced to me: “You are the very first guests on this brand-new boat!”

It was a Dufour / Moorings 44.3 – and later, in the next season, I found myself on a Dufour 44 again. “Dufour Déjà-vu” describes it quite well. In the first case, factory-new meant more like “unfinished,” and in the second season, it was at least: “Catalog beauty with battle scars.”

Design & Ergonomics – pretty for the brochure, questionable for the sea

At first glance, the Dufour 44 is a pretty boat. Slim lines, modern design, everything looks like it came out of a glossy brochure. However, you realize who it was built for the moment you step into the cockpit: for photographers, not for sailors.

The cockpit table is an episode in itself:
- On the new boat, you need two people to operate it.
- On the “matured” Dufour, the folding leaves sit at about a 10° angle – putting down a glass of wine is a gamble, and the first swell is the reliable winner.
Cockpit lighting? Virtually non-existent. In the end, this is almost consistent: If you can't see anything at night anyway, you simply don't use the wobbly table.

Inside, it continues:

Storage areas without anti-slip edges above the shelves – as if no one had ever thought about heeling.
Doors that only close when you don't want them to.
Ceiling panels that are “held” in place with cheap plastic snap-ins and Velcro – and enjoy coming down at night.

Ergonomics at the helm:

Potential for pinching fingers between the steering wheel and the plotter.
Black instrument surfaces that heat up so much in the sun that you could almost fry an egg on them.

Then there is the bimini, the ergonomic final boss: Cannot be opened, no viewing window – right when you are setting the sails, you look up: nothing.

Water, Electrics & Technology – systems without effect

Watermaker & Tanks

Both Dufour experiences suffered from the same fundamental illness:

Insufficient water tank capacity (e.g., 200 l)
A watermaker that was theoretically supposed to solve the problem – but practically:
- leaks,
- or pretends to flush but produces no water.

Solution in the Caribbean case: Five canisters tied to the lifelines. Decorative, but not exactly what one understands by “comfortable cruising.”

In Croatia: One tank – empty. No second tank. Result: low tide in the ship very quickly.

Generator & Electricity

On both boats, the generator was nominally present – just not as a solution.

Background noise like an airport runway.
Charging current: a ridiculous 4 Amps, limited by Victron.
Solar panels: practically ineffective.

In a hot region, this means:

Running the generator + engine for hours every day (double hell),
just to operate the fridge and get a room under 40 °C.

Comfort & Climate – sweat box deluxe

In terms of temperature, the Dufour 44 / Moorings 44.3 is a mixture of a sauna and an oven:

Air conditioning that can only cool one room at a time.
No fans – consistently rationalized away.

At 40–45 °C below deck, every night becomes an endurance test. I am normally satisfied with one fan – if that is also missing, I become unpleasant. The boat does too.

Sanitary & Shower – bucket instead of pump

To round off the comfort:

Shower pump that does not pump out.
The pump runs, but dry – protective circuits? Forget it.
Solution: Rags and buckets.

It is precisely these details that show that the boat works better in the product manager’s Excel list than in the reality of a cruise.

Safety – bookable as an option?

A few highlights from the “Safety” category:

Extra-booked lifeline netting for a toddler on board – unusable because the exits cannot be closed (steel cables too short or too long).
Anchor light not present or defective. Technician's suggestion: “Anchor lights are only important where airplanes land. Cabin light is much more effective.”

Creative alternatives:

defective deck light,
defective engine light,
cabin light,
flashlight.

In addition, mosquito nets that don't work:

Either sweat with hatches closed
or collect 121 mosquito bites. At least: In Croatia (so far) no dengue fever.

Sailing – when it actually runs

And now the amazing thing: When it sails, the Dufour 44 doesn't sail badly at all.

With pressure in the sails, the hull performs decently.
With a reef and a little feel for the helm, it can be really fun.

But:

Electric winches whose fuses are constantly blowing.
Plotter poorly positioned.
Visibility upwards blocked.

So it's back to: cranks out, manual labor, improvisation. Luckily, I'm man enough to still be able to crank a winch.

Sunsail / Moorings – between beta-test hell & rescue at the dock

In fairness:

Sunsail & Moorings have, in fact, sent us into beta-test hell several times.
- Factory-new boat with loose screws and nuts on deck.
- Unlabeled fuses – Russian roulette at the panel.
- Unfinished systems that are only allowed to “mature” during customer use.
But: The Sunsail crew in Dubrovnik really gave their all: Friendly, diligent, great at improvising. Between handovers every minute, they got the boat ready enough for us to even set sail. Without them, the odyssey would probably have failed at the dock.

Conclusion – adventure instead of vacation

The Dufour 44 / Moorings 44.3 is not a pure vacation boat – it is an experience format:

Every day a new question:
- Which fuse will blow today?
- Which panel will fall from the ceiling next?
- Will the water last until tomorrow?
You sweat, curse, laugh, improvise – and in the end, you sail anyway.

My personal conclusion:

Appearance: great for catalogs.
Detail quality & practice: often disappointing.
Local crew: saves what can be saved.

Next time? I'd rather take a proven Sun Odyssey from Jeanneau again. Whether it will be Sunsail / Moorings in the coming years – I have to think about that carefully.