The Dufour 36 classic has a straight forward deck layout that makes her a breeze to sail for a couple.
A single helm with direct steering keeps things simple. I especially like the whitlock
steering which is basically maintenance free. The cockpit benches are long enough to lay down,
although the curve at the end where the benches meet the cockpit are somewhat annouying.
All lines are leading back to the cockpit, which makes sail handling pretty easy. Althoug,
I think it would be nice to handle halyards and reefing lines at the mast, so one person can
steer the boat while the other person handles the sails.
Sailing in you'll need a Bimini, and we've had one made in Barcelona that sits on top of the
pushpit. We used to have flexible solar panels on top of the bimini, but they've lasted all
but one season. With the meltemi blowing through an anchorage the bimini fabric starts flapping
all over the place, esentially killing the panels. We now have a solar arch that holds fixed
panels just over the bimini, and while it's a bit wobbly, it seems to do the trick.
Bon Bini is a the owners version of the Dufour 36 classic, which means she has the two cabin
layout with a longitudinal layout. This layout works well for two people. The fron cabin is offset
to the middle of the ship, which allows a double bed that actually fits two people. We use the
smaller aft cabin mostly as storage, except when on passage, where we might sleep there during
our off watches.
The standing height is okay-ish for a 36 footer, although I sometimes which that there was just
a bit more headroom. There is exactly one place where I can stand up, right behind the companion
way. I usually spend the first two weeks of the season bumping my head into various walls before
I get used to the fact that there is just not a lot of headroom.
The longitudinal galley works well for a couple. The fridge is big enough to hold about a weeks
worth of food. We tend to eat fairly simple meals on board, usually everything that can be made
in one pot finds its way into our diet. There is definitely enough storage room, especially
once you've realized how little you actually need. We seem to throw more stuff out after every
season, and now have a bunch of empty lockers which can only mean one thing - more tools!
Bini sails well for a boat of her size, especially since we've moved to full battens. Where we used
to need around 15 knots true to get gowing, we start sailing now in about 6 knots. The closest we can
get to the wind is around 45 desgrees apparent, although it's hard to tell since our wind instruments
seem to be off. On some days we can sail up to 20 degrees on one tack, while the other tack doesn't want
to go below 60. We've tried to callibrate the instruments, but it did not seem to have a big effect.
The sea state also seems to have quite a big effect on our sailing angles.
Talking about sea state, this is where the difference between a small boat like Bon Bini and larger
boats become apparent. Things are pretty easy as long as the waves are behind you, but hacking into
a steep chop in the Med can be rather uncomfortable. The worst thing is having to motor into and old
sea. Bon Bini has a fairly small engine (MD 2030) with a two blade prop, and has the tendency to slam
into waves when motoring directly into the sea.
