Dufour 24 Buyer's Guide
The Dufour 24 is a mid-1970s Michel Dufour design built by Dufour Yachts s.a., with several hundred produced and offered in fin or shallow-keel variants. For a shopper scanning brokerage listings today, it presents as an accessible small fiberglass cruiser whose simplicity is its strength and whose limits are clearly defined by the numbers.
Layouts on the Used Market
Used Dufour 24s appear with either an iron fin keel near four feet of draft or a shallow iron keel under three feet, the latter suited to thin-water harbors. Below decks the standard arrangement is four berths with a galley, and the beamy 2.95 length-to-beam proportion gives the cabin more room than many peer 24-footers. Solid fiberglass hull and deck are the norm, with a Volvo Penta MD6A diesel sometimes fitted and outboards frequently added for close-quarters control.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Solar is an often-seen addition on these boats, useful given the modest house loads of a 24-foot cruiser. Beyond that, buyers will less commonly find a spinnaker, bimini, cockpit shower, or autopilot as owner upgrades rather than factory kit. None of these are essential to the boat's function, but a bimini and solar pair well for summer coastal days.
What to Inspect
Keels are iron, so check both fin and shallow versions for corrosion at the hull joint and along the leading edge. The shallow-keel models in particular should be examined for grounding damage given their thin 2.6-to-2.9-foot draft. Where a Volvo Penta MD6A inboard is present, confirm cooling and mounting integrity; where an outboard is used, inspect the 3-to-4 hp or electric 74-to-89 lb thrust setup for docking and maneuvering.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats turn up across Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Romania. For the buyer, the practical checklist is short: verify keel type and iron condition, confirm berth and galley completeness, check for solar or other light upgrades, and match the draft to your cruising grounds. The Dufour 24 rewards a shopper who wants simple, roomy-for-size coastal sailing without offshore ambition.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Dufour 24. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 6 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 4 | $7,808 | — |
| Mar 26 | 1 | $9,439 | +20.9% |
| Apr 26 | 2 | $11,653 | +23.5% |
| May 26 | 3 | $11,071 | -5.0% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $10,487 | -5.3% |
| Aug 26 | 1 | $5,244 | -50.0% |
Where they're listed
Dufour 24 listings appear across 5 countries. Germany has the most listings with 5 (41.7%), followed by Portugal and Spain.