Dufour 42 Sailboats for Sale

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull Type

Monohull · fin

Rig

Masthead Sloop

LOA

42.16' · 12.85 m

Disp.

18,739 lbs · 8,500 kg

First year

1988

The Dufour 42 was born from an ambitious 1985 cobranding partnership between the French fashion house Lacoste and Chantiers Yachting France, a Dufour subsidiary under the original "Lacoste 42" name. Designed by the legendary naval architecture firm Sparkman & Stephens as Design 2482, the yacht was conceived as an elite, bluewater capable performance cruiser meant to challenge premium builders like Nautor’s Swan. However, the vessel suffered from a severe marketing identity crisis. On the outside, she carried an aggressive, IORtweaked racing profile with a complex rig; on the inside, she was a heavy, ultraluxurious cruising home. This mismatch intimidated luxury cruisers while putting off racing crews, resulting in exceptionally low production runs before Dufour took full control of the project in 1988 and rebranded the model.