Dufour 4800 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

The 4800’s signature is her berth-dense interior: she sleeps up to nine and follows the French tradition for maximum crew berths anchor. The forward arrangement is an early owner’s suite — a double berth and heads ahead of the main bulkhead instead of V-berths — while a double aft cabin adds its own washbasin. The galley was adequate for use in a seaway, so even mid-era examples tend to be practical liveaboards rather than weekend-only boats.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

Most boats on the market carry the basics that make tropical or coastal cruising tolerable: solar, autopilot, bimini, swim platform, and chartplotter are commonly fitted. Often-seen additions include air conditioning, an asymmetric spinnaker, electric winches, hot water, cockpit shower, AIS, and life raft — clusters that speak to powered comfort, offwind sail handling, and safety gear. Less common owner upgrades show up as heating, furling main, freezer, dodger, or radar. For a buyer, the power-and-energy cluster (solar plus autopilot) and the navigation cluster (chartplotter, AIS) matter most; the rest is convenience.

What to Inspect

The original sailplan used a small mainsail with an enormous, deck-sweeping genoa, so check the genoa tracks, furler (if later added), and deck hardware for fatigue from that large foresail. Her close-hauled performance was noted as limited, so verify rig tune and sail shape rather than expecting a windward sharpener.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

Typical markets for the 4800 include Panama, France, the Netherlands, the United States, Croatia, and the United Kingdom. For a buyer, the checklist is short: confirm the forward owner’s suite and aft washbasin are intact, verify the genoa-driven deck gear, and check the solid hull for osmosis or impact. She is a practical, high-berth 35-footer best suited to cruisers who value cabin count over pinpoint windward ability.