Naval architecture was entrusted to Michele Molino, who took over from his late mentor Michel Joubert and Joubert’s partner, Bernard Nivelt. Peugeot Design Lab reworked the deck and cockpit with an automotive eye. The result is a French dayboat intended for both harbour cruising and club racing, designed to go a little farther and faster without surrendering the water-level elegance that defines the marque.
Design and Construction
Low on the water and painted vermilion red, the 9.7 has an anthracite-grey or silver cockpit, a teak-covered deck, and the merest blister of a varnished-mahogany coachroof. A silver band across the coachroof gives the illusion of headlights up front, in Molino’s own words.
Compared with earlier models, the coamings and coachroof have changed from solid mahogany to veneer-covered composite. The topdecks remain a composition of highly polished dark mahogany and fibreglass, contrasted with 8.0mm teak. The hulls and decks are built from hand-laid, resin-infused fibreglass and foam sandwich, finished in vinyl ester. These slender proportions sit over a modern hull designed to promote glide and stability.
The boat has a beam of 2.99m and a lightship displacement held to 2,300kg. It carries its maximum beam well aft into a sugar-scoop stern with a stylish bevelled edge and a lazarette. Three keel options—fixed, swing, and vertically lifting—provide a choice of draught arrangements.
Rig and Cockpit
The 9.7 has a fractional rig with a tall, tapered mast, a backstay, and two spreaders. The test boat carried an Axxon carbon mast, a self-tacking Solent jib tracked at its foot, and race-crafted North Sails 3Di composite sails.
The streamlined deck layout leads all sail-handling lines back to the cockpit through channels hidden beneath the deck. Karver KJ jammers disappear under a false coachroof and can be controlled remotely. Jib-sheet winches sit inboard on binnacles within reach of the tiller, while separate forward winches handle the asymmetrical spinnaker flown from a carbon-fibre bowsprit.
The mainsheet runs on a continuous, tailless loop attached to the cockpit sole. A fine-tuning sheet controls a traveller at the stern. Writing in boatsales.com.au, testers found that the cockpit suited two-handed sailing, with all controls within easy reach, and that the tiller was extremely responsive in light winds.
The 15hp diesel saildrive pushed the lightweight hull at a decent clip and stopped it within half a boatlength when put astern.
Performance Under Sail
Despite its dayboat brief, the 9.7 is intended to be quick when sailed short-handed in club races as well as with an extended crew chasing passage honours. In 10 to 12 knots of breeze, upwind speed settles between 6 and 7 knots. Ease the sheets, and the boat accelerates beyond 9 knots with a pleasant feeling of gliding.
The wide beam is used to minimise the wetted surface of the flatter, planing hull aft. Under jib and main, the hull rose easily and popped onto the plane in faint gusts. Swept stays limit how far the boom can be eased when sailing dead downwind, so the boat is happier reaching than running.
Accommodation
The cabin is reached through removable washboards and a sliding canopy, or through a two-section companionway hatch supported by gas struts. The minimalist interior uses selected woods and mahogany finishes.
The layout includes a pair of bunks or sail lockers beneath the cockpit floor, two lounges, and a split galley with a stove to port and a sink to starboard. A forward vee berth brings the total to four berths, including the saloon seats. There are no hull windows, so light enters through the forward hatch and the large companionway.
Headroom is only 1.34m, and the standard chemical toilet is basic. A comfort pack adds a sink and hob. The well for the vertically lifting keel significantly affects the accommodation. Overall, the boat is comfortable for a night or two rather than extended living.
Practical Limitations
The low freeboard and lack of guardwires were a little concerning to one reviewer when stepping aboard. Below deck, headroom is deliberately limited by the design.
The lifting and swing keels are manually operated. Taking the ground with the keel raised at 1.22m requires legs—a delicate exercise. There is also no bow roller, making the boat better suited to a light anchor with rope rode than to heavier ground tackle.
Verdict
The Tofinou 9.7 distils the brand’s timeless silhouette into a genuinely quick, easily handled modern daysailer. It combines an ergonomically arranged deck, influenced by automotive design, with a hull that is surprisingly willing to plane. This is first and foremost a coastal and harbour boat, trading liveaboard space for elegance and short-handed speed.
Pros
- Slender, modern hull that glides and planes with minimal crew
- Hidden, remotely controlled deck lines and a self-tacking Solent jib simplify handling
- Three keel options—fixed, swing, and lifting—provide draught flexibility
- Distinctive vermilion-and-teak styling, with weight savings from the composite coachroof
Cons
- Limited 1.34m headroom and minimal galley and toilet facilities
- Low freeboard and no guardwires by design
- Manually operated keel options and no bow roller for serious anchoring
