Performance Cruising Yacht

Dufour 34 Performance

"Venustus", is a Dufour 34 Performance sailing yacht. While the hull design, sail configuration and fin keel provide her with outstanding sailing qualities, interior comforts have not been sacrificed. She has spacious accomodation and all the facilities expected in a good cruising yacht. 

This particular yacht has been equipped with all the "bells and whistles", for those sailers who want to crack along and sail with the toerail in water. Alternatively, she can also be easily sailed in a more genteel manner, if you merely wish to coast along. 

Her accommodation is quite substantial having three separate sleeping cabins. This provides her with 8 berths and thus "Venustus" is ideally suited for weekends away with friends or even another family.

The Dufour 34 Performance was the very first in the Dufour Performance range.
Its list of accolades says it all:

  • Named “Yacht of the year 2003” in France;
  • Winner of the “Copa del Rey” in 2004, the “Spi Ouest France” 2008 across all classes, and the “Voiles de Saint Tropez” 2009.
  • And they’ve lost count of all its honourable placings, like in the Fastnet Race, for example.

You could call this the very definition of a cruising racer.

Dufour Yachts are known as manufacturers of high quality, reliable boats and the 34 Performance further enhances this reputation. For a yacht that is designed to appeal to both club racers and cruising folk it achieves its objective with considerable success. Racing boats are reputed to require highly drilled teams of experts to make them go, but the Dufours have become known for their good manners and ability to make life easy for a family crew while still getting them smartly from A to B. Her stylish, pleasing lines can have done her no harm either.

As a performance boat, she sails happily at 30° to the apparent wind, clocking a comfortable 7 knots in 17 knots of wind. Turning onto a reach, she easily picks up another knot or two. De-powering the rig slightly will enable her to hold on to full sail in another 5 knots of wind. Tacking, gibing and heaving to are easier than driving on Jersey roads, as she is so quick, responsive and enjoyable, yet predictable and undemanding. In cruising mode, “Venustus” in a Force 3 is like driving a sports car at 40mph along Victoria Avenue; however, a few more knots of wind, some tightening on the sheets here and there and the adrenaline really begins to pump.

Whether you wish to just take the family and friends for a quiet day out on the water or
“crack on” down to St Cast for a few days away, “Venustus” is the ideal vessel.

Yacht Features

Venustus is 10.6m (34’9”) LOA with a beam of 3.48m (11’5”). This provides her with volumes of space below decks and comfortably provides sleeping capacity for up to 8 people. She has the benefit of two double cabins in the stern and a further double cabin in the bow. In the saloon, the two settees on either side are fitted with lee cloths to provide a further two berths.

Her layout down below is fairly standard for a 34’sailing yacht. A well equipped galley to port comes complete with double sink, deep fridge, gas oven and double hob. As with all Go-sail.je boats, there is plenty of cutlery, crockery, pots and pans, etc. even tea and coffee.

Over to starboard, the navigation station has charts, tables and pilot books for those who like to calculate their course manually as opposed using to the Garmin chartplotter and Raymarine ST60 tridata. The heads compartment is up forward.

On deck, Venustus carries a roller furling genoa, double reefed mainsail, storm sail and spinnaker. All made by Quantum Sails, they are complimented with an adjustable 16:1 backstay, 6:1 mainsheet, spinnaker pole, Harken winches, towing genoa cars, rigid vang and cockpit floor mounted traveler.  The lightly balanced, large wheel and canted cockpit floor combine to provide a comfortable position for the helmsman when she is well heeled, while the wide coamings give plenty of room for crew to sit along her sides.  

Under the water line, she has a single, spade rudder and her fin keel is made of lead. This takes her draught to 1.76m (5’8”). Behind the keel, the saildrive powers a  two bladed folding propeller. So, while she is limited in her ability to access shallow water, the performance benefits are easily evident.

If the wind is light, “Venustus” has a Volvo Penta D1 30 diesel engine. The 28.4hp will push her along at a cruising speed of 7 knots using 2,500rpm.