Corvette,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Guess you can tell by all my posts that it''s too early to go sailing here on the Chesapeake. And if I know something about a topic, I share it. If I don''t, I shut up. I also try to make my prejudices known upfront.
As for your question, this is one time when I know very little! I know that Dufour bought Gibsea a couple of years ago and is introducing new boats slowly to that
line. I was on the 33 at the Annapolis show in the fall and it seems OK, but not impressive to me. For one, I don''t like that "dolphin" nose. Dufour also has brought out a much bigger Gibsea, but the size eludes me right now.
No doubt the current generation of Gibseas under Dufour ownership will be quite different from earlier models when the company was still on its own. I think the Gibsea
line had a pretty good reputation in years past, but there were never many of them around the Chesapeake. Jeff H. probably would be a better source of info on them if he''s reading this topic.
One thing I might add is that Dufour is an up and comer in the US boat market. I''m on the Sailnet email list for Dufour, and European sailors love the boats and sail them all over the place. Every US owner on the list loves the boats, too. I was impressed with the Dufour Classic
line at the fall show, but can''t tell yet if that''s just a passing fancy on my part. I''m going to the dealer''s open house in Annapolis this weekend and will chcek them out some more. I really want to test sail one to see if that wide, flat hull shape will go to weather or not. As with most European boats, the exchange rate is quite good so the price is good for the amount of boat you get. Now.........is the boat still worth that price based on sailing ability????
Good luck with the Gibsea quest. Sorry I can''t help more.
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