One of the smallest centre-cockpit designs widely available at 22 ft, the T7 appeared in 1980 and sold 250 in two years. With two berths in the saloon and two in the after cabin, reached via the cockpit, is was and is a popular family cruiser. The lifting keel gives a minimum draft of about one foot, but has almost full standing headroom (6 ft / 1.8m). It was lightly constructed, but a good performer.
LOA 22 ft (6.7m)
LWL 20 ft 5 in. (6.23m)
Beam 8 ft 2 in. (2.50m)
Draught 1 ft to 4 ft 6 in. (0.3m to 1.37m)
Displacement 2,240 lb ((1,018kg)
(q.v. Yachting Monthly Dec 2001)

The T7 as seen by her designer Jean-Louis Noir

This article – which originated in a French magazine's report of an interview – is held in Sirol Seabrook's archive material. It is timeless and I hope it is of interest to present day T7 owners.

At first glance, the DUFOUR T7 is different from any other boat, so we reveal the thoughts of her designer Jean-Louis Noir, who explains the innovations of this yacht.

VM: Jean-Louis Noir, why design a total centreboard boat?
JLN: This type of boat allows total independence from marinas and other costly moorings. A simple trailer allows its transport and launch into water without any external aids on any beach. The total absence of any projection below the hull allows one to beach anywhere you want and without beaching legs. Briefly, the centre boarder allows you to beach at any time of day or night. On the other hand, a fixed keel, in a foaming sea on the beam is rather uncomfortable, whereas with the with the centreboard, it can be raised and therefore remain more stable. This fact was noticed by Daniel Gilard during his Mini-Tranat race.
VM: The great innovation with the T7 is its adjustable centre-blade – can you explain how it work?
JLN: It is effectively thanks to this system that the T7 has attracted so much interest. The principle is simple: a traditional fin keel must obligatorily slip sideways to be effective. As the yacht no longer progresses along its true axis, there is a resulting loss of speed and angle of sailing of over 4°. The variable angle centreboard reduces these losses by controlling the water flow in a manner similar to a "trimmer". It allows the boat to progress along its true axis without leeway. The improvement leads to better sailing angle when close hauled, which in turn leads to improved efficiency of the sails, increasing speed because of less drag and therefore improved overall performance by between 20 – 58% in the case of the T7.
The progressing angling of the centreboard can be seen from the diagram (Not available at present). By using this system we have been able to win the Micro Cup two years running. After little more than one years development, this technique is fully proven and has been put into mass production of the T7. This makes the T7 the first total centre boarder equipped with this variable angled centreboard in mass production.
VM: Finally, what are the advantages of the centre cockpit?
JLN: It allows us to bring all the weight into the centre of the boat, thus reducing pitching and a much smoother motion through the waves is achieved. In the event of being pooped, the trim of the boat is maintained and as a result the cockpit empties very efficiently via the engine well.  Finally, the cockpit splits the yacht into two. The aft cabin will become a kid's haven or that of friends. During my summer cruise on the T7, the kids made it into their playroom. The saloon will become the owners cabin. Each person's privacy will be respected. Furthermore, a cockpit canopy spread above the cockpit will transform this into another room.

If any T7 owner has any comments to add, including drawings, photographs etc., we will be please to add the details here.