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A HISTORY OF THE DUFOUR ASSOCIATION
By
Charles Marchant
The 2005 Annual General Meeting saw many changes in the occupants of Committee posts and therefore it was suggested that the time was appropriate to record something of the history of the Dufour Association for the possible interest of posterity.
At its inception the Association was known as the Dufour Owners Association but eventually the title was abbreviated because the acronym “DOA” is commonly used to record the phrase “Death On Arrival” and also we wished to avoid the inference that membership was restricted to boat Owners – it is open to anyone with an interest in Dufour boats, even those who have deserted the marque and acquired a rival make!
Based upon the successful reputation of the Arpege, the Dufour Company flourished at La Rochelle in the 1970s and in the UK a sales outlet was eventually established at Hamble. Known as Dufour UK Ltd., the Managing Director was Brian Cable and his Secretary was Siriol Seabrook, who for long has been our faithful “International Liaison Officer”.
About 1978 the ever popular Dufour 2800 became one of the types on offer. In the following years many models were sold from the Hamble office and amongst the 2800 purchasers were Pete and Barbara Morris. Pete became inspired to form “The Dufour Owners Association” and he published its first Newsletter in December 1981. The first page reads:-
“I would like to open the first edition of this Newsletter by welcoming you to the Association and by thanking the owners who have contributed articles. I would also like to extend my thanks to Siriol Seabrook and Brian Cable for their help in starting the Association.
This Newsletter has been circulated to everybody who initially expressed interest in forming the Association. However, future Newsletters will be sent only to members. This “worthy” state of membership can be achieved by sending a cheque for £5 made payable to Dufour Owners Association to my address.
I hope you find the articles interesting. Perhaps they will inspire you to reply and send your own contributions. For people starting to sail, I am sure it will be of interest to hear about early experiences as well as heavy weather sails and long summer cruises.”
A message from Brian Cable followed:
“It is with much pleasure that I have this chance to make a small contribution to the first of many Dufour Owners Association newsletters in the years to come.
I feel that the formation of this Association is long overdue, however it has always been my feeling that I was not prepared to form an Association as a pure extension of the Dufour Sales network and that it would have to come from a spontaneous expression of interest and enthusiasm from the owners themselves.Nevertheless thanks to the enthusiasm of Pete and Barbara, I now have great hopes that a flourishing Association has now been launched and we are very pleased to be able to lend a helping hand wherever we can especially in its initial stages. All of us here at Dufour UK Ltd send our good wishes for the successful future of the Dufour UK Owners’ Association”.
The Newsletter consisted of seven A4 stapled sheets. It was well supported by articles and letters from owners of 2800s, 31s, an Arpege and a 35. One 2800’s name, Sung Foon, has resonated in Newsletters over many years whilst under the ownership of Phil and Barbara Hookham.
There was also a comprehensive article by Service Manager, John Howe, upon the water-lubricated stuffing box, which was the bane of many owners’ lives over the years.
Newsletter 2 in March 1982 records that Brian Cable donated a Dufour Pennant to the Association. This phantom flag has never been seen since then – one can only speculate upon its fate. This newsletter was again well supported by articles and it also carries a list of members. It shows 53 people paying £5 a year.
Newsletter 3 followed in July 1982 and records a successful “First Rally” in the Solent in a SW 7/8 followed by dinner at Cowes’ Grantham Hotel. Siriol Seabrook gets a special mention for her especially competent Navigator’s log.
Hard Times for Dufour and our Association.
The next Newsletter in January 1983 reflects the impact of the financial problems faced by the Dufour company at La Rochelle which for a time ceased yacht production. Brian Cable moved on and the Dufour UK organisation was taken over by Mr Da Costa as Managing Director. (After a few months of hoping for better times the Hamble organisation ceased to be of any help with after sales service and started to sell other French yacht manufacturers’ products).
From 1981 to the end of 1983 Pete Morris combined the roles of Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor and South Coast Organiser whilst working full time as a Hospital Psychologist. Therefore it was not surprising to receive a two page Newsletter in December 1983 which recorded that Peter and Barbara under increased work load would not be able to continue running the Association. They organized a “Wine Do” in January in the hope that volunteers could be found to take on the Association workload. As new Dufour 2800 owners of Deidi, Denis Heesom and myself attended that meeting and observed that although it was well attended and plenty of wine consumed the only useful outcome was that David and Marge Almond promised to be Editors and Robert Crabb promised to run a Cross Channel event led by his boat Positive Thinking.
The Almonds continued to produce the Newsletter with contributions from Pete Morris but the Summer 1985 issue describes how, at an ill attended meeting, Pete reported his resignation from the Association because he had replaced his 2800 with a First 325. At this meeting Brenda Hindley of 2800 Diamond Head undertook to assume the Secretary/Treasurer duties and Charles Marchant became Events Coordinator (with assistance from Denis Heesom) and the Almonds continued to be Editors. Thus the association had no acknowledged Chairman.
By the Spring of 1986 the Almonds reported that they were overwhelmed at work and appealed for someone to take over the Editorship. In the absence of any volunteer I agreed to take on the job “as a temporary Editor” in the autumn of 1986. This commitment lasted rather longer than expected though I must admit to enjoying the work in the beginning. The Editorial at that time stated “....I have taken on the task in the belief that without the Newsletter the Association would soon become defunct. And it seems particularly desirable to keep it alive now that the Dufour firm has effectively folded up. With the demise of Dufour, the Association becomes the only pool of knowledge about the boats and also a thriving Association is likely to make our boats more attractive when the time comes to sell them – a buyer likes to think that he will have somewhere to turn for advice in the event of trouble......”
Better Times Arrive
At the 1988 AGM we managed to acquire a Chairman in the person of Donald Chisholm, owner of a 29 who was a regular Rally attendee. Unfortunately his health soon failed and he had to sell his boat and resign from the Association. Denis Heesom replaced him as Chairman in 1989.
In 1989 the resuscitated Dufour company recognised the existence of our Association and suggested to the President of the French “Association Internationale Dufour” that he should invite us to a celebratory weekend, run by the tourist authorities at Deauville. On this memorable occasion half a dozen of our boats crossed the Channel and their crews were hosted by the Deauville Yacht Club, attended a reception for us at a local Rothschild mansion, entertained at polo matches etc. etc. Denis Heesom made a splendid representative for our Association in handling the diplomatic relationships involved during the weekend.
After Deidi was sold Denis retired from boat ownership and it became inappropriate for him to continue as Chairman. Fortunately Peter Pitchforth who had recently retired from work was willing to take over the Chairmanship for a number of years. This he did with great efficiency and notably organised the very successful “Eclipse Rally” at Dartmouth. Peter occupied the Chair for some eight years and since then we have been fortunate in finding two more members who have been willing in turn to fulfil the Chairman duties ie Anne Rickwood and now, in 2005, Luis Castillo.
March 2005
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