Video

Description

The Dufour T7 is a unique design, a trailer sailer with a generous main cabin, a centre cockpit, and a seperate separate aft cabin - great if one of the crew snores! She has a lifting keel and draws just 1ft! You can take her anywhere! She’s perfect for including family and friends overnight or longer cruises for two people. In the eight years of my ownership I've sailed Moonshadow in the Mersey estuary and Liverpool Bay, and I've taken her to the Solent, Pwllheli, non-tidal Thames and (on ferries) to the Netherlands, German North Sea islands (Riddle of the Sands!), River Shannon, and the Aran Islands and Connemara.
You can see what Moonshadow has done in the past 8 years in the video here https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/v616bg5n5gbu0cqglpww6/Eight-years-with-Moonshadow.mp4?rlkey=36th8wdu0k3pean0zrwyaj3fo&st=hjqo5wyd&dl=0
Since first posting this advert I’ve learnt that Moonshadow has been doing adventurous cruising all her life. Previous owners have towed her to Brittany and Croatia and taken her on the ferry to cruise the Norwegian fjords. Some of these trips have been written up and published in yachting magazines (extracts available on request).

Moonshadow has the benefit of an extensive inventory:
new main engine (in 2017),
arrangements to allow single handed mast raising (in 2018),
largely re-built trailer (in 2020),
adaptations to achieve Boat Safety Certificate for UK inland waters (in 2021),
gizmos to allow for boom tent to be rigged (on inland waters) without the mast up (in 2021),
new mainsail and jib (in 2024),
and lots of other adaptations for convenience when cruising.

I've reluctantly decided to sell because I'm 77 this year and not as fit as I was!
I paid £6750 for her without an engine in 2017 and I've spent at least that on her and on the trailer over the past 8 years! The new sails alone were £2000!

Specifications

Accommodation

Main saloon has two berths. It's very comfortable for one person for a 10 day cruise but would be tight for two.
There's enough storage space for one person's gear and food for 10 days
The saloon table can be pushed up out of the way, dropped down to act as a table or dropped further down to make one large berth.
The galley is small but very efficient - I love it!
The aft cabin has two berths. As with the saloon, it's very comfortable for one person for a 10 day cruise but would be tight for two.

Saloon with table lowered

Saloon with table raised

Chart table down

Chart table up

Galley

Galley in use

Access to aft cabin

The aft cabin hatch

The saloon loocking aft

Construction

Grp hull etc with built in cast iron ballast.
Timber centreboard and rudder

Typical grp construction

Equipment

Moonshadow is fully equipped for coastal cruising - with the following:
Ensigns for UK, Netherlands, Germany and Ireland
Jamming cleats for halliards and jib sheet.
Two anchors with chain and warp
4 mooring lines new in 2022
4 fenders
Boat hook
Log and echo sounder
Autohelm tiller pilot
Fixed VHF DSC radio and hand-held VHF radio
Battery
Charging leads for shore power
Battery operated cool box in Starboard cockpit locker
Storage in upper port cockpit locker for 2 gas cylinders that complies with the Boat Safety Scheme for UK inland waters
Convenient storage arrangement for main 12L fuel tank in port cockpit locker
Purpose made storage for 2x5L petrol tanks in upper port cockpit locker
Life belt
Inflatable dinghy with oars
A bespoke arrangement for raising and lowering the mast single-handedly - but it's easier with two people!
Sun awning - a bit Heath Robinson but effective!
Waterproof boom tent that turns the cockpit into a third cabin
Rather nice varnished hardwood posts for supporting the boom and boom tent if the mast is not in place - needed for UK inland waterways.
Purpose made frames for supporting the mast during winter storage
The original 1983 galvanised 4 wheel trailer for which nearly all moving parts, including axles and suspension, have been replaced since 2021

Navigation Equipment

Moonshadow has a simple echo sounder and log in good working condition
She also has a chart plotter but this is positioned where it is rather difficult to read. So I never use it - preferring to use Navionics on my iPhone - and its loaded charts are out of date. Still useful in an emergency!
In addition the boat has a functioning tiller pilot
The picture shows a damaged grille for the cockpit speaker. This will be replaced prior to sale.

Nav instruments

Engine(s)

Main engine - Tohatsu 6hp four stroke Sail Drive with 12L Tohatsu plastic fuel tank - new in 2017
Auxiliary engine for inflatable - Mercury 2.5hp two stroke
Mobile trolley stand that will take both engines for winter storage

Tohatsu 6hp

Mercury 2.5hp

both engines and stand

Sails & Spars

Mast and boom are original
The mast has been modified to accept slidersa on the main rather than luff rope.
The main and self-tacking jib were renewed in 2024 by Jeckells of Wroxham
I don;t know how old the cruising chute vis but it is on good condition,

Glimpse of the mainsail

Glimpse of the cruising chute

Safety Equipment

One horseshoe lifebelt
4 lifejackets and two harnesses.
Fixed VHF DSC radio
Handheld VHF radio

Location Map