1st permanent sailboat test base
Dufour Yachts opens its first permanent sailing yacht test base in France. Set up in partnership with the Sillage Nautisme concessionaire in Port Camargue, it will offer test sailing on all the boats in the Grand Large range to potential buyers. A total of 6 sailboats, from the Dufour 360 to the Dufour 520, will be available at all times.
An initiative of the dealer supported by Dufour Yachts
"This is a project that we discussed from the beginning with our dealer," explains Paolo Serio, marketing director of Dufour Yachts. "Sillage Nautisme has decided to have a sufficient stock of boats at all times to offer tests on the entire Grand Large range. For its part, Dufour is committed to maintaining close contact with customers and providing detailed technical follow-up."
Camargue port test base
A need to test boats
Buying a sailboat is an important step. Before moving on to the purchase, customers need to see and try the boats. This need has been well identified by the boating industry. Large foreign dealers, such as Meltl in Germany, present the entire Dufour range ashore in a showroom. Bénéteau also opened a permanent test base in Spain at the end of 2018. The observation is shared by Paolo Serio. "It is now essential for the customer to try the boats! And we see it with the slightest success of the Nautic in Paris."
Soon more Dufour Yachts test bases to come
The rochelais site does not intend to limit itself to a single test base for its sailboats. "Sillage Nautisme is the first, but it is a model that will develop with other dealers," says Paolo Serio. "A base is also in place in Antibes, at LB Yachting, for our Exclusive range with 56 and 63 feet. Once the network is more advanced, we will be able to support it with additional tools such as appointment booking modules directly online on the Dufour Yachts website."
