- Price: from 18 000 euros
- 240 units built since 1989
Closely linked to the Ile de Ré, the Latitude 46 shipyard blew its 30 candles in 2017... and it is this year that the famous Tofinou 7 was born - first of the range. Its history started very early, in 1929 precisely; that year, Captain Merle designed a 7 metre ballasted dinghy with an elegant deck shearing, a long keel extended by a quarter-breed fin and this characteristic lazarette bow. The owner of this small, unique and attractive unit, Edouard Menuteau, lived in Dahomey, so he calls it Tofinou, which means"sea people" in African dialect.
A century or so later, the program is still the same..
This little dinghy's program? Walk and fishing around the island of Ré. In 1986, after years of charter in the West Indies, Philippe Joubert, brother of Michel - the architect recently disappeared -, decided to settle on this piece of land connected to the continent and to build a shipyard there. He discovers the Tofinou... the boat with the white hull, modestly covered with a plastic film torn on all sides, is recovered as a wreck. And it's in a restaurant for one of his first customers - the small sailboat - he still sails! - that Philippe has the idea of making a mould out of it.
The same, but polyester
He decided to keep a classic touch by proposing coloured hulls - English green, burgundy, cream, navy blue... -, varnished mahogany coamings, a teak deck and a white lacquered narrow mast. The boat was presented at the Paris Boat Show in 1989 and was a great success. To date, with 240 units built, it remains a UFO in the history of yachting never a rather high-end sailboat and therefore relatively expensive - for its size - had known such a distribution, reserved for general public models at tight prices. And it's still in the yard catalog!
One diesel and in reel
Faithful to its starting programme - the coastal ballad - it is equipped with a small diesel, a genoa furler and a large watertight box under the forward deck. Numerous equipment racks under the decks allow additional material to be stored. The craze for this series is attributed to Francis Dumoulin, in love with the island of Ré and especially editor-in-chief of the magazine Lui. Owner of a Tofinou, he trained his entourage to do the same. If the fleet counts today about thirty units on the island, the 7 also swarmed in the Gulf of Morbihan, the Basin of Arcachon, the Riviera, but also Italy and Japan !
Simple to implement
No cabin, but still a cover to protect the varnish. The reliability of the inboard engine and its power make port handling easy and safe. To hoist the mainsail before discovering a very simple but effective deck fittings, just like the mainsail sheeting or the genoa sheets that allow you to do without a winch.
But not so easy to do (well) walk!
This type of sailboat, heavy and not very covered, has an important inertia: the principle is thus to throw them and to preserve this speed. It is advisable to sail flat, with a small rudder angle and little action on the rudder. It is also essential to give maximum power to the genoa. Recipes: a lot of jib sheeting to dig the headsail. And permanent management of the mainsail, which consists in playing non-stop with the sheet and the backstay - tailed to"empty" the sail in the over-sales. The exercise is still complicated in the breeze: the full shapes at the front don't appreciate the tight chop... and as the freeboard is limited, the Tofinou quickly wetting its crew !
The diagnosis of Bateaux.com
Elegant, the Tofinou 7 ages well as long as the deck is protected by a cover. Logically, units that are almost 30 years old are much more affordable than the newer models. Peripherals, such as the deck fittings and the daggerboard lifting system, are simple and reliable. It is easy to manoeuvre solo: the slender sail plan gives pride of place to the mainsail, three times larger than the jib. The diesel engine is protected by a box, very useful to the helmsman to wedge his feet.
The benefits
- Very wide program - walk, coastal raid, fishing, regatta
- A gauge limits the arms race
- Possibility to sail alone
Disadvantages
- Varnishes last several seasons only with the protection of a cover
- The boat does not run aground flat
- No cabin
But what does he miss?
A spinnaker would give him horses downwind, but the Tofinou's programme is the ballad; the sailors make do with it, as on board the Caravelles.
The equivalent today?
In recent years, the neo-retro sail has been represented by many transportable models such as the Bihan 6.50, the Chacal 24 or the Ti'bac. Not to mention the great classics like the Cormorant, the Windclass or the Cornish Crabber.
