Design Philosophy
Behind the Duffield 58 Flybridge
Marshall "Duffy" Duffield grew up on the bay in Newport Beach in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. His father owned several fishing and sailing yachts and he imparted to Duffy his love of the seafaring life. In 1970, at 17, Duffy started building a youth class racing sailboat. His boats won every major west coast sailing event in the class.
Marshall "Duffy" Duffield
Duffy has spent his entire life on the water and over a span of three decades he evolved into an award-winning offshore racer. He’s won the Transpac, several Congressional Cups, S.O.R.C., St. Francis Big Boat Series and numerous other big name races along the west coast and Mexico.
Drawing on his background of racing fast-planing dinghies as a teenager, Duffy designed a breakthrough hull for the ’77 Transpac which reached speeds of over 25 knots, unheard of in those days. His forward-thinking design eventually became the standard for all offshore racing sailboats.
Duffy, the young designer and builder
Since 1970, he has been mass-manufacturing the famous Duffy Electric Boats, which revolutionized the way people boated in harbors and lakes. The experts warned that electricity powered boats would never catch-on. They thought battery power was just too weak to push a twenty-foot displacement boat through the water.
Forty eight years and many thousands of electric boats later, the Duffy® line is more successful than ever, producing 11 different models from 14-30 feet and selling worldwide.
Over the last 20 years, Duffy and his family have enjoyed cruising on their 56' Ray Hunt designed 1965 Bertram built wood yacht named Following Sea. Duffy has restored her himself into a classic beauty.
Duffy's many experiences aboard the Following Sea led him to develop a serious interest in producing a new, innovative yet traditional yacht.
- Marshall Duffield
"I wanted a traditional-looking boat that was proportionally correct and would still preform well while using much less fuel. My eye caught the name of an east coast designer named Doug Zurn. His boats 'looked right' to me and he emphasized using modern, advanced composite materials for fast cruising and fuel savings."
Duffy on board his first offshore racing design & build "Native Son", built in 1977. She reached a top speed of 27 knots!
