DeFever 44 Offshore Cruiser
Built 1981–2007
About the DeFever 44 Offshore Cruiser
Researched from public sources for this model. Any individual boat may have been modified or repowered — confirm before relying on any figure.
- Built
- 1981–2007
- Designer
- Arthur DeFever
- Length
- 43.75 ft
- Waterline
- 38.5 ft
- Beam
- 14.75 ft
- Draft
- 4.58 ft
- Displacement
- 44,000 lb
- Hull / keel
- full displacement
- Propulsion
- inboard
- Fuel
- 900 gal
- Water
- 350 gal
- Holding
- 60 gal
Nearly 150 built. Rare flush-deck layout (aft deck level with side decks) with a big covered aft deck, galley aft, full-beam master and walk-in engine room with workbench. Twin 135 hp Lehmans cruise 7-8 knots with about 1,500 nm range. Nearly 150 built (HMY).
Known problems for this model
-
Rusted, decommissioned aft fuel tank fuel
Owners report aft fuel tanks on DeFever 44s that rusted badly and filled with sludge, sometimes left unused or removed; ask whether every tank is in service and inspect for corrosion.trawlerforum.com
-
Teak deck leaks and soft spots deck
As with most Taiwan trawlers of the period, water trapped under teak decks can soak the core; check the low point of the side decks and the underside of the deck from the engine room.pacificyachting.com
Engines & parts
Ford Lehman 135 / SP135 (2725E) parts: good
Factory standard engine — you entered “Ford Lehman 135”
Based on the later Ford 'Dover' 2725E 6.2 L naturally aspirated six (Ford built the Dover series 1982–1994, then Otosan/Dovertech to 2005). Parts are sold by the same Lehman specialists as the 120; American Diesel lists spare-parts sheets and Go2marine stocks cooling parts, heat exchangers and elbows for the 135. Do not assume 120 (2715E) and 135 (2725E) internals interchange.
Parts sources: American Diesel Corp, Go2marine (Ford Lehman parts collection)
Model sources (3)
Other DeFever models
- DeFever 40 Passagemaker 1973–?
- DeFever 41 Trawler 1980–1995
- DeFever 48 Offshore Cruiser 1978–1992
- DeFever 49 Pilothouse (soft chine) 1977–2006
Researched from public sources. Spotted an error? The sources are listed above — tell us what they got wrong.