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Dehler is a German brand of sailing yachts. It is originated in the former Dehler shipyard that was founded in the 1960s by Willi and Heinz Dehler. As of 2009, the brand belongs to German yacht manufacturer HanseYachts, Greifswald. Dehler cooperates with the yacht design studio Judel/Vrolijk & Co. The current range comprises six models from 29 to 46 ft in length.

History

Founding and rise

Willi Dehler (1929-1999) was one of the first in Europe, who recognized the capability of GRP for boat building. In 1963, he started to produce small dinghies in the former foyers of a cinema and had success. He took his brother Heinz in, and in 1966 they launched the Varianta, their first sailboat. This 21 ft long cabin boat with keel centerboard and removable coach roof (design: E.G. van de Stadt) became the most successful family cruiser ever, with a total production of about 4,000 units until 1982. Further cruising models like the Optima and the Delanta followed and Dehler Yachtbau rose to become a leading manufacturer of sailboats in Germany.

Sportive successes in the 1970s and 80s

In the 1970s, Willi Dehler also began to develop innovative boats for racing. He launched the Sprinta (design: E.G. van de Stadt/Cees van Tongeren), a Quarter-Tonner, whose sharpened version - the Sprinta Sport - became a popular one-design class and could excel in IOR regattas. As a licensed manufacturer of 470 class dingies since 1974, Dehler could record a gold medal in the Olympic Games 1976 won by Frank Hübner and Harro Bode. In the Three-Quarter Ton class the DB-1 (1980) and DB-2 (1981) made a splash (both designs: E.G. van de Stadt/Cees van Tongeren). The cruising version of this models - the Dehler 34 - sold very well and is popular till now.

Changes of ownership and further development

In 1979, Heinz Dehler left the company. Willi Dehler followed in 1995. In the wake of a slump in yacht building during the mid-1990s, Dehler Yachtbau got into an economic crisis which culminated in a first bankruptcy in 1998. The shipyard was taken over by Dutch Neptunus Group. In cooperation with the yacht design studio Judel/Vrolijk & Co, a new range of fast cruisers up to 47 ft was launched.

In 2004, Dehler was sold to the Dutch businessman Wilan van den Berg who joined as managing director, appointed a cooperation with the yacht designers Simonis Voogd and forced growth. In 2007, German private equity firm Buchanan Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in Dehler. Few weeks later, Dehler acquired the Belgium yacht manufacturer ETAP Yachting. In 2008, a Dehler 60 was introduced, the largest Dehler ever which was too costly for the company at that time. Hull number one remained a single piece.

During the financial crisis 2007/08, Dehler Yachtbau had to file for bankruptcy again. Etap was cut off, and the Dehler yard was taken over by German HanseYachts AG in 2009. As a consequence, the cooperation with Judel/Vrolijk & Co was renewed. In 2012, HanseYachts announced the close-down of the Dehler factory in Freienohl and relocated the entire production to HanseYachts headquarters in Greifswald (Baltic Sea).

In 2014, the Dehler 38 was displayed as "European Yacht of the Year" in the category "Performance Cruiser".

Dehler 30 od (one-design class)

In 2019, Dehler presented a one-design class focusing on short-handed offshore racing. The Dehler 30 one design has a water ballast system and a retractable shaft line with fixed propeller and 10 hp diesel engine ("Dehler Stealth Drive"). The initial plan of a retractable electric drive was discarded in the course of development. The Dehler 30 od has been awarded as "European Yacht of the Year 2020" in the category "Race Yachts".

Current models (specs)

 standard version,  competition version,  shallow keel,  L-keel (medium, west coast),  one design class,
 competition version with carbon mast

 standard version,  competition version,  shallow keel,  L-keel (medium, west coast),  one design class,
 competition version with carbon mast

 standard version,  competition version,   competition version with carbon mast,  shallow keel,  L-keel (medium, west coast)
 one design class

Naval architecture: Judel/Vrolijk & Co

Previous models produced

• Dehler 22
• Dehlya 22
• Dehler 25
• Dehlya 25

References

1. Peter K Poland (November 2013). "The Dehler story". Practical Boat Owner. p. 24.
2. Van de Stadt Design. "history".
3. ^ Peter K Poland (November 2013). "The Dehler story". Practical Boat Owner. p. 25.
4. Lasse Johannsen; et al. (2013). "125 Jahre Segelsport in Deutschland" (PDF). Delius Klasing Verlag. p. 169.
5. Jochen Halbe (2014). Yachtbau aus Leidenschaft (in German). Delius Klasing Verlag.
6. "Buchanan Buys Into Dehler". The PE Hub Network. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
7. "Dehler buys Etap". Yachting World. 21 January 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
8. "Blue Oyster, Dehler 60". Sailing World. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
9. "Hanse acquires Dehler brand". Boating Business. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
10. "HanseGroup moves entire production to its German headquarters in Greifswald" (Press release). HanseYachts AG. 30 May 2012.
11. "EYOTY 2014". Yacht online. 19 January 2014.
12. "Rasant unterwegs: der erste Schlag bei Traumbedingungen" (in German). Yacht online. 10 September 2019.
13. "Sweet... Dehler 30OD". blur.se (Blog). 17 July 2018.
14. "Dehler 30 one design". HanseYachts AG. 14 July 2019.
15. "Nanni - powering innovation and development". Sail-World online. 14 July 2019.
16. "And the winners of the European Yacht of the Year 2020 are…". Yachting World. 18 January 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Dehler 38 review. Sail Magazine, January 2014

• Dehler Yachts