Dehler Yachts

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.[1] 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.[2] Further cruising models like the Optima and the Delanta followed and Dehler Yachtbau rose to become a leading manufacturer of sailboats in Germany.

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.[3] 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.[4] 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).[3] The cruising version of this models - the Dehler 34 - sold very well and is popular till now.

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.[5] 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.[6] Few weeks later, Dehler acquired the Belgium yacht manufacturer ETAP Yachting.[7] In 2008, a Dehler 60 was introduced, the largest Dehler ever which was too costly for the company at that time.[8] 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.[9] 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).[10]

In 2014, the Dehler 38 was displayed as "European Yacht of the Year" in the category "Performance Cruiser".[11]

In 2019, Dehler presented a one-design class focusing on short-handed offshore racing.[12][13] 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").[14][15] 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".[16]