Dehler Yachts
| Owner | HanseYachts AG |
|---|---|
| Produced by | HanseYachts AG |
| Country | Germany |
| Introduced | 1963 |
| Website | www.dehler.com |
Dehler is a German brand for fast and comfortable sailing yachts. It is originated in the former Dehler shipyard that was founded in the 1960s by Willi and Heinz Dehler. Since 2009, the brand belongs to German yacht manufacturer HanseYachts. Dehler cooperates with the yacht designers Judel/Vrolijk & Co. The current range comprises six models from 29 to 46 ft in length.
Willi Dehler (1929-1999) was one of the first in Europe, who recognized the capability of GRP-plastic for boatbuilding. In 1963, he started to produce small dingies in a former cinema auditorium 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 Delanta, the Duetta, the Dehlya and the Optima followed and Dehler Yachtbau rose to a leading manufacturer of sailing yachts 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. 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 db1 (1979) and db2 (1984) 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.
In 1979, Heinz Dehler left the company, Willi Dehler followed in 1995. In the wake of the 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.
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