Introduced 1963 Owner HanseYachts | Website www.dehler.com Founded 1963 | |
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Dehler is a German brand for fast and comfortable sailing yachts. It is originated in the former Dehler shipyard that was founded by Willi and Heinz Dehler in the 1960s. Since 2009, the brand belongs to German yacht manufacturer HanseYachts. Dehler has a long existing cooperation with the yacht designers Judel/Vrolijk & Co. The current range comprises models from 29 to 46 ft.
Contents
Founding and rise
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, a 21 ft long cabin boat with keel centerboard and removable coach roof (design: E.G. van de Stadt). The Varianta became the most successful family cruiser ever with a total production of about 4,000 units until 1982. Further cruising models like the Optima, the Delanta, the Duetta and the Dehlya followed and Dehler Yachtbau rose to a leading manufacturer of sail yachts 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 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 - 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 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 the Dutch Neptunus Group. In cooperation with the yacht designers 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 announced the acquisition of Belgium yacht manufacturer Etap. 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 2008, Dehler Yachts had to file bankruptcy again. Etap was cut off and Dehler 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). Since then, Dehler is part of the brand family within HanseGroup.
In 2014, the Dehler 38 was displayed as "Europen Yacht of the Year" in the category "Performance Cruiser".
Current models
1 standard version, 2 competition version, 3 shallow keel, 4 west coast keel
1 standard version, 2 competition version, 3 shallow keel, 4 west coast keel
Naval architecture: Judel/Vrolijk & Co