Dehler 34: Yacht Review

Thirty years ago a production yacht called the Dehler 34 blazed its way onto the world yachting scene winning races and proving to be a highly successful cruiser/racer. Now there is a new Dehler 34 promising to deliver just as much dash and race-winning potential for today's racing sailor.

OVERVIEW
- Judel & Vrolijk design with speed and comfort
The new German Dehler 34 offers a current-era performance hull with a sharp vertical bow and wide, shallow sections extending into a wide stern. The result is a much larger volume yacht with loads more cruising appeal.

With lots more waterline length, this Dehler has a lot of speed potential and will be a true sports yacht as well. Cutting-edge features like twin steering wheels are a boon for racing and make it easier to access the stern.

While performance is dialled up, there's loads more cruising appeal as well. And that has to make this pretty 34 footer a big winner in today’s divergent yacht market.

The highly successful German design team of Judel & Vrolijk are behind this new 34-footer. And they've gone for the same successful theme they've used in all the other five Dehler models. It's a modern but not-too-extreme cruiser/racer, so she's a production yacht that won't alarm the club handicapper looking do quite well.

Where this Dehler really stands out from pack is the efficiency of her keel and rudder. She doesn't have hard chines in the rear quarters but enough volume to ensure she's fast in a breeze and flies downwind.

A fold-down transom provides easy access from the marina and forms a natural fun-zone in summer with the swim ladder down. Moulded cockpit coamings ensure there's room for six crew to enjoy the after-race party in comfort. It's the place to be after a twilight race and to relieve all the drama and tactics over a cold beer, or two.

In short, typical club sailors are going to love this Dehler 34 footer. She covers the gamut from twilight races to the weekend club point score and even the serious-end of regattas like Sail Port Stephens and Hamilton Island Race Week.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- Value and quality for money
The Dehler 34 delivers exceptional value with a craft that has a base sail-away of $269,000 with tiller steering. The test boat with extras like twin wheels, taller competition rig and synthetic teak decking cost $320,000. And that includes the sensible upgrade to a 27hp Saildrive diesel to better suit our windy offshore waters.

The extra rig options include an alloy or black carbon-fibre stick, both the same height with rod rigging over twin swept-back spreaders.

The carbon rig is lighter in weight and the ultimate choice if you're going full-tilt racer. However, with a price tag of $46,380 as against $10,792, I suspect most club sailors will tend to go the latter route.

The standard cast iron L-shaped keel (1.95m draft) offers good all-round performance but I'd be leaning towards the deeper, slimmer Competition keel with lead bulb if I wanted to win. Alternatively you can order a shallow draft keel.

The standard set of Elvstrom sails (main and 105 per cent headsail) are practical for most club sailing, however, you can hot-up performance with a set of Elvstrom HPM carbon race sails. Another performance booster is a Elvstrom Gennaker flying off a fixed bowsprit.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMMODATION
- A big boat feel above and below decks
Stepping aboard for a test sail on Pittwater, I was immediately taken by the roominess of the Dehler’s deck area. She seems much bigger than any 34-footer I'd sailed before and access is so easy via the fold-down stern platform.

The clever mix of racer and cruiser is apparent in the cockpit design. The side coamings  provide an angled face so they make ideal seats when racing. The cockpit also features a cavernous stowage locker under the port seat to swallow all those extra ropes, fenders and sails which normal clutter up the cabin.

The companionway has tinted storm boards cleverly retracting into the doorframe so there's no danger of losing them overboard in stormy seas.

Below is a surprisingly roomy cabin with delightful galley off to starboard with dual sink, icebox/fridge and gimballed stainless-steel oven/stove. There's even a dedicated cutlery draw.

Portside of the companionway is an equally impressive 'bathroom' with a Dehler Uni-door that closes off the separate toilet/shower booth from the washbasin area. Ahead of this utility zone is a very comfortable, stylish saloon with upholstered seating. Here you can host six guests around a central dining table with folding flaps and a roll-out wine locker.

The German love of good design is apparent in the beautiful curved timber veneer lockers behind the settee lounges. They've added custom-designed headrests that fit over the lockers. It's a simple but brilliant touch!

Sleeping choices are either a double-berth cabin aft of the galley, or a master double-berth cabin up in the bow. You can have the latter cabin with a traditional closed-in bulkhead with door, or like the test boat, a cut-away bulkhead. The latter's my choice because it dramatically opens up the whole interior and makes the Dehler feel lighter and brighter. If you do have guests staying over, just add a canvass privacy curtain.

In typical Dehler fashion, finish and build quality is top class. But it's the sense of lightness and space achieved by a soft, light-coloured trim that you really remember. There’s a choice of teak (as tested) or cherrywood trim but either way the interior feels light and airy. And it's helped by natural light spilling from overhead skylights, topside and cabin ports.

HULL AND ENGINEERING
- Composite construction in a modern hull form
The new 34 Dehler is fairly typical of the modern trend of a beamy shallow-bodied hull with short ends. However, she takes it a step further by extra performance touches like a deep elliptical rudder.

The hull also features a sophisticated foam-cored construction and a carbon reinforced internal hull grid. All this greatly improves sailing performance by making the hull more rigid and providing more support for the keel-stepped mast and gunwale-mounted shrouds.

The hull has a vinylester outer skin layer to keep out moisture and improve longevity. The keel is securely bolted onto the carbon-fibre cage and ensures the Dehler 34 is robust and seaworthy.

ON THE WATER
- Easily driven, sailed and up to speed
We lucked into a fresh but variable northwester for the test sail. With standard furler and mainsail boom catcher it took us no time to be sailing.

The Competition rig certainly makes for a more responsive, sporty feel on the helm. It's especially fun going upwind and being able to swoop her up in the gusts.

Actually it only took about five minutes for our three crew to get into the race mode and sail past two bigger cruising yachts out for a mid-week sail. I doubt their crew were as concerned  about speed, but hey, it was fun all the same!

Two other features in the cockpit — the end boom mainsheet system and floor traveller plus adjustable backstay — allow you to further improve sailing performance.

The German mainsheet system leads back to winches either side of the traveller and is perfect for getting the best out of the bigger sail.

There's also adjustable headsail sheet cars and a 'barber hauler' to further refine sail setting.

In a breeze of 10-18 knots we were getting an impressive 5.8 -6 knots upwind and hit a quick 7-8 knots as we reached away in a strong gust.

The helm was balanced and performance was sporty. It's just a great little sports sailing yacht. It's roomy, spacious and it sails really well.

VERDICT
- An ideal yacht for today’s market
The German yard has picked the right time to release this new version of the Dehler 34. There's been a real need in the popular sailing market for a 34-footer that has sporty performance plus real cruise-appeal.

At 10.7m you she doesn't need a lot of crew to do a twilight race and with stack-pack mainsail and headsail furler you're off the mooring quickly.

Above all, the Dehler 34s moderate size keeps her affordable to run and cheaper to marina berth. So as an owner you more likely to see her as a 'keeper' rather than a short-term fling. A modern classic!

LIKES
>> Responsive and fast under sail
>> Spacious interior with clever use of space
>> Twin wheels frees up cockpit area

NOT SO MUCH
>> Floor-mounted mainsheet traveller can jam if ropes not kept tidy
>> Higher entrance step to companionway.
>> No rope hangers in cockpit sail locker.

Specifications: Dehler 34
Price as Tested:  $320k including twin steering wheels, competition alloy rig, 27hp Yanmar diesel Saildrive, teak decking, Navigation pack with wind/speed, GPS plotter, VHF radio) anchor windlass, Entertainment package
Price Standard Boat: $269k sail-away with tiller, 18hp Yanmar diesel Saildrive, antifouled

LOA: 10.70m
Hull Length: 10.30m
Beam: 3.60m
Draft: 1.55m Shallow; 1.95m Standard; 2.10m Competition
Displacement: 5950kg Standard; 5450kg Competition
Sail Area: 65sq m Standard; 71sq m Competition
Auxiliary: 18-27hp diesel Saildrive
Water Tankage: 210lt
Fuel Tankage: 160lt
Certification: CE Class B

Supplied by:
Team Windcraft
Bayview NSW
Phone  02 9979 1709
email  boats@windcraft.com.au
See
Windcraft Dehler.