Dehler 41... Fun DownUnder
Here's a couple of great shots of the Dehler 41 sailing on Sydney Harbour in June 2012.
Even in the light breeze the 41 accelerated beautifully and cut through the chop.
Everyone commented on the huge cockpit which gave the crew heaps of working space.
Handing over the first Dehler 41 was always going to be an exciting day.
For the team at Windcraft it was the culmination of many hours discussing and studying this new model from Judel and Vrolijk.
For the new owner, it was a special day. He's just sold his Hanse yacht and he is ready to change gears and step up to this sporty mistress.
The first sail was made even better by the fact that we had 20-25 knots of breeze blowing on Sydney Harbour...
... just what we needed to put this sublime yacht through her paces!
The Dehler was responsive and accelerated quickly - time would tell how she stacked up against her friendly competition.
After a Champagne Christening on the dock at Windcraft's Sydney harbour office, we headed round to the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, picked up a crew member and joined the twilight race.
The breeze was gusting to 23 knots so we were at the top end of a full main and No.2 and being only 5 up and working hard to get around the track in reasonable shape.
It was nice to benchmark the Dehler against the other boats on the water and happily we did respectfully well for a for an opening foray.
Upwind this yacht is stiff while sailing high and fast bringing a smile to her owner's face the whole way round the course.
Off the breeze and despite a lack of spinnaker pole as yet, we seemed very fast downhill taking time out of most of the competition.
It's clear that the Dehler 41 has the versatility and potential to take a crew to whatever level they feel comfortable sailing at.
Whether cruising with the cockpit table and drop down transom or sailing hard as an IRC racer, she really does have the potential to be up with the best.
And the quality of build and finish... that's another story!
Dehler 41 Australian Debut Melbourne 2012
The Dehler 41 looked fantastic at her Premier at the Melbourne International Boat and Lifestyle Festival in 2012.
Crowds loved her great proportions and stunning lines. They were surprised by the affordability of this quality performance cruiser.
How Dehler build quality yachts
Team Windcraft's MD Peter Hrones visited the Dehler Factory in Germany in July 2011 and took these photos of the new Dehler 41 in production.
Peter is passionate about good yacht design and he was very impressed with design and build quality of the new Dehler.
Dehler yachts are hand built in a stand-alone factory by a dedicated team.
Dehler use a Vinylester resin with a high density foam core which is light and strong. The team use incredibly thin multi-directional fibers which are hand laid to exacting thicknesses. This is all vacuum infused to produce a world class lay-up and enable pinpoint quality control.
The exteriors are designed by sailors for sailors. We particularly like the thoughtful, ergonomic moulding in the cockpit.
The interior is beautifully finished - the joinery is a particularly high standard.
Take look on deck and at the best interior you'll find on a racing yacht.