Dehler 34: A Sporty, Well-Mannered Cruiser
Dehler’s first 34 foot performance cruiser won great acclaim when it was launched 30 years ago, and for 2016 there’s an all new Dehler 34.
This German builder of quality performance cruisers made its name in the mid 1980s with the original Dehler 34. This was based on a hugely successful raceboat design that took the top four places among the best teams in the world at the 1984 Three Quarter Ton Cup. The design was then thoroughly revamped into a well-mannered performance cruiser with a lower center of gravity keel, top-notch sail handling systems, and a quality interior. It was an instant hit, with some 1,200 sold over the decade. This boat helped define the company’s brand and has since become something of a classic. So how does the company’s new 34 footer compare? Let’s have a look.
Key attributes
Although the original Dehler 34 was a ground-breaking boat in its day, yacht design has advanced hugely over the past three decades. For instance, although the new boat has more or less the same hull length as the original, waterline length is a whopping 4’2” longer. Maximum beam is also 8” greater and is extended further aft. The result is a significantly bigger and more sophisticated boat, yet one that also has radically more stability thanks to both the modern hull shape and a deep draft bulb keel.
The extra stability translates directly into four key advantages: comfort at sea, ease of handling (because response in gusts is tamer), safety, and the ability to carry more sail. The latter points to a further difference between the two boats—despite its more restrained styling and more refined handling this is a significantly faster boat than the old one.
The difference between sailing the old 34 and the new one is as large as that between driving a car built in the 80’s and one built today.
Dehler has always made good engineering a key selling point and continues to do so with the new boat. The floor structure, for instance, is reinforced with uni-directional carbon fiber at strategic points, creating what the company calls a “carbon cage”. It’s claimed this increases the rigidity of the floor structure by 20 percent and the mast base by an impressive 50 percent.
Below decks
The interior has a well proportioned, quality feel. The layout provides for two large cabins, while the saloon has two comfortable settees, an excellent L-shape galley and a small navigation station. The heads compartment is equipped with Dehler’s Uni-Door concept, in which one door separates three areas, providing maximum privacy when space is limited.
Interior options include a semi-open plan forepeak in lieu of the standard separate cabin and weight-saving furniture aimed at buyers for whom performance is a key criteria.
On deck and sailing performance
The new Judel/Vrolijk design has retained sporty sailing characteristics, with a hull shape that promotes higher maximum speeds than the earlier boat. Karl Dehler, chief developer of Dehler, says: "The new Dehler 34 was developed as a luxurious performance cruiser, with an incredible amount of space, headroom and tank volume. Performance oriented sailors can upgrade the 34 with everything—and I mean absolutely everything—that leads to more performance.”
The deck layout includes a German-style mainsheet system, with a 2:1 purchase tailed to winches each side of the traveler.
In addition to the features that make it easy for a small crew to sail the boat close to the maximum performance potential, there’s also a fold-down bathing platform and automatic stowage for the washboards.
Equipment and options
The boat was conceived with a wide range of options that enable it to be configured to owners’ exact requirements. For instance, you can choose tiller steering or twin wheels and three keel types are available: a competition T-keel with 6’9” draft and two L-shaped keels with 6’4” and 5’1” draft. Other external options include a bathing platform and a fixed bowsprit that’s used for both anchor handling and for Code 0 and other asymmetric spinnakers.
This is a boat that blends comfort with a design that will clearly be a lot of fun to sail. While there are boats of this length that offer more interior volume not all of them use that space to full advantage, nor can they match the Dehler’s refined sporty handling.
Compromises
Building a boat to this standard and with this level of deck gear is inevitably more expensive than one that’s trimmed down to the minimum equipment necessary. Nevertheless, the base price of the new boat is still competitive and in real terms, allowing for inflation over the past 30 years, is significantly lower than that of the original Dehler 34 when it was first launched. Given how much of a superior boat the new model is, it’s clearly excellent value in those terms.
Other models in the range
This builder currently has a range of six models, from the Dehler 29, up to the Dehler 46, with this new 34 and the 42 being the most recent launches. The company is part of the larger Hanse Group.
Other Choices: There are fewer performance cruisers in this part of the market than in previous years. The 36-foot J/112E is aimed at a similar part of the market. The new Bavaria 34, while more of an outright cruising boat than the Dehler, has an efficient keel that will help to promote good performance and handling.
For more information, visit Dehler.
See Dehler listings.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Length | 35'1" |
| Beam | 11'8" |
| Draft (shoal/standard/deep) | 5'1"/6'4"/6'9" |
| Sail Area (standard/competition) | 700/764 sq. ft. |
| Displacement | 13,117 lbs |
| Fuel capacity | 42 gal. |
| Water capacity | 61 gal. |
