Nothing without purpose

So much of yacht design over the years has involved compromises, it’s almost become the defining feature of the artform. Boats are designed to maximise their chances within the strictures of certain design rules conventions, or of owners’ conflicting desires. This usually results in a cascading effect – one compromise piling on top of another.

An example: genoas need to overlap the side stays, so a narrower shroud base is called for, which makes it harder to hold up the mast, which leads to the intricate arrangements of multiple-spreader rigs. Which, in turn create their own challenges. And so it goes. Keelboats need an auxiliary engine. Which means a dragging propeller. Which is why folding props were invented. Which are inefficient. And so it goes.

The Dehler designers have tried to side-step this. For example, the boat employs a patented ‘Stealth Drive’ system, whereby a grunty three-blade propeller and its shaft are retracted into a hull recess and sealed by flanges. The best of both worlds: good