Blue Oyster Dehler 60 368
Simonis/Voogd Yacht Design’s original office is in South Africa, and as a result, they pride themselves on designing yachts that are fast, bluewater boats. Their latest 60-footer for the German production boat builder, Dehler Yachts, bears all the hallmarks of such a boat.
The Dehler 60 is a second-generation version of a recent design. “We had designed two boats for Dehler, a 44 and a 34, and when we were asked to design their new flagship, we jumped at the opportunity,” says Alex Simonis. “We proposed a 60-footer because at the time we had just completed two successful 60-foot custom sisterships. We got a lot of feedback on the design. In this day and age there’s hardly any time for full-size development and prototyping, and we realized we had a rare opportunity to do back-to-back second-generation development. In that size of production boat, you rarely have the opportunity to build a prototype, go sailing, and take what you learn and use that in boat number three.”
The changes weren’t major, just some structural work below and a new deck to accommodate the Dehler style, and the result is a cockpit designed to accommodate either a shorthanded or a full racing crew, and an easily customized interior.
The Dehler 60 carries a three-spreader carbon mast with an extended masthead crane to accommodate the full-roach main, and an aluminum pocket boom. The backstay is split to allow access to the swim platform. The headsail is non-overlapping and has an electrically powered belowdecks furling system.
A bayonet-style attachment connects the oversized spinnaker pole to the mast to carry the masthead symmetric spinnaker. A manual hydraulic system controls the backstay, outhaul, and vang. The hull, deck, and internal structure are made from epoxy resin and E-glass enclosing a closed-cell foam. Both the hull and deck are laid up in female molds. Under the water is a lead T-bulb supported by a steel fin encapsulated in epoxy. The keel is fitted into a recessed flange in the hull, which is made of solid laminate. The rudder, which is controlled by two wheels on deck, is made from a carbon-fiber sandwich and carbon rudderstock, which is supported with self-aligning needle bearings at the hull and deck level. The cable steering system is driven by a chain-and-sprocket arrangement and aluminum quadrants. A 108-horsepower Volvo diesel powers a folding prop. On deck, the Dehler 60 comes standard with teak decking on the cockpit sole, side decks, and on of the deckhouse.
Technical Highlights
LOA 60’2”
Beam 15’9″
DSPL 41,888 lbs.
Draft 10’9”
SA (u/d) 1,915/3,737 sq. ft.
Mast Nordic
Rigging Dehler rod steel
