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Testing the Dehler 30 one design

| Dehler News

Periklis Livas is an experienced offshore sailor and skipper of the OPTIMUM Yacht Racing Team, a successful yacht club from Athens that already participated in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Together with his team of four he tested the Dehler 30 one design in Barcelona. He wrote us an inspiring letter about this adventure:

“Dear Dehler-Team,

It is a pleasure for me to share with you the extremely positive experience we all four of us had actually seeing, motoring, sailing and even sleeping on the boat in Barcelona on Sunday.

When we arrived at the Olympic port in Barcelona we immediately discovered the black carbon mast. Already on the pontoon we had the feeling that we were looking at a very modern and beautiful offshore yacht. Xavi from SailingYachts Iberica had told us that we should prepare the boat for sailing, as he was still busy on the boat show and therefore could not accompany us to the test drive. So we went on board and she hardly moved, even when I climbed with my 90 kilos. I walked over the foreship and stopped at the removable bowsprit, which was a feast for the eyes. All the fittings seemed to be truly designed for offshore racing. Super solid and resilient design! From the bow to the stern this boat looked incredibly good. Four of us walked around the deck looking at the boat from all angles, even from the boats next to us, to see it from some distance. She looked perfectly proportioned and all around pleasant to the eye!

Jerry, one of our team members, brought the rolled black mainsail all by himself from the bottom of the deck and said how much he liked boats where he could do all the work alone. Evi and Vicky brought the sheets, the winch handles and the two outriggers. Quickly we found out where everything belonged and found out how good the quality of the whole equipment was. When Xavi arrived, all he had to do was explain to us how the lowerable drive system works. We realized we had figured it out for ourselves. Simple and logical! Now it was time for us to sail "Play Harder". We took off and drove under engine out of the port. The Stealth Drive was easy to fold in and out. Then we set jib and mainsail. With a true wind of 10-12 knots we sailed first upwind. Very fast reaction accelerated the yacht in the turns. As a helmsman one sat perfectly and could adapt the footrests depending upon body size with a leash and a cleat. All angles of the fittings were perfectly aligned so that we could continuously trim the sails. Thumbs up for those who thought it up! The swell was higher than the wind suggested, but the boat cut smoothly and without stomping through the water. We fished the sails and set the A2 gennaker. A little later she started surfing at 10 knots. We steered a few times in the direction of Marina Olympico Barcelona until we returned to the berth. Three hours of pure sailing fun on an extremely well thought-out and ultra-modern regatta yacht lay behind us. I asked Xavi if we could leave our bags in the boat to eat something and bridge the time until our return flight to Athens. He happily agreed. We ate very well in "La Barca" and returned to "Play Harder" in the early darkness.

Two of us sat on each side of the salon and began to admire the details of the interior. Evi, who is not only a competent sailor but also an interior designer, explained to us how well thought out she found the interior concept. She asked us to come to her side to see if four adults could sit comfortably on both sides of the bench with the table folded out. The LED lighting, the rounded corners and the smart fabrics created a feeling of cosiness and were also beautiful to look at. We invited two more Spanish couples who had been looking at the boat from the outside for quite some time. Shortly afterwards we sat eight in the saloon and couldn't believe that we were sitting on a regatta yacht only 30 feet long that would have had room for all of us to sleep. When the Spaniards left, I suggested that we take a two-hour nap until we set off for our flight at 02:00 a.m. Vicky and I took the starboard aft cabin and Jerry took the port cabin with Evi. We were lucky that Vicky had set her alarm clock, otherwise we would have overslept our return flight.

How much more comfortable could a regatta yacht be?

Yours sincerely,
Periklis Livas”