Dehler 39 and 39 SQ, an IMS-Era Cruiser-Racer on the Used Market

The boat that changed how a Dehler looked

In the mid-1990s Dehler began working with the Bremerhaven design office Judel/Vrolijk & Co, and the partnership brought the steep stems and upright sterns that define the brand today. The 39 was one of the first larger results. Yachting Monthly called it a sea change in Dehler's design philosophy: gone were the quirky, central-winch cruisers of the 1980s, replaced by a sporty, conventional layout with a long, narrow waterline, an almost plumb stem and beam carried well aft into powerful stern sections.

The timing matters for anyone researching the Dehler 39. The yard went through insolvency in 1998 and was taken over by the Dutch Neptunus group, and the new Judel/Vrolijk models helped the recovery. Dates in the sources differ: Dehler's own archive files the 39 SQ under 1998, Yachting Monthly says the 39 was launched in 2000, and sailboatdata lists 1996 for the 39 and 2004 for the SQ. What is clear is that the design was still offered with a 2009 specification sheet and was tested by Scandinavian and German magazines in 2010, before disappearing from the 2011 range.

Dehler 39 or 39 SQ: same hull, different trim

SQ stood for speed and quality, a label Dehler applied in the 2000s to the 36, 39 and other models. Sailboatdata describes the 39 SQ as the same hull as the 39 with a taller rig, and the numbers bear that out. The early 39 measured by Yachting Monthly was 11.8 m long with a 1.95 m draft and about 7,000 kg displacement. The later specification lists 11.99 m overall, a 3.85 m beam, 7,600 kg and 2,950 kg of ballast, with the mast top 18.85 m above the waterline.

Dehler's 2009 brochure is labeled 39SQ on the cover while calling the boat the Dehler 39 inside, so do not expect a hard line between the names on the brokerage market. When comparing listings, focus on keel type, rig height, engine and layout rather than the badge.

Three keels and a three-spreader rig

Dehler's brochure lists three keels, all with a lead torpedo bulb bolted with stainless studs to a grid laminated into the bilge. The standard keel draws 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) with a displacement of 7,600 kg. The shoal keel draws 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in), carries 3,260 kg of ballast and raises displacement to 7,875 kg. The deep racing keel draws 2.35 m (7 ft 9 in) with 2,295 kg of ballast in a lighter 6,950 kg boat.

The 9/10 fractional rig has a keel-stepped aluminum mast with three pairs of spreaders and Dyform stainless shrouds, with a 50 m2 main and a 38 m2 105 percent jib for 88 m2 (947 sq ft) of upwind sail. Downwind the brochure lists a 120 m2 spinnaker. Yachting Monthly found the boat tacks through a close-winded 80 degrees with its big main and vertical-batten blade jib, but warned that she is quite wet going to windward. A below-deck furler keeps the foredeck clean.

A race record that still helps resale

Dehler's brochure claims the design won IMS championship titles many times, and the boat came from the period when Dehler crews raced hard in northern Europe and the Mediterranean. For an American buyer that history is mostly useful as a guide to how the boat sails: it is a genuinely quick hull that rates as a performance cruiser under PHRF and ORC, not a heavy cruiser with a racing label.

Expect a used 39 to be competitive in club racing with a good sail inventory, and to need the deep keel and a fresh set of laminates to fight for line honors. Most owners today use them as fast coastal cruisers, which is where the 39 is at its best.

Two cabins or three, with cherry joinery

The standard layout has a double cabin forward, one large aft cabin and a single head with a separate wet locker for foul-weather gear. Options included a starboard aft space finished as a storage room with a mattress, a three-cabin layout and a three-cabin version with a second head. Later boats were trimmed in cherry with an off-white headliner, and the galley came with pressurized hot water, double stainless sinks, a compressor cool box and a two-burner stove with oven.

Yachting Monthly judged the interior bland compared with the brash styling of earlier Dehlers but praised the high fit-out standard, the excellent L-shaped galley and heads, a roomy forecabin and a large port aft cabin. The weak points were a slightly stark saloon short on stowage and a small chart table.

Dehler 39 engine and tankage

The 2009 specification lists a Yanmar 3YM30 of 29 hp; sailboatdata notes Yanmar 3JH engines on earlier boats. Water capacity is 230 liters (61 gallons) and fuel 110 liters (29 gallons), which is modest. A couple cruising the New England coast will be fine; anyone planning long motoring legs down the Intracoastal Waterway should budget for jerry cans or an extra tank.

No independent motoring speed or fuel burn figures were published for the 39. With roughly 30 hp in a 7,600 kg hull, expect a comfortable passage speed somewhat below the 7.9-knot hull speed.

Not to be confused with the 39 CWS

The earlier Dehler 39 CWS from about 1988 is an entirely different van de Stadt design. Yachting Monthly explained that it used the hull of the old Dehler 38 with its IOR bumps smoothed out, measured just 37 ft 10 in on deck despite the name, and led every line to the central winch pedestal with a self-tacking jib. It is an easy shorthanded cruiser, but it is narrower, lighter and slower than the Judel/Vrolijk 39, and listings sometimes mix the two.

Buying a used Dehler 39

The youngest boats are now about 16 years old and the oldest more than 25, so a survey should focus on the predictable aging items: rigging, sails, the balsa-cored deck around fittings, teak decks, the engine and its saildrive or shaft, and the keel attachment. Hand-laid balsa sandwich construction is stiff and durable when the core stays dry, and Dehler bolted the keel into a laminated grid, but a grounding on the deep racing keel is worth investigating carefully.

Typical asking prices run from about $85,000 to $165,000 depending on year, keel and condition, with the best-kept later 39 SQs at the top. Budget about $11,000 to $26,000 a year for a slip, insurance, haul-out and routine maintenance on a boat this size.