Drawing of the Dehly25 "Willy"
The idea was ambitious - but how the project, which began three years ago with a wreck, could not be foreseen. In 2016, YACHT wrote in the first article in the series on the refit of a scrap-ripe Dehly25: "In a one-off project, we will be modernizing a 32-year-old yacht from the ground up in the coming months. We want to show what surprises a boat that can be sailed at first glance can be knows how big the need for overhaul actually is, but also what is possible with modern materials, up-to-date equipment and fresh ideas."
From today's perspective, in retrospect, an extremely optimistic assessment, if not to say naive. It quickly became clear that it wouldn't be a normal refit, if it even existed. The boat, bought in the Netherlands for 5000 euros, turned out to be almost a total loss. The interior work could no longer be saved, the teak in the cockpit came off, the sail and mast were cases for bulky waste. The list with the damage analysis got longer and longer: various, sometimes severe hull damage, pronounced osmosis in the underwater area, reinforcements in the bow and under the mast foot that are in the process of being dissolved. The keel could no longer be moved, the windows and fittings were ready for scrap and, and, and. In fact, there was virtually no area that was not worked on that did not need to be renovated. Only the endoscopic examination of the water ballast tank saved the project. Apparently due to the long standing time on land, it was not affected by osmosis. A complete renovation at this point would have meant the end of the project.
Part of the concept was that the necessary work would not be done by YACHT editors - thank God - but by selected partners in the maritime industry; by specialist companies, which should show what is possible in their respective trade, what costs and how much time can be expected, where it is worthwhile to lend a hand and what is better left to the specialist.
The finished boat can be seen in YACHT 2/2020 and you can read how the individual measures interact, what has been improved, what has remained the same. And also what it all cost. A detailed table lists all the work, the hours required and the material costs. The magazine is available in the DK shop, or you can download the report directly from the link below
Did you not follow the project? In our blog you can read everything from the beginning and watch it in many video documentations.