Design and Construction
The Dehler 22 is built predominantly of fiberglass with wood trim, carrying a raked stem and an open, walk-through reverse transom with a gate. Beneath the waterline the boat uses a lifting keel — a fixed fin or stub keel paired with a swing keel — and an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller, which Steve Henkel's review noted is easily removable. The 880 pounds of ballast comprise 440 pounds of lead and 440 pounds of flooding water ballast; the water side is drained to lighten the hull for road transport, a defining trait of the trailerable concept. With ballast of 880 lb against 1,980 lb displacement and a 2.51 capsize ratio, the little monohull reads as a stable coastal daysailer rather than a bluewater candidate.
Rig and Handling
The boat carries a fractional sloop rig of the Bermuda type, with a total sail area of 210 square feet spread across a 126-square-foot mainsail and an 83-square-foot jib. The keel is raised and lowered by a worm gear operated from the deck with a standard winch handle, a system Henkel praised for keeping control at the helm. A small 4 to 6 hp outboard mounted on a vertical sliding bracket handles docking; Henkel observed that the motor slides up the transom to cut drag under sail. Extra stays prevent mast sway at the ramp and permit singlehanded rigging and unrigging, and a floating slipway trolley rides piggyback on a roll-on, roll-off road trailer for launch and retrieval. On the race course the design carries a PHRF average handicap of 225 and a hull speed of 5.8 knots.
Accommodations
Below, the Dehler 22 sleeps four: a double V-berth occupies the bow cabin with the head tucked underneath, while two straight settee quarter berths fill the main cabin. Cabin headroom is 51 inches, consistent with a trailerable weekender. The galley is a slide-out unit under the companionway ladder, fitted with a two-burner stove and sink — a compact arrangement Henkel highlighted as a slide-out galley unit. The opening transom gate doubles as a swimming platform, extending the usable cockpit space aft.
The Verdict
The Dehler 22 is a thoughtfully engineered small trailer sailor from van de Stadt's pencil, pairing draining water ballast with a deck-operated lifting keel and a removable rudder to make road transport and ramp launching genuinely practical. Its fractional rig and modest sail area suit casual club racing and daysailing, while the four-berth interior with a slide-out galley gives it real overnight capability for its size. The kit-built Dehlya variant and the short production run mean surviving boats are a niche but coherent expression of early-1980s Dehler small-boat thinking.
Pros
- Draining water ballast and lifting keel simplify trailering and shallow-water access
- Deck-operated worm gear keel control and removable rudder aid singlehanded launch
- Sleeps four with head and slide-out galley in a 21-foot hull
- Fractional sloop rig with extra stays for solo rigging at the ramp
Cons
- 51-inch headroom limits below-deck comfort for taller sailors
- Outboard-only propulsion with sliding mount offers no inboard option
- Brief three-year production span limits fleet size and spares commonality
