Delphia 31

By Katherine Stone

Photos by Penny McLaren

After a week of overcast skies and no wind, I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to see the clouds lift, the sun come out, and the breeze come up for a beautiful sail off the shores of northern Lake Ontario on the functional, solid, and very reliable Delphia 31, showcased at North Lakes Yachting, Inc. in Mississauga, Ontario. Owner and president, Slavek Kroliklewicz joined me, along with photographer, Penny McLaren for stunning sail in lovely 8-10 knot breeze. Slavek is passionate about these boats because of their exquisite workmanship and attention to every detail, down to the stainless steel rather than plastic holding tanks, and use of finished marine plywood in their craftsmanship.

Two brothers, Piotr and Wojciech Kot launched their idea of building a boat in their garage. Unlike Rod Johnston, their garage was 27 feet long, instead of 24. They were delayed in completing the boat, and were unable to get into the Euopean boat show in January, so were outside in the cold with parkas to promote their new creation. Not only did they sell their proto-type, they received orders for 5 more boats, to commence the Sport Lake line of watercrafts. The shipyard was then opened in 1990 in the northeast corner of Poland in the town of Olecko. In 2002 they rebranded the boat line. Father of the brothers had travelled to Philadelphia and liked the city so much, they shortened the name to christen the boats they manufactured to Delphia. They have no loans from the bank, no shareholders, no deficit financing, and a long stable management team – it is truly family owned and operated. They employ 500 local craftsmen and workers to produce 2300 boats/year (roughly 80 %power/20 % sail) and they won’t make a boat unless they sail it first.

The Delphia 31 is built to last, surviving roll overs and rocks, the boat comes away without structural damage. Designed by Andrew Skrzat, the boat comes with so many options, that you end up with a custom-designed boat for the price of a “box boat”. The interior offers 5 different wood colours of beech, cherry, walnut, teak, or mahogany. Full length grab rails and other hand holds throughout the cabin provide for safety, comfort, and stability. The panoramic windows allow natural light to flood the cabin that can easily accommodate 6 adults for sleeping and eating. The cabin height of 6’4” also takes into account the length of the berths to sleep people of these heights! The backs of the settees even come off to provide wider, fully cushioned berths in the salon. Everywhere your eye rests, corners and surfaces are finished with craftsmanship. Storage is abundant throughout, not only under the settees, but also under the v-berth. Grills are found throughout the cabin to ensure good ventilation in areas that might attract mildew. LED lighting is regulated with switches on the cabin top. Separate switches for the engine and house batteries, allow you to start the engine on the house battery in an emergency. The salon ceiling hatch is equipped with both a screen and sun shade that is recessed into the cabin top.

The compact galley has oodles of storage, gas or electric 2 burner stove and oven, 75 L fridge, and seven options for the countertops from a HPL composite material to Corian, to ensure they resemble your own home kitchen. The marine head is equipped with a shower that pulls up from the faucet and a 150 litre fresh water tank that is above the water line.

Cooling air fans inside the cabin are installed at the factory in Poland, so that no cables are visible, along with any other custom requests. Even wires running inside the Seldon mast all meet at the base of the mast on the cabin ceiling which is accessible from inside the salon.

All Delphia boats are made of closed cell rigid foam (Airex) in a sandwich construction of vinylester gelcoat for more durability, like that of ocean racing boats which allows them to be lighter, stronger, and safer. The aluminum toe rail is constructed into the hull for strength and safety. All their yachts are certified Open Ocean by the European Union Standards, Germanische, Lloyds, and Transport Canada.

Moving topsides you will find that the cockpit door comes off and stores on top of the companionway. Teak laid cockpit seats and flooring add nice warmth to the self-draining, generous cockpit with a small swim platform and liberal size lockers. Harken self-tailing winches make for easy sail trimming. Rather than sheet bags, Delphia uses smart rubber hooks and hangers to keep your lines tidy and off the cockpit floor. The dodger folds down easily and is a breeze to put back up with easy rubberized loops rather than snaps to hold it in place.

The rack and pinion steering is made by Jefa (Danish) and when under motor is powered by an 18 HP Volvo Penta engine that feeds on a 100 litre diesel tank. Starting your engine only requires a push of a button, so your keys are one less thing you can forget! You can chose from a shaft or sail drive, although the prop wash certainly is reduced with the sail drive.

Keeping with options theme, although the model found at North Lakes Yachting has AGM batteries and BEP electrical systems, you may wish to opt for Raymarine or Garmin. The keel is available in two types of swing keels for sailing in smaller lakes or a fixed 6 foot cast iron keel for blue water sailing. Although the jib is self-furling, you may wish to have a self-furling main or a fixed main. Elvstrom sails made in Poland complete the sail-away package. Would you like to go through locks and under bridges – they also have a mast lowering unit available!

This compact family/classic/modern cruiser was built on principal and the Kot brothers stand by their principals. I think that is why Slavek really enjoys doing business with them and you will too. The sail-away package has everything including an electric windlass with remote control, gennaker, bow sprit, customized dodger/bimini and safety package, so you literally CAN sail it away from the dock for $165,000 Canadian. With the dependability of working with the largest builder of luxury yachts, between 7-15 metres in length, in Poland, it is easy to see why they won the 2012/2013 European Open Transom Boat of the Year award.

Specifications