vilm sailboats

• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Newsletters
• Sailboat Reviews
• Boating Safety
• Sails and Rigging
• Maintenance
• Sailing Totem
• Sailor & Galley
• Living Aboard
• Destinations
• Gear & Electronics
• Charter Resources
• Ultimate Boating Giveaway

• By Jeremy McGeary
• Updated: May 1, 2002

East Germany would seem an unlikely provenance for a luxury sailboat, but the surprising Vilm 116 is built in Lauterbach, on the Baltic island of Rügen, once veiled behind the Iron Curtain. Proximity to the recreational markets on the Baltic’s democratic shores and a potential stream of hard currency made a venture into capitalist products tempting even to the Soviets, so Bootsbau Rügen, a yard with 19th-century roots as a builder of fishing boats, converted early to fiberglass and added yachts to its output.

Since it came from Germany, I should have expected to find an example of Germanic thoroughness once I was on board the Vilm 116 on its mooring in Annapolis harbor. It’s beautifully made, and it’s invested with the kind of detail usually found only on custom yachts. But along with the many great facets of the boat’s design were some features that look like oversights when compared with cruising-boat design as it’s practiced on the edges of the great oceans. All of these points could be addressed and probably at the source, given that the builder is willing to accommodate customers’ whims in the interior layout and obviously takes great pride in its product.

My first impression was of a handsome and attractive, if slightly retro, look. In fact, many aspects of the Vilm 116 suggest that its designers are behind the curve compared with their contemporaries in the series-production genre. That’s not a bad thing. By observing from a distance, they can perhaps avoid some of the more faddish design detours made by the market leaders.

Although the architect, Georg Nissen, has designed Admiral’s Cuppers, there’s no raceboat reference in the Vilm profile. He has made a strict differentiation between boats that sail around the buoys and those that sail around the capes. Neither is this a “performance cruiser.” Its builders promote it as a 90/90 motorsailer, by which they mean it offers 90 percent of the performance of both a motorsailer and a sailboat. Its appearance supports that notion. The fairly steep bow and undramatic transom are reminiscent of some center-cockpit cruising boats of the late 1960s, as is the hard dodger. Seen in plan view, the hull shows a little less beam than today’s fashion, and though carried somewhat aft, it’s again not as extreme. The boat’s well-mannered handling would bear out the wisdom of this conservative approach. The center cockpit is quite far aft, balancing the superstructure shapes nicely and allowing the galley and head to be placed plumb in the middle of the boat. It deprives the aft cabin of space for a second head, but the way I envision the Vilm 116 being used, that’s no handicap.

The cockpit itself is two-thirds covered by the hard dodger, and a detachable canvas enclosure keeps the elements from intruding into the rest of it, making it another “room” in all but the worst weather. Bench seats either side are long enough to sleep on, and there’s lots of flat surface forward of the steering station to mount instruments or spread out a chart. The boat we tested had a pedestal-mounted helm seat. Visibility from it is great, but it might feel precarious at 20 degrees of heel in a seaway. The builder would probably entertain other arrangements. Forward-opening hatches in the hard top let in air and light and permit a view of the mainsail and masthead. Wolfgang Deitrich of International Yachting Center, importer of the Vilm, noted that putting clear panels in the canvas roof would improve the view aloft.

No passageway connects the cabins, so the boat doesn’t have the wedding-cake profile imposed by need for walk-through headroom. The cockpit sole is relatively low, and the space beneath it is devoted to machinery. Huge bins under both cockpit benches not only keep stuff handy but also place it low and close to the center of the boat. A big cockpit-sole hatch opens to expose the entire engine space. Not only is there elbow room around all the machinery; there’s also room for effective sound deadening, and under-way decibel readings on this boat were among the lowest of the entire 2002 Boat of the Year fleet. Heading out from the mooring, it was comforting to feel that muffled drone underfoot, rather than the edgier vibration often felt on boats of this size. It comes from a 50-horsepower Volvo Penta engine connected to conventional running gear by an Aquadrive flexible coupling.

The Living Is Easy

The arrangement plan looks austere by today’s benchmarks, almost as though the draftsman dispensed with his curves once he’d completed the hull. Which is as it should be. Save for the rounded corners to soften contact with human flesh, boat furniture is most practical when it’s made up of straight lines and flat surfaces. And this boat, in the view of the BOTY judges, is blessed with some of the most comfortable seating and sea berths they saw this year.

Access to the aft cabin is through a forward-facing hatch in the cockpit. I discovered the shortcomings of these many years ago on a 1,000-mile slog in Morgan OI 41 hull number 6. Every dollop of spray coming over the bow that missed the helmsman homed right in on that hatch. The hard dodger will keep out some of the spray, and the canvas cockpit enclosure a good deal more, but then the cockpit becomes a little claustrophobic for the wind-in-the-hair sailor. If you’re doing it right and not sailing to windward, this criticism is moot, as it is also if you’re a little late heading down Chesapeake Bay in a chilly fall. And in almost any conditions, the aft cabin is a cozy place to spend the off-watch hours.

The galley is another fine place to be, even in a seaway, located as it is right over the center of gravity of the boat and in the zone of least motion. Its double sinks close to centerline should drain even when the boat’s heeled, and the U configuration, if furnished with a galley harness for starboard tack, would be tenable in most conditions.

There’s no stall shower in the head, but there’s plenty of elbow room, and the standard curtain should keep the water contained. For a boat of this size, I think the designer got the stall-or-not-to-stall answer right by devoting most of the space to the places most crew spend most of their time.

A couple would have lots of living space on this boat. The forward cabin has a large V-berth plus a couple of small hanging lockers. There’s not much room for milling about even with the between-berth filler removed, but it’s a perfectly adequate sleeping cabin. There’s lots of milling-about room in the saloon, which could comfortably seat six for dinner. Four lingering guests can flop two in the saloon and two aft, all in single berths. In fact, between the aft cabin and the saloon, the Vilm 116 boasts four sea berths. To those, add in star-gazing weather the cockpit seats.

Between the aft-cabin settees is an extending chart table and storage unit that pulls out from the aft bulkhead. This lends itself for use as an office desk for the liveaboard or even for the workaboard. Most important, the cabin offers a private space, a rare and valuable bonus on a boat of this size. Tuck the table away, and the cabin can serve as a separate lounge or as sleeping quarters for visitors. Another hanging locker takes up overflow from forward and more storage is available behind and beneath the seats. Opening ports let into the coachroof-side deadlights provide ventilation.

Fine woodworking is everywhere in the Vilm, and not just where it’s visible but also behind the perfectly matched veneer fronts and solid stiles of the cabinets. On the boat we tested, the rich mahogany and forest-green upholstery created a cozy ambience belowdecks. The boat breathes through an elaborate arrangement of openings discreetly let into all the cabinets to allow air to circulate in and behind the joiner work. Storage under the saloon settees is in drawers, with access also provided via lift-out openings under the cushions. Every floorboard lifts out for access to the bilge, even where it’s too shallow to use as storage space.

Setting the mainsail entails going to the mast, which suits me fine. By terminating the halyards and reefing lines there, you avoid the tangle of tails that clutters so many cockpits and often tumbles wetly into the cabin. Also, the protection offered by the hard top would be compromised if it were penetrated so the lines could be run aft. Grabrails on the roof and inboard shrouds make getting to and from the mast a snap. However, once there, the footing’s not so secure because the builder didn’t put nonskid on the coachroof but fitted wooden strakes on the smooth gelcoat surface. A molded pattern or applied nonskid like ABS would make a big difference there, and on top of the hard top, too. Mast pulpits would enhance security when reefing, and a step on the mast would make attaching the halyard easier. Otherwise, the mainsail, with its full-length battens and Elvström Zippack, is easy to set and stow. The jib, on its furler, sets from the cockpit.

We hoisted the main, unfurled the jib, and set off out of Annapolis harbor, close reaching on starboard tack in 12 to 15 knots of puffy southeasterly. In the higher gusts, the Vilm seemed on the edge of wanting to be reefed. Still, she nudged her way smoothly through the Chesapeake chop and tacked cleanly, and it was only when sailing well off the wind that her 90-percent sailboat performance became apparent. An asymmetric spinnaker would make up for any deficiencies in light air.

The jib-sheet winches are on the forward end of the aft house and the mainsheet winch in the center, so they’re reasonably convenient and the tails don’t get in the way. The mainsheet conflicts a little with the aft end of the canvas dodger extension and, in the words of a design guru of mine, “Needs a coat of looking at.” The jibsheet was led from the track aft to a loose block shackled to a padeye on the toerail cap, then 180 degrees to the winch, making a perfect slingshot in the event of a breakage. A backup Spectra lashing would improve peace of mind.

It took a while to get used to the hydraulic steering as it gave little feedback from the rudder. This was really the only feature that made me feel I was aboard a motorsailer. Wolfgang reckons the wheel, which was small, could be 6 inches greater in diameter without obstructing the companionway. I feel that hydraulics take much of the joy out of steering and would explore fitting a cable or a Whitlock torque-tube system.

Under power, the boat handled obediently when I brought her up to the mooring buoy, a maneuver that is often accompanied by apprehension the first time around.

As for daily berthing maneuvers, the Vilm 116 is well set up with a sturdy-looking anchor roller, a deep chain locker, and a chain capstan mounted to the side, so the chain doesn’t impede opening the lid. Hefty mooring cleats are mounted atop the teak toerail cap forward, aft, and midships.

It’s no surprise that this boat sailed off with the award for Best Production Cruiser Over $200,000 in the 2002 Boat of the Year contest. Its combination of sound construction to Germanischer Lloyds, fine craftsmanship, and a wealth of details scored high. It certainly fulfils the avowed design objectives of the builder, and will satisfy a great many cruising sailors, in particular those who wish to extend their cruising season in, say, the Pacific Northwest or Down East, regions with similar climates to that in its birthplace. It certainly has liveaboard potential. Where there are reservations, apart from those already mentioned, they have to do with its offshore potential. The voluminous cockpit has only two drains, and the hatch to the aft cabin would be vulnerable if a really big wave decided to pay it a visit. With these concerns addressed, and they can be, the Vilm 116 has the basics for a fine passagemaker.

Jeremy McGeary ia a CW associate editor.

• More: 31 - 40 ft , before 2000 , Bluewater Cruising , Coastal Cruising , Sailboat Reviews , Sailboats
• More Sailboats

Sailboat Review: Dragonfly 40

Elan Impression 43: A Family-Friendly Cruiser with Serious Sailing Performance

Cruising World ’s 2025 Boat of the Year Competition

2025 Boat of The Year: Best Overall

Cruising with Confidence: How Modern Boats Are Measuring Up

Sailor & Galley: Easy Pink Aioli Dip

Reefs at Risk: How Cruisers Can Champion Ocean Conservation

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Email Newsletters
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

• Frank Magazine
• Denison History
• Virtual Tours
• Worldwide Yachts
• Featured Yachts
• Boats In Stock
• Sell A Yacht
• Recent Yacht Sales
• Featured Charters
• Charter Management
• Crew Placement
• Sell Your Yacht
• Yacht Management
• Marina Search
• Our Offices
• Saved Yachts
• Alaskan Yachts
• Azimut Yachts
• Back Cove Yachts
• Beneteau Yachts
• Benetti Superyachts
• Bertram Yachts
• Boston Whaler
• Broward Yachts
• Buddy Davis Sportfish
• Burger Yachts
• Cabo Yachts
• Carver Motoryachts
• Center Console
• Chris-Craft Yachts
• Cruisers Yachts
• DeFever Trawlers
• Dufour Sailboats
• Fairline Yachts
• Feadship Yachts
• Ferretti Yachts
• Formula Yachts
• Fountaine Pajot Cats
• Grady-White
• Grand Banks Trawlers
• Hargrave Yachts
• Hatteras Yachts
• Hinckley Picnic Boats
• Horizon Yachts
• Hydra-Sports
• Intrepid Boats
• Jarrett Bay Sportfish
• Jeanneau Yachts
• Kadey-Krogen Trawlers
• Lazzara Yachts
• Lekker Boats
• Luhrs Sportfish
• Marlow Yachts
• Maritimo Yachts
• Marquis Yachts
• McKinna Motoryachts
• Meridian Yachts
• Midnight Express
• Mochi Craft
• Neptunus Motoryachts
• Nordhavn Trawlers
• Nordic Tugs
• Numarine Yachts
• Ocean Alexander Yachts
• Offshore Yachts
• Oyster Sailing Yachts
• Pacific Mariner Yachts
• Palmer Johnson Yachts
• Pershing Yachts
• Prestige Yachts
• Princess Yachts
• Pursuit Yachts
• Riva Yachts
• Riviera Yachts
• Sabre Downeast
• San Lorenzo Yachts
• Sea Ray Boats
• SeaVee Central Consoles
• Selene Trawlers
• Scout Yachts
• Sunseeker Yachts
• Tiara Yachts
• Trinity Superyachts
• Viking Yachts
• Westport Yachts

39 VILM 2002 Boat For Sale

Asking price: $179,000.

• Yachts for sale
• 39' VILM

Last updated Dec 11, 2024

39' Vilm 2002

One of the most solid ocean cruisers built, this Vilm 116 is in outstanding condition and immediately ready to cruise! Recently outfitted with new B&G electronics, including dual touchscreen stations at the helm! ALL new standing rigging as of November 2024!! When the wind is down, or you need to move fast, she is powered by a 50HP Volvo Penta diesel engine with an Aqua Drive system. Solar panels with monitoring system ensure your batteries are always topped off and ready. The woodwork down below is rich and beautiful. Separate aft cabin separates guests or crew. 

The Vilm 116 is absolutely solid, with a completely enclosed cockpit for the best protection. Hatches on the hardtop and side and aft enclosures can be opened for full air. The current owners have been recently living on broad and cruising, so all the "little surprises" have been kept up and maintained in working order. An extensive list of all upgrades and maintenance is available. Call today to learn more about this solid, world class, cruiser! 

Denison Yachting is pleased to assist you in the purchase of this vessel. This boat is centrally listed by Prestige Yacht Sales - East Greenwich, RI.

Denison Yacht Sales offers the details of this yacht in good faith but can’t guarantee the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of this boat for sale. This yacht for sale is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal from that yacht market without notice. She is offered as a convenience by this yacht broker to its clients and is not intended to convey direct representation of a specific yacht for sale.

INQUIRE ABOUT 39' VILM

Have questions about this yacht? Fill out the form below and our team of experts will contact you soon.

Your privacy is important to us. Find out how we protect it. Privacy Policy

39' VILM HIGHLIGHTS

• Yacht Details: 39' VILM 2002
• Location: East Greenwich, RI
• Engines: Volvo Penta
• Last Updated: Dec 11, 2024
• Asking Price: $179,000
• Max Draft: 5' 0''

39' VILM additional information

• Beam: 12' 0''
• Hull Material: Fiberglass
• Fuel Tank: 1 x 80|gallon
• Fresh Water: 1 x 80|gallon
• Holding: 1 x 32|gallon

The Mahogany wood and craftsmanship is excellent throughout this beautiful vessel. Further, the natural light and ventilation are outstanding. The forward cabin has a large V-berth that will sleep two comfortable, two hanging lockers and several small storage bins and lockers above and below the berth. Coming aft the main cabin is lined by cabinets and shelves, a dining table that can seat 6, and sleeping accommodations for two. Next on the starboard side is the U-shaped galley. To the port side is a large head with a full strand up shower with curtain. The aft cabin access is from the cockpit through a forward-facing hatch and down three steps. Between the aft-cabin berths is an extending chart table and storage unit that pulls out from the aft bulkhead that can be used as la chart table or as an office desk for the live aboard. Outboard and forward are storage cabinets and storage shelves. There are port and starboard aft hanging lockers and storage cabinets under the berths.  Most important, the cabin offers a private space, a rare and valuable bonus on a boat of this size. Tuck the table away, and the cabin can serve as a separate lounge or as sleeping quarters for visitors.

L-shaped galley located to starboard at the base of the companionway steps. The galley will please even the most discriminating chef. There is excellent storage and food preparation areas for preparing gourmet meals at the dock or under way

• Two Deep Stainless Steel Sinks With Covers
• Custom Sink Cover Storage Along The Bulkhead Above The Sinks
• Single Lever Stainless Steel Faucet
• Hand Pump For Salt Water
• Eno Gimbaled Stainless Steel
• Two Burner Stove With Stainless Steel Oven
• Electric Propane Solenoid System
• Frigoboat Top Loading Freezer
• Frigoboat Top Loading Refrigeration
• 12v Refrigerator With Small Freezer Under-Counter
• Formica Countertops With Fiddles
• Ample Countertop, Storage Drawers, And Cabinets
• 6 gallon water heater
• Pilothouse hard top with bimini extension
• Pilothouse with windshield and side fixed windows
• Aft enclosure with side curtains and aft window with ventilation
• Windshield and side window Sunbrella protective covers
• Removable helm seat
• Removable and stored pilothouse table, uses helm seat pedestal as base
• Deck hatches with Sunbrella protective covers
• Lewmar anchor windlass with helm and foot controls
• Stainless steel 53lb Bugle anchor with 200’stainless steel anchor chain
• Stainless steel bow pulpit and anchor roller
• Stainless steel stanchions with double life lines
• Stain less steel dingy davits
• Aft rails with teak seats
• Stainless steel propane grill
• Emergency tiller
• Aft propane locker with two tanks
• Stainless steel folding aft boarding/swim ladder
• Transom hot and cold water shower
• Oversized cleats on bow, amidships, and stern
• Opening deck hatches (6) with screens
• 1 x 19 S/S rigging
• Furlex 300 S Roller Furling system
• New 2019 Doyle high cut 100% Furling Genoa
• Setamar In Mast Roller Furling mainsail
• Doyle Gale sail Main Sail
• All lines lead aft to pilothouse for safety
• (2) Lewmar ST #48 genoa winches
• (1) Lewmar ST #16 mast mounted winches
• (2) Lewmar ST #16 winches mounted on cabin top
• (1) Lewmar ST winch on starboard Deck house
• Lewmar hardware including-tracks, blocks and traveler

The Vilm 117 offers exceptional comfort and performance. Built in Lauterbach on the Baltic island of Rügen, the Vilm 117 is beautifully crafted and has a level of excellence usually found only on custom boats. The builder has promoted the boat as a 90/90 motorsailer meaning that the boat offers 90 percent of the performance of both a motorsailer and sailboat. Her designer, Georg Nissen, believes in keeping the virtues of a full blown racing design separate from that which is meant to safely "around the capes". In their performance tests, Cruising World had high praise for many of the features and details of the boat, including her excellent stability in a seaway, the quietness of her engine, performance under sail and the well thought out layout that beckons "blue water".

" The Vilm 117 is a superb mid-sized blue water cruiser. She is fast, comfortable, and extremely seaworthy and is built to withstand the rough conditions of the North Sea. The Vilm 116 is approved for category A (open ocean) and is suitable for circumnavigation but offers shallow draft for coastwise exploration. All materials, fittings, and equipment meet or exceed CE as well as German Lloyd's specifications, the most stringent boat building standards in the world."

Schedule a Tour of 39' VILM

Contact our team to schedule a private showing.

SIMILAR YACHTS FOR SALE View All

46' nautor swan 1991, linton bay marina, panama, 46' dufour 2019, pula, croatia, 46' baia 2001, ibiza, es-pm, spain, 46' lion 2003, beaufort, sc, us, 46' sea ray 2000, orange beach, al, us, 46' beneteau 1997, san diego, ca, us, chipi chipi, 46' bertram 1994, la romana, dominican republic, other vilm yachts for sale view all, east greenwich, ri, us, price watch.

Love this yacht? Get notified on price reductions and other related updates.

Our Newsletter

Stay informed on all things yachting, including notable sales, industry updates, events, and boating tips with our newsletters.

sailboats News

Read the latest sailboats news and stay up to date on related events.

RELATED SERVICES

LOGIN OR REGISTER

Hi, welcome back.

Login and pick up from where you left off.

Creating an account allows you to save and compare your favorite yachts.

By creating an account you agree to the terms of use and our privacy policy.