Herbert Dahm, who among other things established the charter and brokerage house Dahm International, has died. He was just a few weeks shy of his 95th birthday.
Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, Dahm began his storied yachting career quite by accident. Initially, following World War II, he sold electronics, including radios. He later developed financial software. Sailing was a passion during his free time, however, and by the 1960s, he yearned to cruise the world. He set out to find a suitable sailboat in 1967, choosing the Dutch shipyard Jongert. Although he didn’t end up sailing the globe, Dahm found something else. He spent the next three decades as the builder’s marketing and sales representative. It simultaneously led to him building five Jongerts for his own use.
Famously, the 72-foot (22-meter) Inspiration, from 1985, was among them. She was the first Jongert with a transom garage and a hydraulically lowering hatch that became a swim platform. With naval architecture by Ron Holland, she had several notable firsts, in fact. For instance, a custom bilge tunnel stowed her racing sails, preserving the interior while permitting quick access to them when wanted. Arguably, Inspiration was the first cruiser-racer in her size range, a novel concept at the time. The yacht became hull number one of the Jongert 2200s series, too. Ultimately, Dahm owned Inspiration until 2020.
Even as a sailor, though, Dahm loved motoryachts, too. He took delivery of the Benetti Classic 115 My Way (above) in 2000. The international yachting community became accustomed to seeing Dahm attend yacht shows with his Benetti and her unusual tender, True Love. True Love was a Jongert, stowing on the sundeck.
Dahm further had a four-decade run as the owner of Dahm International. Under his leadership, the company expanded beyond Germany into Monaco and Spain. Additionally, it added services such as yacht management and refit management to its roster. Although he sold the business in the late 1990s, he stepped back into it in 2006 to better serve clients. He sold it again in 2014, at age 85, staying on as honorary president. He finally retired for good just last year, making the announcement during Boote Düsseldorf (a.k.a. the Düsseldorf boat show) in 2023.
Leave a Reply