Bavaria 32AC or 34AC

[sunnmøre]

Hi
I am thinking of buiing a new boat (old..) In my price range i belive that Bavaria 32AC and Bavaria 34AC is OK. I live on the west coast of Norway, and the boat will be used for coastal sailing most of the time, maybe a trip to Shetland. I am used to older sweedish boats, with heavy keel, so this will be a new boat experience for me.
So what is the best boat of this two boats? I have been told that the Bavaria 32Ac will broach more easily than the 34AC, also that the 32 is more difficult and dinghylike downwind? What do you think about this? Are the boats heavy enough to use in a bit heavy weather? And are there difference in buildquality?

So, what would be your choise and why?

 

[cmedsailor]

If both boats are of the same year and model line and the only difference is the size then a bigger boat is always more comfortable, faster and safer. Then it's of course the condition of each one, how much loaded it is (and with what) and so on. For coastal sailing both are fine.

 

[sunnmøre]

Bavaria 32Ac: 2002-2005
Bavaria 34AC: 1999-2001

The prices here in Norway are quite the same for the two boats.

 

[Tranona]

Presumably you are looking at early 2000's boats. I owned a 37 from that period for 15 years from new. Very well built and survived 7 years as a charter boat with no significant problems. Some of the finishing is perhaps not very pretty, for example the use of sealant around bulkheads and roughly finished plywood under bunks, but the basic structure is sound. Most of the equipment is from major suppliers such as Selden, Rutgerson, Lewmar, Raymarine, Volvo etc.

You will notice a difference in sailing compared with an older style boat, but once you understand how to get the best out of it by avoiding too much heel and adjusting sail area to suit conditions you should have no problems in coastal sailing. Original sails are not very good, but expect by now they will have been replaced.

Either the 32 or 34 would be suitable, but the 34 is much bigger than the extra 2' in the name suggests and was more popular when new. In fact it was my first choice, but it was so successful when it was introduced that delivery was over a year ahead, so I bought a 37 instead.

Be aware that there are variations in such things as twin aft cabins on the 34, deep and shallow keels (deep is better if you do not sail in shallow waters) and in mast or conventional rigs. Most boats will have good standard of equipment, but when buying condition and equipment are important as doing any serious work or adding equipment can be costly in relation to the value of the boat.

Good luck with your search.

 

[nigelmercier]

Perhaps more opinions would be available in the Bavaria Yacht Forum, see my signature.

 

[johnalison]

Few family cruisers will be ideally comfortable in open waters such as between Norway and Shetland, though they will do the job well enough. The trouble is that they just have too much internal volume. A friend of mine did this trip once or twice in a 45' yawl, which sounds better to me, though it is not a boat we can all aspire to or would even want. I would go for the "bigger is better" approach too, whatever the vintage. Actually, I like the older Bavarias better than the later ones with more freeboard.

 

[sunnmøre]

Thank you for your thoughts about the boats. I belive I will try to find a Bavaria 34 even it is a bit older. I will try to find one with one after cabin and the big engine. I also think that conventional rig is my preferance, but I also think that and in-mast rig will be OK if the sail is of good quality. No one for sale in Norway right now, so I have to wait.
If anyone could say more about this boats, espessially how they handle in bad weather, that would be nice

 

[Bav34]

If anyone could say more about this boats, espessially how they handle in bad weather, that would be nice

Bad weather. Hmm.

A Force 5, wind on the nose against a tide can be horrible on lots of boats. A F7 wind behind, genoa up, surfing down waves can be brilliant.

Modern boats can slam. So did my Westerly Tempest. It used to slam to a halt off the entrance to Southampton Water in just a F5.

To put our boat and weather into context in 2007 we went down to The Morbihan.

After the first couple of weeks a persistent North Westerly 6/7 kicked in. To say that nobody left would be an exaggeration but some tried and returned, some made it to the next port and we would meet up when we made our break north.

It didn't matter what marque of boat. There wasn't a corner full of Jens/Bens/Bavs. Just a lot of skippers standing around Le Capitainerie each morning

When the wind swung swung to the west the Raz de Sein was amazing. We had to motor and actually keep adjusting the throttle as so many boats had made the break at the same time. It was worse than Cowes Fireworks night and that's saying something.

So is it the best all-weather boat? No.

Has it ever scared us? No.

Have we had masses of fun in it? Absolutely.

Sorry, if it wasn't obvious we have a 34.

 

[sunnmøre]

Thanks for your thoughts, Bav34. I realise that AWB are a bit different when it comes to ocean going. I have earlier owned older Sweedish boats that have been good in bad weather. Now my girlfreid want a newer boat, with schower and stuff like that, so I have to find that
Are you satisfied with our boat? Du you have any opions about the 32 vs 34?

Hope my english is understandable. It is not very often I write in english

 

[Tranona]

Think Bav 34 sums it up. Few boats are comfortable in bad weather, but the limitation is not the boat but usually the crew.

From memory, don't think many 34s were fitted with the larger engine, but it is worth having if you can find one.