Bavaria 37

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christopherc

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I've recently looked at the new B37, looks good to me. Nice bright layout below, which is important when the wife and 3 teenage daughters need to be kept happy and enthusiastic. Anyway (and i'm not after 'how good are Bavrias' advice, I know how good they are), I noticed the freeboard seemed significantly higher than the old B36 and B38 models that I have chartered quite a bit. Most noticable when getting aboard. Does anyone know how this might affect handling? I'm going for a sea trial soon and wondered what i should be looking out for. I heard the charter company staff saying they had sailed them for delivery in heavy weather and they had performed well.
 
Higher freeboard will result in being more affected by the wind when manouvering under power, and slower with more leeway when going to windward.
 
I delivered a B37 brand new from Chichester harbour sales dept to Gibralter following a quick shake down run to Cherbourg and back to sort the basic problems.

There was a bit of weather on the way down but nothing dramatic. She slammed badly. It was impossible to take your hands off the wheel for more than a few seconds and she broke the electronic steering gear 3 times on the atlantic part of the route. The bulkheads moved slightly so none of the doors would close properly. Other than that ok.

Michael
 
[ QUOTE ]
The bulkheads moved slightly so none of the doors would close properly.
Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

Had the same when I delivered a Bav 36 from Chichester to Burnham in November 2003.
Whatever was open wouldn't close, whatever was closed wouldn't open.

If you really want to have fun, let 3 or 4 adults/teenagers stand on the foredeck, have them jump up & down in unison. Stay below & watch the foreward bulkhead. One well timed jump should do it.
 
That's good. Always best to charter on similar waters to the ones you will be using the boat. 2 weeks in the med tends to put a different gloss on things than a blustery summer in the UK!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I delivered a B37 brand new from Chichester harbour sales dept to Gibralter following a quick shake down run to Cherbourg and back to sort the basic problems.

There was a bit of weather on the way down but nothing dramatic. She slammed badly. It was impossible to take your hands off the wheel for more than a few seconds and she broke the electronic steering gear 3 times on the atlantic part of the route. The bulkheads moved slightly so none of the doors would close properly. Other than that ok.

Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

Thinking some more about this. First time I read it, i thought i need to think again. I'm taking a SO37 out in July, will be interesting to compare evidence of flex in the hull. I have noticed this on some boats, prob Bav's but cant recall, doors not quite fitting, didn't appear to be a big problem. Slamming doesn't sound pleasant, was this any worse than other prod boats, or are you used to fine entry racing boats etc? I don't generally expect to take hands off the wheel for very long in weather, so perhaps i've not experienced what a really solid boat can be like. I chartered a Sweden 390 a couple of years ago, thought it was an amazing boat, until the rudder cable snapped, but that was the helms fault. Great boat, too expensive for me tho. Why did the elec steering gear fail on the Bav?

Is the movement in the bulhead something i should be concerned about? i would expect the boat to be able to cope with heavy weather if we are caught out. You note this was slight with the result of lack of fit in the doors. I wonder what the purchaser in Gib made of this.

"Other than that ok" is this tongue in cheek?

Would be interested to hear what you consider "basic problems" are.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Why did the elec steering gear fail on the Bav?

[/ QUOTE ] To be fair to Opel Marine and Bav they did recommend that the new owner installed a quadrant self hydraulic self steering gear for £4500 but he decided that £1000 of Autohelm 4000 ish was sufficient... the result was that because the boat is 'heavy' on the wheel and I did her difficult to balance, the strain of the 'cheap' gear was excessive and she stripped 'belts' all the way down.
The slamming was somewhat excessive but then they are very lightweight and the excellent accommodation is I suspect a priority in the design. We were pushing on in F6/7 to windward. Greatly exceeded the slamming I would have got in my old moody 36 .

The shifting of the bulkheads and the fact that none of the doors would close properly once we got to Gib is a bit more of a worry - the new owner was just so thrilled to have 'sailed' in his boat from the UK to the Med he did not seem to concerned. More interested in changing the colour of the upholstery.

I think the rest is OK.... real bargain basement deal. Excellent accommodation for the size. Good design. Personally I would never buy a boat without a skeg or something to protect the rudder but that's me and not a universal opinion. I think the layup is a bit light and seems to flex a lot but for the sort of sailing this owner was going to do in the Med no real problem with that... The interior could have done with a few more coats of varnish on the wood work but that's easily fixed...

Quite a lot of new boat for the cash. I am a bit shocked at the 2nd hand values which appear to make them a less sound financial investment - but that's true of motor cars as well. I can understand how people want to own them at their very attractive price (and this one was a cancelled order so the buyer got another 10% or something off)

Most people go local sailing in not much more than moderate conditions and end up in a marina each night - probably only weekends and a few weeks summer holiday. They were designed to fit this market and appear to have succeeded excellently.. Clearly they are priced right, designed to appeal to Mrs skipper looking smart and new. Totally understand why they are so successful. Introduce a lot of people to cruising or at least boat ownership.

The only thing I do not understand about the new boat market is so few are scrapped and the quality builds will last more than a lifetime and the fact you can pick up a 2nd hand, low mileage Bav for very few notes - how come they can continue to sell so many new ones?

Michael
 
Thanks for the comments. Will see what I think after the sea trial. I too don't really understand where all these boats go either. Interesting you should mention car depreciation. I just sold my expensive gas guzzler to buy a nice economic not so glamorous golf diesel, bargin and leaves me with cash for the boat. I don't mind depreciation so much if it floats, and it can't get near car depreciation.
 
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