Bavaria 38 cruiser - 2008

solar

solar

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Joined
20 Dec 2008
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134
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Munich,DE
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Just got my first boat... HURA...was one season in charter in NL and now it's mine.very good surveyor report.
Need all advise & tips from similar Bavaria owners about...
Handeling,maintenance,pros & cons,needed gear,etc.
Also, a good artical with pic's...about how to use the NON in mast main sail system?
Hardly can wait for April sailings...
TIA
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Be prepared for the posts from the Bavaria haters, and ignore them.
Congratulations. You can now prepare for relative poverty after paying mooring and maintenance costs, but I hope you get a lot of fun out of your new boat.
You do not say how your mainsail reefing is arranged, but if the present system requires you to go to the mast to put the reefs in you should consider fitting twin line or single line reefing which can be safely operated from the cockpit. This is particularly the case for the deepest reef as you do want to be going to the mast if you can avoid it, in conditions that require that. On my Jeanneau I was able to arrange single line reefing for the first reef and twin line for the second (deep) reef.
 
What a man of vision you really are. Welcome to the elite of the el....

(trust you got it for a good price...!?)

I wouldn't want to take from you the sheer pleasure of discovering the exceptional qualities of your new boat, so will not enlarge on what I know you will all so soon enjoy.

But as probs/opportunities arise do bookmark the bretheren, including me and let us know what we can do..

Have fun - I know you will!

Peter GIbbs
 
Yeah,I know...it's more like a VW and NOT a Porche...
But it will cruise me around for the next 20 years...and after that ? who cares...:)
More Bav gurus out there...?
BR
 
My mainsail system can be fully operated from the cockpit...but how...?
I always sailed only with in mast systems...
You need to learn something new every day...huh /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Congrats on your new boat. We have a Bav 37 and are very pleased with it. Expect a bit of stick from the 'keel-will-drop-off' crowd because it is almost impossible to mention Bavaria on here without someone chiming-in as if we hadn't heard it all before.
Excellent light-air boat. We take great pleasure in being able to sail in wind speeds that won't get heavier boats moving. Of course the downside is having to reef earlier - but so what?
There is a Bavaria Owners Association at www.bavariaowners.co.uk though we didn't renew our membership. You may rate it more highly than we did.
If you haven't seen it yet, there is a lot of sail handling info on the Kemp Sails website: www.kempsails.com and follow the link for technical data.
Good luck and happy sailing.
Alan
 
Reading the boating mags and this forum (do 'Search' for topics) is a good start while waiting for the spring. Try and find an experienced sailor from local club or yard to look over your vessel now and accompany you on your first voyage. Doesn't matter if (s)he is not a Ben owner, modern boats are similar to modern cars- they share most features
 
If you already have reefing lines brought back to the cockpit you need to identify whether you have a single line for each reef, or two. It is a good idea to label the jammers, so that you can quickly identify the correct lines. On my boat the first reef is single line and the label reads "REEF 1", the deep reef lines are labelled "REEF 2 MAST" & "REEF 2 BOOM"

The method of reefing is however quite simple, but best practised a few times in light winds. My method is always to get the boat as close to the wind as possible, with the main-sheet pulled in, before easing the main halyard and pulling in the reefing line(s). Make sure that both the luff and leach lines are pulled right down holding the sail as tightly as possible to the boom, then re-tension the halyard and bear away to your chosen course.

Now wait for someone to tell me I am doing it all wrong, but that works for me.

One tip, Mark your main halyard where it emerges from the clutch, with the sail reefed. That way you can always see how much halyard to let out. Just let your mark pass through the clutch, pull down the reef, and you only have a few inches of halyard to pull back up.
 
"Now wait for someone to tell me I am doing it all wrong"

You're doing it all wrong!

Mainsheet OFF when reefing. Else the main is filled and makes it x (where x is a large number) times harder or impossible to pull down the leech reefing line, coz you're working against the wind and the mainsheet.

Also, pull down the luff line first so that the luff cringle is snug, before tightening the leech, coz that will put loads of backwards strain on the luff rope or sliders.

So, sequence is:

Dump mainsheet (and maybe kicker)
Drop halyard to marked posn
Tighten luff reefing line
Harden halyard
Tighten leech reefing line
Pull in mainsheet (reset kicker, if needed).

Easy, 30 secs at most. Bit longer if you have to go to mast.
 
Sorry, senior moment, I go as close to the wind as possible with the genoa keeping the boat moving and then let the main-sheet slack. What I avoid is letting the main-sheet out too far or letting the boat get the wind behind the main sail and force it against the back-swept spreaders. If I am going downwind and need to reef I turn as far upwind as possible first, pulling in both genoa sheet and main-sheet, and getting the boat sailing steadily before letting the main-sheet out enough to de-power the sail.

EDIT. I agree with you that the luff line needs pulling down first, but if you have a single line set up both work together anyway.
I have never had to release the kicker using my twin line reef, but on the single line one it might help in future to do so, to enable the leach line to pull in tightly. I say in future because the gas strut in my vang had failed so the heavy boom did not need any kicker applied, most of the time, and the only way to raise the boom was to use the topping lift. I now have a new gas strut of 2300 newtons force, so I think I will be using the kicker next season.
 
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