Bavaria 40 Ocean

[steve_cronin]

Charter Insurance...

Prohibits charter crews leaving port of anything above f6 is forecast.

This also protects the crew and other folks waiting to take the boat over.

Steve Cronin

 

[tony_brighton]

Seconded (same boat).
Great for Channel sailing. I probably wouldn't try for the Horn or even Biscay in winter. But then I think it would stand up fine for a trans-Atlantic based on the size of vessels that have done it and the right timing for a circuit.

Cynthia - we'd be keen to see how you get on.

 

[steve_cronin]

I don\'t give an effing toss about...

what SOME people here are saying.(Particularly people who don't know that GRP is translucent - just shows their expertise and qualification to make comments doesn't it? - If you don't like it you paint the inside with locker paint mate!)

My Bavaria cost £130,000 and is built to Germanishe Lloyds , CE & RCD standards. I have been sailing all sorts of boats for over 30 years and our last boat a Hunter 30 had a hull half the thickness of the Bavaria yet people (including me - very much so) praise Hunters whilst decrying Bavarias.

I intend (after she has paid us back a bit) to sail her from Greece to the Caribbean. AM I IRRESPONSIBLE?

Go on, let me hear someone of sufficient clout say it?

Tony Blair don't have to look far for his "Wreckers & cynics" - they're here, ALL of 'em. Jumpers onto the silly, back office ex-lower sixth physics class, "wiser than thou" typical british (note small "b"), leather elbowed sports jacketed, green tinged, bandwagon. If you're so clever, get off your [self-censored] and make Britain Great again!

If you don't like 'em don't buy them (that is of course if you were a serious contender anyway!) Unless you are prepared to say that these boats are unfit for their purpose AND have the credentials to support it, what is your arguement?

I could have chosen a Beneteau - liked the layout but thought that the deck flexed too much for my liking. Looked at a Jeanneau - liked the finish but the layout didn't suit our requirements. As to suggesting that either wouldn't get us home? Well IMHO that would be rediculous.

Steve Cronin

 

[lezgar]

I am left-handed

What do you have against left-handed?
I think that your words are insulting and stupid.

 

[Guest]

Re: I am left-handed

Are both your hands left handed?

 

[Guest]

Good on you!

Personally, I think the reputation of Bav's is grossly under-rated. What seems to be happening is that a couple of years ago they were still very much hyped as being non-ocean crossing boats but now their owners are doing oceans. Also interesting for those who hate boats of this type that we have yet to read of one falling apart en-route.

So, have you found any limitation over their heavier displacement cousins or does their better speed for the same LOA make them a safer bet in the long run?

 

[ceeagr]

Thanks for everybody’s input. I have now bought one and have to say I've been able to spec her nicely and have money left over for things like a spinnaker, radar, chart plotter, nice set of UV resistant battened sails together with inverter and microwave. All for around £130k. Looking forward to some channel crossings and maybe getting her across to Cork latter in the summer.

If anybody is interested in the spec send me and e-mail and i'll forward it.

ag_ray60@hotmail.com

Once again thanks


Al

 

[Guest]

Re: I am left-handed

I think you are being a little unkind and over he top. The guy is writing not in his primary language and the implications of 2 left hands is that if you can't fix things yourself it could be expensive. I suggest it is you who owes the apology.

Pete

 

[zefender]

Re: I am left-handed

I have a feeling Lez has another mother tongue too. So mebbe a bit of linguistic confusion all round - all kissandmakeupery now ;-)

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Good on you!

C'mon Humps,

I've recounted several times on this forum and others problems I've had with Bennies and Jennies upwind in heavy weather. No time to recount it all now, but bits of boats have been broken, fortunately not in a life threatening way. However it does nothing for confidence.

Amongst the failures:

Reefing eyes pulling out bottom of boom
Plastic roller furling drum breaking under the pressure of holding a scrap of genoa out.
Sheet tracks starting to lift from decks
Doors below coming unshipped (not in a roll but because of slamming over waves)
Engine overheating because cooling water inlet spent too much time sucking air.

As seriously though, IMHO, is the need for very active helming to get them to go to windward at all in a blow. With a small crew and not that many expert helms, you can keep that up for a while, but not for ever.

In defence (?) of Bavs, all my bad experiences have been with modern French boats. Bavs may be different, but they do seem to share the same design philosophy. Beamy (and the beam carried well forward and aft), high topsides, low ballast ratios, very vertical bows with a sharp knuckle to flat bottoms. None of these make it easy to drive to windward in big winds and waves.

 

[paul]

Re: I don\'t give an effing toss about...

Wow - someone's hit a raw nerve here! The truth is that Bavs are great value for money, won't break up in biggish seas and offer a good all round boat. I've currently got a Moody 36 and previously owned a Bavaria. The Moody in almost all departments (apart from value for money) is better but suffers from some of the same shortcomings, e.g it's not the best boat to wind in big seas. The one thing I do loath about the current crop of Bavs though is the rather cheap looking wood finish and the fact that the mastic which surrounds it all is thicker than the hull!

 

[Guest]

Re: Good on you!

I know - but I couldn't recall any specifics nor where I had heard them.

Having upset JJ about the RYA (and probably their other 89,999 members), I didn't want to annoy 20% of Europe's sailing fraternity by slagging off Bav's without any facts.

I've also written of my concerns from what I've seen at the shows, and on my friend's '37, but I still reckon they're the right boat for the right sailor. Most of all, I'm insanely jealous of the idea of having a brand new, blemish free boat with space for all of the goodies.

BTW did you know of the close relationship between a Seacracker and a Twister?

 

[zefender]

Re: Fair comparison?

Yes Ken, but weren't most of these Bens and Jens charter boats, and therefore likely to have had a bit of a rough time? I've never managed to charter a HR in Greece!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Fair comparison?

Certainly there was an Oceanis 311 which had a fair few miles on the clock, but also Sun Oddities, 36 and 42, which were pretty well fresh out of the wrapper. Sunsailers all.

 

[bedouin]

Re: Good on you!

Would you explain about the relationship between the Seacracker and the Twister?

 

[steve_cronin]

i KNOW SOMEONE WHO CAN OFFER YOU ONE....

EMAIL ME

STEVE CRONIN

 

[steve_cronin]

and>>>>>

Their agents don't always clean the excess off at PDI

Steve CRonin

But, btw, the HR at the London Boat show also had unfinished bits in lockers AND surplus sealant in the aft cabin.

 

[AndrewB]

Another Fastnet would sink the Bavaria ...

... even if none were involved.

The inquiry (and popular opinion) following the 79 Fastnet were very damning of lighweight, low ballast, high beam yachts. The rules for racing yachts changed. What happened then was that cruising boat designs in the UK followed suit. We saw the emergence of heavier designs like Victoria, Rival, Bowman, etc; and the bottom fell out the market for the previous generation of light cruiser-racers. By around 1990, when the fashion for these heavyweights was at its height, punters were being persuaded that nothing short of a Contessa 32 would be good enough for crossing from Hamble to Cowes. Even the Bavarias of that time were quite heavily constructed compared with now.

Eventually, by the mid nineties, the memory receded, people woke up to the fact that a lighter boat would be constructed more cheaply, and in turn the market crashed for the British boatbuilders that had gone down that route. This was accelerated by the demise of Lloyds A1 and its replacement by the RCD as the standard to which yachts were built.

Another major disaster around our shores, and history would repeat itself.

 

[johndf]

Re: Another Fastnet would sink the Bavaria ...

Are Bavarias really comparable to the designs which were criticised after the fastnet? Surely they were more lightweight and of a different hull shape.

I also would question whether there is any siginificant possibility of a storm such as in the 79 Fastnet occurring without at the very least a gale being predicted by the Met Office a day or two ahead. Weather forecasting has improved tremendously since then. Anyone who sets off across the Celtic Sea with a forecast of force 8 or more should really be ready for anything, whatever boat they are in. I'd prefer in that situation to be in a Rival then a Bavaria, but then I wouldn't be getting into that situation in the first place. So for me a new Bavaria wins over an older heavier boat.

 

[Guest]

Re: and>>>>>

I know well a number of HR owners, well built yes but the HR owners have also had their problems. I berth next to a Bavaria, it is a lighter build than my Moody but does represent a lot of boat for the money. The ONLY questions in my mind about Bavarias are 1 what condition will they be in in 5 years time and what will the residuals be like on them.

Pete