Bavaria Bashers Beware!

capnsensible

capnsensible

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New kid on the block is the Bavaria 33 cruiser.

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Was asked to take one out for a spin, friday and saturday.

Was very impressed with this spacious and well mannered yacht. Dunno why people winge about Bavarias anyway, but this one is good. Build quality and design are impressive, loadsa room especially good sized heads with wet gear locker. 2 cabin version.

Knew it was going to get breezy and a bit wet but boat sailed very well reefed down in up to 35 knots of rain(!) on the way from Gib to Smir. Mostly reaching, average 6 knots. Dry and still 20 to 25 knots on way back, close hauled, again around 6 knots apart from one headland with a couple of miles of overfalls. Comfy ride otherwise.

Good size engine, used it to punch tide for a bit to get round Europa point. Under sail in less winds and flatter sea in the harbour, tacked a loada times, easy for both of us.

No idea about light airs though!!

Would recommend this yacht and am not related!
 
Horrible looking thing IMHO, looks like the designers couldn't be bothered but style is only one aspect of it. Price, space and what it can do for customers is the main thing and they are obviously popular so........and it may even tick the looks box for some.

If i was living aboard in the Med I would probably go for one over other designs. Cool space and the cheap price would maybe sway it......No! With so many drop dead gorgeous desirable boats out there I couldn't... You have to fall in love with your boat, I could never fall in love with my washing machine or fridge!!
 
Dunno, I remember a couple of years ago having a then new bavaria come along side me (after they'd announced that they'd increased the weight of the hull by 13% by thickening the laminates) and as she came in and touched my rubbing strake I could see the topside flex inwards like pushing down on the lid of a lunch box.

They are trying to make them better, but whilst they are still the cheapest thing available they will always be lacking in quality somewhere.
 
I thought this was the new Bavaria ................................... replacement keels are available.
e5f34a3be9.jpg
 
If anyone is thinking of buying a new Bavaria I would recommend they have it surveyed thoroughly before acceptance. I wish I had. It was an expensive mistake. The hull around the keel delaminated and cost about £7000 to fix.
 
mainsail1 said:
If anyone is thinking of buying a new Bavaria I would recommend they have it surveyed thoroughly before acceptance. I wish I had. It was an expensive mistake. The hull around the keel delaminated and cost about £7000 to fix.
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Mainsail1
Can you give us some more details - how long ago, what size yacht, which country?
 
I think it looks great - nice square back for med mooring and I love the open look below decks - all that glass must make it very airy down-below.

All it needs is a bit of teak and it would perfect...
 
mjcoon said:
What no guarantee + compensation?

Mike.
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It was a Bavaria 44. Just less than 5 years old at the time the problem was discovered on survey at time of sale. Contacted Bavaria as the Agent in the UK said it was nothing to do with them because the boat was bought from Opal Marine who went bust. Bavaria said nothing to do with them and to contact Opal Marine even though they must have known Opal were in administration. Anyway, had to get the work done quickly to keep the sale. Very good repair done at Hamble Yacht Services. Decided litigation with Bavaria was just not worth the hassle.
I was so taken aback at the purchaser survey that I had my own survey done and my surveyor confirmed the problem and said he had seen a few Bavarias with the same hull problem over the previous years.
I should have been suspicious from day one as the boat creaked when under sail in a swell. Opal had told me this was just the bulkheads scraping on the coachroof as they were free floating at the top and any gaps filled with brown silicone sealant. What a mug I was, eh? The truth was that the hull was flexing around the keel area and slowly delaminating when sailing.
I now shudder to think what may have happened if I had kept the boat a year or two more.
 
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Yep, a few years back we looked at a brand new bavaria 37, would've cost totally £130,000 with the bits we wanted...VERY cheap.. got me thinking that they must comprise on some things to keep the cost down. I can imagine their purchase power must be powerful, but still...
I agree with the earlier comment about must fall in love with the boat..hmm just didn't do it for me..

Each to their own..
 
When we bought a new Dufour the manufacturer passed 5% of the purchase price to the dealer to handle warranty claims.
Any warranty claims then became the problem of the dealer and not the manufacturer.
There is a huge problem with this in any sizeable warranty claim. The dealer will almost certainly not have the money/resources to deal with it whilst the manufacture washes their hands of the problem.
The end customer thinks they have a manufacturers warranty. In practice it's worthless.
 
Zagato said:
Horrible looking thing IMHO, looks like the designers couldn't be bothered but style is only one aspect of it. Price, space and what it can do for customers is the main thing and they are obviously popular so........and it may even tick the looks box for some.

If i was living aboard in the Med I would probably go for one over other designs. Cool space and the cheap price would maybe sway it......No! With so many drop dead gorgeous desirable boats out there I couldn't... You have to fall in love with your boat, I could never fall in love with my washing machine or fridge!!
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But then a lot of people would not fall in love with the garden shed
Not digging at you because in this instance i agree that boat is ugly
However, i cannot help noticing how forumites post pictures of old knackered pieces of junk & enthuse how good they look.
I personally think that it is a bit like women ( bit sexist now - apologies ladies) some older designs look great but most do not. I also believe that some modern designs look absolutely drop dead gorgeous.
It just seems that because it is new some people think they are rubbish. Mind you in the case of some Bavs that is probably correct. But as my teacher always said " it is the exception that proves the rule" (never did know what he meant!!)
 
Woodlouse said:
they'd announced that they'd increased the weight of the hull by 13% by thickening the laminates
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Wouldn't it cost a firm like Bavaria more in profits to have their equivocal reputation endure, than it would to sort the perceived problem, by using thicker laminates, etc? If so, I'd think such a big company would be well-equipped to correct the issue before long, and the marque might turn a corner in our minds. Hope so.
 
dancrane said:
Wouldn't it cost a firm like Bavaria more in profits to have their equivocal reputation endure, than it would to sort the perceived problem, by using thicker laminates, etc? If so, I'd think such a big company would be well-equipped to correct the issue before long, and the marque might turn a corner in our minds. Hope so.
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Even the more expensive boats have problems. There are stories about a Halberg Rassey 38 where it was found the laminates failed. HR refused to do anything for ages but finally were forced to supply another boat FOC
I have a friend who had a princess that cost 200k new but after thousands spent on repairing a delaminated hull below the waterline. sold it for 75k with only 350 hours use. You could see the sun shinning through the hull sides. This is possibly why many modern hulls are linedinternally - to stop you ogling your neighbours through the hull
 
Daydream believer said:
You could see the sun shinning through the hull sides. This is possibly why many modern hulls are linedinternally - to stop you ogling your neighbours through the hull
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GRP is translucent. Both the glass and the resin. Old boats were often padded out with fillers like slate dust which in turn made the laminate non translucent. Proves nothing strength wise.
 
Wasn't the HR issue a bit of a problem (if its the same story) as HR weren't allowed to survey the boat in question themselves but were told to just cough up the money to fix the problem???
 
Daydream believer said:
You could see the sun shining through the hull sides.
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That's appalling - how much more difficult and expensive could it have been, to do the job properly in the first place? It sounds such an elementary thing to get right...can there be any excuse for hulls that reportedly flex as mentioned in this thread?
 
wotayottie said:
GRP is translucent. Both the glass and the resin. Old boats were often padded out with fillers like slate dust which in turn made the laminate non translucent. Proves nothing strength wise.
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Exactly. I've done thousands of miles in a boat in which I could see the sun shining through the hull. From inside, you could see the shadows cast by sails, sheets etc. On at least one occasion I could see something was wrong (something hanging off the deck that shouldn't have been) based on the shadows I could see from inside the boat.

But I could only see that because the hull was solid laminate. The deck (with a foam core) wasn't translucent.
 
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