Bavaria Graveyard

Sailfree

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Jan 2003
Messages
21,675
Location
Nazare Portugal
Visit site
Having read so many comments on how Bavaria keels fall off, how the hulls delaminate and how they are so flexible its obvious that they are only good for a few years. Now I know that many are used as charter boats and get the equivalent of 40yrs use in the first 5 yrs.

Obviously with so many sold many can't possibly survive this hard use and must be hidden away somewhere. Can someone please advise me where all these broken Bavaria boats are as they still must have some useful spares for the other poor souls on here that have gone against such august wisdom from a few on here and bought one.
 
Having read so many comments on how Bavaria keels fall off, how the hulls delaminate and how they are so flexible its obvious that they are only good for a few years. Now I know that many are used as charter boats and get the equivalent of 40yrs use in the first 5 yrs.

Obviously with so many sold many can't possibly survive this hard use and must be hidden away somewhere. Can someone please advise me where all these broken Bavaria boats are as they still must have some useful spares for the other poor souls on here that have gone against such august wisdom from a few on here and bought one.

Brilliant. I too would love to find this sad, sad place. I wonder how it compares size wise with, say, Davis-Monthan?
 
Worried now. We are approaching 7 years of hastle free use of our Bav, so I guess the end must come quite quick.

Do I need to book my slot in the Bavyard or can I just turn up one day and dump it, or what's left of it, there?
 
Having read so many comments on how Bavaria keels fall off, how the hulls delaminate and how they are so flexible its obvious that they are only good for a few years. Now I know that many are used as charter boats and get the equivalent of 40yrs use in the first 5 yrs.

Obviously with so many sold many can't possibly survive this hard use and must be hidden away somewhere. Can someone please advise me where all these broken Bavaria boats are as they still must have some useful spares for the other poor souls on here that have gone against such august wisdom from a few on here and bought one.

There aren't any spaces available at the moment, but once they've cleared-out all of the wet, osmotic Westerleys, Moodys, and Beneteaus, they might have a bit more space available ;)
 
I think this is it - just to the south of the Mutia Escarpment

1.jpg
 
They are indeed terribly weak boats. My friend owns one, in fact a couple of friends own Bavarias. One in particular, kept in the South of France was smashed to pieces against a concrete jetty in a storm. These were the conditions which smashed this boat to pieces:

est029.jpg


You will see some locals had added extra lines to their boats to keep them off the jetty.

This is my poor fiends boat after 12 hours of these storm force winds smashed his boat to pieces, they are complete rubbish.

IMGP1242.jpg


Its scandalous how poor the GRP lay up is on these boats, it cost him €400 to have this repaired, outrageous! I'm sure it was touch and go to being a write off!:rolleyes:
 
Worried now. We are approaching 7 years of hastle free use of our Bav, so I guess the end must come quite quick.

Do I need to book my slot in the Bavyard or can I just turn up one day and dump it, or what's left of it, there?

Have a word with the Co-op - they might have a plan like their funeral plan.
 
I hired a bav 49 last summer in corfu, i had vaguely, in the back of my mind some notion of weakness and general crapness, but i must say we found the boat to be faultless, she was 2005 vintage and had the usual scuffs and signs of a hard life but we loved her,sailed like a dream,even when we were caught in a storm when the wind got up to 60knts she just took it in her stride.
 
I hired a bav 49 last summer in corfu, i had vaguely, in the back of my mind some notion of weakness and general crapness, but i must say we found the boat to be faultless, she was 2005 vintage and had the usual scuffs and signs of a hard life but we loved her,sailed like a dream,even when we were caught in a storm when the wind got up to 60knts she just took it in her stride.

Sorry - please delete your post - Rule No 87 subclause b ii) you are not allowed to post complimentary posts about Bavarias on this Forum as it so upsets the people on here that know better and have paid 4x the cost of a Bavaria for their proper boat!!

I trust you appreciate that first reaction is to vilify the Bavaria and if they can't get solace from that they end up booking themselves into The Priory for counselling - all very distressing - or should that be de-stressing!!
 
:D But a good boat Bavaria is, indeed. For Adriatic or Ionian. After all this is her destiny - to be chartered there for sunny hollidays... :cool:
 
I have sometimes worried about Swedish build quality and the amount of woodwork they cram in to each hull. After all, this is the region that invented the viking funeral.
 
:D But a good boat Bavaria is, indeed. For Adriatic or Ionian. After all this is her destiny - to be chartered there for sunny hollidays... :cool:

Does that mean all those people who sail them elsewhere and across the Atlantic, round the world, Southern Oceans, Scotland, Scandinavia, Australia and so on have all made a mistake?
 
Does that mean all those people who sail them elsewhere and across the Atlantic, round the world, Southern Oceans, Scotland, Scandinavia, Australia and so on have all made a mistake?

Only if they have read and ignored this sage advice. If, like me, they bought their AWB before joining this forum, their judgement is exempt from criticism and they will enjoy safe and rewarding sailing for many years to come.

I have always taken the view that it is enough to know that I am right. To insist that others must acknowledge this simple truth seems to me to be a severe character defect, which is why I don't do it.
 
Does that mean all those people who sail them elsewhere and across the Atlantic, round the world, Southern Oceans, Scotland, Scandinavia, Australia and so on have all made a mistake?

While a fair few will have inevitably been sailed across the atlantic I suspect very few will have gone around the world. It would take a brave man to sail one in the southern ocean. It would be interesting to know how many have visited Port Stanley.
 
Why mistake? I already said here I would charter Bavaria myself. But charter. Would not buy it myself, but because cannot afford new one, and old "post charter" I'd suspect of being fatigued. Otherwise why not? Nice roomy boat.
I like all types, and quite accustomed to light fast kinds, being a lake sailor really.

Was taught, long ago, that GRP shell should be designed for stiffness. "Is it's stiff enough - will be strong more than enough" simple rule of thumb. GRP is easily weakened by flexing; glass breaks (no wonder), detaches from resin, layers delaminate from each other since loaded unevenly. So for a GRP hull or deck to last it should not flex, then may serve for life.
Well, Bavaria probably will be flexed in seaway, on big waves. So will undergo material fatigue. Not knowing how she exactly is calculated I'd risk nevertheless to say that couple more layers in lay-up would solve a problem, but this would mean more weight and cost. Costwise - this is a boat made for market. Most market is from charter companies, taking boat for 10 years. No reason for this boat to last much more.
Each to it's use and purpose.

I have put in other thread how a smallish "fast racing cruiser" was built in version for real offshore work, by her own designer/producer - simply more laminate, more diameter of mast and wire, bigger diameter rudder stock. These boats made it 3 times around and still going strong. Other things aside as for suitability, but designer knew what to do to make it last.
 
Why mistake? I already said here I would charter Bavaria myself. But charter. Would not buy it myself, but because cannot afford new one, and old "post charter" I'd suspect of being fatigued. Otherwise why not? Nice roomy boat.
I like all types, and quite accustomed to light fast kinds, being a lake sailor really.

Was taught, long ago, that GRP shell should be designed for stiffness. "Is it's stiff enough - will be strong more than enough" simple rule of thumb. GRP is easily weakened by flexing; glass breaks (no wonder), detaches from resin, layers delaminate from each other since loaded unevenly. So for a GRP hull or deck to last it should not flex, then may serve for life.
Well, Bavaria probably will be flexed in seaway, on big waves. So will undergo material fatigue. Not knowing how she exactly is calculated I'd risk nevertheless to say that couple more layers in lay-up would solve a problem, but this would mean more weight and cost. Costwise - this is a boat made for market. Most market is from charter companies, taking boat for 10 years. No reason for this boat to last much more.
Each to it's use and purpose.

I have put in other thread how a smallish "fast racing cruiser" was built in version for real offshore work, by her own designer/producer - simply more laminate, more diameter of mast and wire, bigger diameter rudder stock. These boats made it 3 times around and still going strong. Other things aside as for suitability, but designer knew what to do to make it last.

Yes. And those AWBs which are not chartered, and have not used up their fatigue lives in, say, ten years, will keep their crews safe for much much longer. They are fit for the purpose for which they were intended and for which, overwhelmingly, they are used.
 
Why mistake? I already said here I would charter Bavaria myself. But charter. Would not buy it myself, but because cannot afford new one, and old "post charter" I'd suspect of being fatigued. Otherwise why not? Nice roomy boat.
I like all types, and quite accustomed to light fast kinds, being a lake sailor really.

Was taught, long ago, that GRP shell should be designed for stiffness. "Is it's stiff enough - will be strong more than enough" simple rule of thumb. GRP is easily weakened by flexing; glass breaks (no wonder), detaches from resin, layers delaminate from each other since loaded unevenly. So for a GRP hull or deck to last it should not flex, then may serve for life.
Well, Bavaria probably will be flexed in seaway, on big waves. So will undergo material fatigue. Not knowing how she exactly is calculated I'd risk nevertheless to say that couple more layers in lay-up would solve a problem, but this would mean more weight and cost. Costwise - this is a boat made for market. Most market is from charter companies, taking boat for 10 years. No reason for this boat to last much more.
Each to it's use and purpose.

I have put in other thread how a smallish "fast racing cruiser" was built in version for real offshore work, by her own designer/producer - simply more laminate, more diameter of mast and wire, bigger diameter rudder stock. These boats made it 3 times around and still going strong. Other things aside as for suitability, but designer knew what to do to make it last.

Rossynant - Appreciate your contribution but as a new forum member you may be missing what the english would call irony or sarcasm intended with this thread. For years and many threads there have been groups on this forum that insist new production boats are rubbish and take great delight in posting against them. I first came across this with a member called "stingo" who started posting about buying a IIRC 38' Beneteau and sailing across the atlantic. This was after an incident in the bay of Biscay where a Beneteau on a delivery trip rolled with an unfortunate loss of life. Your post is the voice of reason but for many there is no logic they hate cheap bavarias and take ever opportunity to rant against them. My original post was intentionally stupid as everyone knows that these cheap Bavarias serve their intended market very well and there is no graveyard full of broken Bavarias.

For completeness Stingo did sail his Beneteau across the Atlantic but decided on a Catamaran would be more comfortable for the rest of his sailing!

Hence it is not expected to post reasonable replies on this thread - eg just mention when you risked your life by sailing outside a breakwater in 6kts of wind in a Bavaria - we English would understand!
 
Last edited:
Top