Characteristics of the Bavaria 39 Cruiser

[Captain_Sir]

I have been offered a 2005 Bavaria 39 at a good price,
Has anyone sailed one of these boats?
If so, where and in what sort of weather and seas?
During the sea trial, the boat seemed a little on the tender side,
although she performed fairly well, achieving 7+ knots with 18-20 knots across the deck

 

[Norman_E]

Quote "I have been offered a 2005 Bavaria 39 at a good price"

One year old with a good chunk of initial depreciation off the new cost, plus (hopefully) some added kit, is a good way to buy anything, so I can see the temptation. You should however ask yourself why the owner is selling so soon after new purchase. He may have been disappointed in it.
I have not sailed that model, but as a general type this sort of boat is broad in the beam and fairly shallow hulled, so initial tenderness caused by the fairly low ballast ratio is followed with a fair degree of hull form stability. This type of boat likes to be sailed with only a small amount of heel, and generally has to be reefed early. I well remember sailing in a 1979 Moody 41, with round boom reefing which was not very efficient. We were reefed in a little over 20 knots of true wind and sailed straight past a 44 foot Bavaria that was over-pressed under full sail and had its toe rail in the water, and was probably making significant leeway. That boat would have wiped the floor up with us if it had been properly handled however.

 

[TigaWave]

I'm not sure if the hull shape/overall design has changed much, but I had a Bav 390 91 vintage.
She was an excellent boat and performed well, and felt safe in extreme weather (November Biscay storm that sank the Prestige) The hull form is wide and shallow, but there was a good sized rudder that easily prevented broaching when pressed. She would heave to comfortably with just the storm jib.

She was also very fast in light winds as the rig was pretty big, but as others have said you reef earlier to keep her flat.

Newer versions do have lighter weight fittings, rigging attachments, boom size, winch size etc so I might not feel happy pushing one of these as hard.

I hope that helps, but it really depends what you have planned.

 

[overstag]

My boat is a Bavaria 37 Cruiser of 2006.
The boat is indeed best sailed with a reef in winds exceeding 16 knots. It is a good boat for its money. Good quality engine, mast, rigging etc. I wasn`t very impressed with the sails, though. I bought a different genua.
I`ve sailed it in winds upto 30 knots. It performed very satisfactory.

 

[Goldie]

16 knots of wind or 16 knots of apparent wind? I think many boats would be thinking about a reef upwind in 16 knots true wind.

 

[branko]

I have Bav 40 2002. it is almost the same model as 39 . I am very satisfied and happy with it. I have change Genoa for bigger. This summer I have sail 50 Nm in wind 35 Kts with gusts to 50. No problem except you are completely washed and wet on the skipper place. That I am in situation to buy a new boat I should buy the same. !!!!Pilot on this boat have to be Inboard Raymarine ST6001 or equal from another company. ST 4000+ was not good enough and I have to change it .
How it looks under the sails on 25 kts wind you can see on this video clip.
http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d127/branko1/?action=view&current=Default.flv

 

[Rob_Webb]

If you buy a Bavaria you are buying into a philosophy in terms of price, performance and quality. There's no right or wrong answer and it depends on your requirements as to whether it's a good boat to buy. For many it's a great boat. For others pretty average. And even on the wind, a modern 39ft boat that can only reach 7kts is really entry level and not looking so flash, especially if you throw in a bit of a chop.

But anyway, given the pedigree of the marque, would you be making a huge mistake by buying one? Probably not. And if you subsequently regretted it and wanted out, could you do so easily and quickly? For sure. Bavs are one of the most liquid markets in the yachting world. So unless you're about to go off and do the 5 Capes or liveaboard for the next 18 months, go for it. But be aware of what you are buying into.

 

[Otter]

Oh come on, 6 posts on a Bavaria thread? What's happening here? Any mention of the Bav in a thread normally guarantees 1000 views plus and 17 varriations of "it's crap but you get what you pay for". Please don't tell me the Bav rant has run its course. where am I going to go now for my warm smug feeling?

 

[Wayne14]

Hallo, i'm from croatia and i would like to meet someone who owns bavaria 39 cruiser (http://www.dn-nautica.com/eng/bavaria_39.html). Do you know anyone?
p.s. i collect boats, and wanna get some special ones