Bavaria 30 Offshore rated and twin keel

[awindj]

I visited a Bavaria dealer yesterday to look at a Bavaria 30. I really like the boat and probably more importantly, my wife liked it.

A couple of questions.

I asked the dealer to compare it to the Hunter, Catalina and Beneteau boats. He stated that the big difference is that they are offshore rated. I didn't find anything in the literature that mentioned that. Is this real? The boat did seem to be more ruggedly constructed (bigger cleats and such).

The keel is described as "high-tech keel with twin foils connected by an iron bulb". I can't describe it but there is a picture here:

cruisingworld.com/boats-and-gear/boat-reviews-and-previews/bavaria-30-cruiser-photo-gallery-48019.html

Is there any data or opinions on how good this is?

Overall, this seemed to be a well thought out boat. It had a saildrive which sounds good to me. It looks like it will have a premium of $10 to $15K over a similar Hunter. Is that worth it?

How does this sail compared to other similar boats?

Thanks for any feedback. Right now I am only looking. Can't convince myself to buy something while I am living in the middle of Iowa with a long drive to a decent sailing ground.

[camaraderie]

That is pure BS. A Bavaria 30 is an inshore production cruiser built lightly and not intended for offshore passagemaking. The "offshore rating" is a meaningless Euro standard that every 30 ft. boat I know of would qualify for.Most would say the build quality of Bavarias is at best no better than the other major production brands.
You don't say where you plan to sail this boat but I assume fresh water lakes or Great Lakes based on your location and if you like the boat it will be fine in those conditions. I am not a fan of iron keels since any water ingress will allow deterioration. The TWIN foil bulb keel is an option on this boat and if you don't need the shoal draft, I'd suggest sticking with the standard keel. The boat sails well. I am not a fan of saildrives for cruising...(see the tartan problems thread...but if you want to race they make some sense.
I would also suggest you visit your Catalina/Hunter/Beneteau dealers and look at their similar boats and ask those dealers how their boat compares to a Bavaria and you might learn more about the boat than by asking a Bavaria dealer.

[Tartan34C]

I gather that you don’t like the boat Cam. I haven’t sailed on a boat that had that type of keel but my first thought is that the second fin must operate in the turbulence from the first fin. But it’s just my first thought and that’s been proven to be wrong in the past. Cam is right and the boat doesn’t look to be an offshore capable boat and given what I have seen from that builder she may not be a reasonable candidate for upgrading for true offshore work. But again that’s an impression from looking at other small boats from Bavaria and I have not looked at this model.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

PS. Cam, how did it end up with the Catalina thinking about going from Cape Cod to NC. I lost track of that thread.

[CapnHand]

The only Bavarias I've seen was at the Toronto boat show. I remember it being aesthetically appealing. Small winches though, small hardware in general. As I understand the reason for the twin foils is that most of the lift from the keel is generated by the leading edge, so with 2 leading edges, you get more lift with the same or less drag. Seems like more of a gimmick than anything.

Offshore capable? Seems kind of beamy for that.

Poor salesmen spout features when talking about their product, the good ones will discuss benefits. Your wife likes it, that's a benefit. What do twin foils and an offshore rating mean for you?

[camaraderie]

Robert...he never bought the boat. Now he is looking at moving to Long Island and buying a Mac26...wants opinions on that!!

I think the B's are fine for doing the sailing most people do and they tend to be fairly quick boats but I am not a fan as my boat was fitted out in a yard that did the delivery prep on Bavarias and I got to be friendly with the yard workers...nuff said.
Still..boating at this level is about price and accommodations and having fun for most... so I think they compete by offering a good price and a bit different style which is appealing to some. What does rankle me is dealers lying to sell boats and since most do it...I alway ask the competition what they think since they always know the points on which their own boats are superior!

[sailingdog]

Dealers tend to overstate the boats real capabilities. The 30' boats from the major manufacturers: Beneteau, Catalina, Jenneau, Hunter, Bavaria; are not bluewater boats. Also remember that Bavaria had a small problem with the keels falling off of a couple of models of boats, and had a couple fatailities associated with that problem not too long ago.

[JohnRPollard]

Sailing Dog said: "Also remember that Bavaria had a small problem with the keels falling off of a couple of models of boats, and had a couple fatailities associated with that problem not too long ago."

That must be why they're using two keels on this model - redundancy!

[Tartan34C]

I am not a fan of Bavaria but just to be fair the problem was with one model and a fix was made available. That model by the way wasn’t sold in the US and was just intended for the European market.

If you want to build with a minimum factor of safety you will have problems and almost every builder who pushes the limits has had trouble at one time or another. This sort of thing is another reason to avoid ultra light construction in my opinion. But that’s just my opinion.

You as the customer need to do some homework and decide how far you want to push it. One indication of how much structure there really is in a boat is the ballast displacement ratio. The more boat compared to ballast the stronger the boat is as a very general rule.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[max-on]

Why pay the premium on the dollar to euro exchange for this kind of boat? Why buy new? If it was me, looking to purchase this catagory of boat new, I'd look at the catalina and beneteau.

[blt2ski]

European offshore catagory A rating, from what I can tell, is the ability to handle 7M waves and a beaufort force 10 wind.

Not sure if said boat will or will not handle a 7M or about 25' waves or not. Along with not remembering what a force 10 wind is, Hurracane or just before is what I am seeming to recall. The only book I have with that info is an OLD royce book, at the boat of all places.

I also am recalling something about having a space for a liferaft in the cockpit area.

So if said boat, will meet this criteria, it is ocean rated! The C30 is not last I checked, but that is not saying much. Catagory B, if I am reading /heard specs correctly, is what most of us will do, sail in great lakes, puget sound or other semi protected water.

Some of what I have typed, maybe misread or otherwise by me, but I do feel it is close, or circling the target etc.

marty