Bavaria Yachts

[james2b]

Bavaria Yachts. There seems to be a theme in the posts that might suggest these boats are a notch above Beneteau, Hunter, Jeanneau, Catalina, etc. but this impression seems mostly based on walk-throughs at Boat
Shows. Dealer network is definitely not as strong as the others. Anyone have opinions based on ownership or talking with owners? Anyone have concerns related to servicing or getting parts for the Volvo engines?

[KenD]

PRICE AND FINISHING ARE THE HIGH POINTS OF THE 34 THAT I SAW INTERIOR DIDN''T HAVE SOLID SURFACE COUNTERTOPS BUT THEY WERE DONE RIGHT INSIDE ALL CABINETS WERE FINISHED WITH WOOD/PLYWOOD THE ONLY THINGS I AM WARY OF ARE THE SAIL DRIVE LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE PUT AN OUTBOARD LOWER END THRU THE HULL, AND THE BOOM IS KNOCK YOUR HEAD OFF LOW WHEN STANDING IN THE COCKPIT I WAS QUOTED 89000 AND THAT BEATS THE HUNCATATAU TRIO I HAVE A VOLVO 2003T AND CAN GET PARTS AT NAPA AUTO STORES I DIDN''T CHECK OUT WHAT WAS IN THE 34

[bullseye]

ive only had 1 experience with bavaria yachts,that was when i bareboat chartered 1 for a long weekend,we booked the 36ft,but it had a prob with the windlass so they had to "unfortuneatly" upgrade to a 42ft''r,hehe no worrys =0)

it sailed fantastically,the storage was great.looked strong enough to me!

my only critisism is the design of some things ie

no storage in the cockpit for your gloves,camera,water bottles etc.
i think they could of done better with the design below,didnt seem as user friendly as a catalina(but no silly flat shelves as on the cat''.

beautiful looking yacht tho'' & if i only had the money........

[maxcontax]

I chartered the Holiday 35 which is a predecesor to the Bav 34, and the Bavaria 32 5 or 6 times over an 8 year timeframe and sailed them in the Gulf Islands and SanJuans.

The Bavaria 32 was a wonderful boat: fast, fun, well laid out and really great to sail: we had it in the Georgia Strait in 30 knot winds on a reach in 6'' seas, it balanced well with partial jib and 1 reef in the main. I found the aft berth was squeezy for two and the veeberth a tad short. The salon berths were the best. Fit and finish were the best, in my limited experience.

The Volvo needs glowplug help even in the middle of summer but ran well.

The Bavaria 35 was the ladies choice: posh finish below, tonnes of stowage space, and since it is a tubby boat, good double aft berths and veeberth. the boat was severely hampered in its chance to perform by an unbattened inmast furling main and the ubiquitous furling headsail: go with Dutchman reefing and fullbattened main or else it takes 15 knots to have any fun. In unfair conditions for a charterboat of 40 knots requiring furler reduced headsail and partial main, it did not make any attempt at all to go to wind, just beam reached and rolled like an oiled pig. the boat has high freeboard = lots of headroom below and a dry ride . On a reach out in the chuck with full main and 100% jib it was well behaved, alot less of a rodeo-ride than the 32, so the passengers liked it better.

The boats have some euro quirks, like reverse propwalk, that take a second to get past, but overall I think they''re great boats. Service in the Seattle to Vancouver BC area is pretty good.

One thing we loved were the admiring looks and comments every time we came into a marina. Life is too short to spend it with an ugly boat.