2000 Bavaria 47 Ocean CC Should I buy?

[Jm2fly]

We have been looking at purchasing a sailboat above 40' in length and came across a very nice looking specimen. I am wanting some expert advice and have not been able to find any positive reviews of the boat or most Bavaria yachts and most of what I've read mention "cheap imitation wood grain" and plastic which I don't recall in this version. The Yachtworld posting claims African Mahogany.

My main concern is the sailing qualities of this yacht. Is it sturdy on the open ocean? How does it handle in a blow? To windward or down wind? Please let me know what you think and if I should complete the sale or look for something else. Our desire is long range cruising including ocean passages.

Thank you in advance!

[dawntreader]

Ignore the adverse comments about Bavaria's (in general). I've done over 20k miles in my B37 including 2 Atlantic crossings and it still floats  These are 'production models' but made to a good standard and will be found in almost every port you visit. As always when buying, get good, professional advice for the specific boat you are looking at 

[Yngmar]

Bavarias of that era all had the old Bavaria house style interior, which was Sapele (a type of Mahonagy), lots of it and finished very well. The Ocean CC models were generally a notch above the Cruiser (AC) models in both price and fittings. You get a glass windscreen, some bits of teak around the cockpit, keels are lead instead of iron, the rudder post is much longer and the interior layout is more suitable for keeping a smaller crew comfortable during liveaboard cruising rather than cramming the maximum amount of charter guests into cabins.

I've not been on a 47 Ocean, but have a 40 Ocean which I'm well pleased with. The rig is a Genoa biased design typical of that time, rather than the current generation which seems to favour smaller jibs and larger mains. Thanks to the CC design, you have a boom-end mainsheet and winches in reach of the helm. With in-mast furling you can manage just about everything from the cockpit, making her a very safe and dry boat. Deck fittings are mostly Rutgerson, with Harken winches and a Selden rig of course.

The 47 was unusual for being a shaft drive design rather than a saildrive. It also has nice large saloon windows, although that may make it somewhat hot in the cabin in warmer climates. Engine was a turbo version of the reliable MD22.

Downsides of the Ocean models are the stanchions typically leak and need resealing, and mine had some problems with sealant on the teak side decks.

Happy boat shopping

[rbrtmccorkle]

In January of 2017 I bought an 1998 Ocean 42 in Olympia, WA and had to sail the boat to Portland, OR within 60 days to avoid paying WA state sales tax. We made the passage outside down the WA coast in Feb in 15-25 knot winds & 20+ foot seas and the then crossed the Columbia River Bar.  These were the most confused seas, I've ever experienced (more than rounding the horn) - the boat had no problems. The biggest challenge was that 2/3's of my man crew were really struggling with sea sickness & we had to have two on watch at night because of all the crab pots (we we 50 miles off shore and still could not get away from them)

I learned in my horn rounding, reefs are easier to shake out than put in - in the seas described above, using the roller furlongs,its easy to trim the boat such that hand steering is a light touch experience and the auto pilot had no issues. It's a German built boat, which means it's built with a great degree of structural integty - for a cruiser its fast.  Being German and given that I'm currently living aboard, would say that in my purchase choice, I chose sailing qualities over living space.  Meaning there are other production boats that offer a somewhat more comfortable living environment, but don't sail nearly as well.

Just some thoughts from the cheap seats - Blue Skies & Fair Winds

Bob McCorkle
SV CHaos

[Jeffatoms]

We have a 1998 Ocean 38 and we are 100% satisfied with this boat.  We often see similar armchair critiques of the Bavaria line in general which we conclude is because they have seem much use/abuse in the med charter fleet making them an easy target.  As Yngmar states, the Ocean Series were a very special group of boats for Bavaria and they are still quite special.  We have had one leak at the mast base and it's time to address the gaskets on all the opening portlights.  Our teak deck will be removed and replaced with non-skid of some kind soon but we wouldn't want any other boat except possibly an Ocean 40.