Bavaria 38 'Calypso'

[Paul Knowles]

Hello Forum,

This is my first post, and I would be most grateful for your help.

I have just purchased a 1987 Bavaria 38 'Calypso' and would like to know if their is a owners manual available I could download? 

Many thanks

Paul

[Symphony]

Welcome.

Unlikely such a thing as an owners manual in the form we know it today is available for a boat of that age. It was only in 1997 that a manual became a formal requirement and prior to that most new boats came with just a collection of literature from makers of parts such as the engine and deck gear such as winches plus perhaps some notes from the builder. Bavaria was a relatively small scale builder at that time and the boats, although having some visual resemblance are very different from the later 1995 or so onwards volume produced boats. 

[Paul Knowles]

Hi Symphony,

Thank you for responding. I'm not surprised, but worth a try. I wonder if Bavaria would have saved a record of her when built, technical information etc? She is pretty solid, and fitted out to a good standard.

[Symphony]

Bavaria have had (at least!) 5 changes of ownership since then and there is nobody there now that has any connection with the original firm that built your boat. It has been at times difficult to get any information out of them, although as the sticky at the top here shows some have had some success, mainly with manuals dating back to the early 2000s.

When your boat was built Bavaria were considered a premium builder on a par with the Scandinavian builders at the time and have a good reputation for robust build and good offshore performance.

Not exactly sure what model your boat is as Bavaria did not use straight numbers like "38" until the mid 90s and earlier models were 3 figures - 340,350,370,390 etc as shown in sailboatdata.com/builder/bavaria-yachts-ger?paginate=25&page=1

I see the boat is in Poole - actually moored about 200 yards from my boat!. I looked at that on the broker's site when it came up for sale and thought then that the description of "38" was probably wrong. I thought it might be a 370 but the layout of the saloon is different from the others I have seen - although they were later build. The label of length in the name is often unconnected to the actual length (my 2001 37 was actually 38').

Anyway she looks a very nice boat and should give good service.

[JEN-et-ROSS]

Hi.
 We have been the proud owners of a Bavaria 38 'Lagoon' (1991). (It's basically the same boat as yours,) for about 14 years, and as Symphony pointed out they were aimed at the upper end of the market to compete with the likes of Moody etc, They failed miserably to compete financially and went bust, but they left us with some excellent yachts, although I wouldn't think there would be any manuals around anymore.
 They are built to last, the only weak point being the so called 'teak' deck that is really just a thin veneer bonded (or not..!!) onto cheap ply. We had it all removed when we bought the boat.
A good indicator of the build quality is the displacement,
A quote from the Yachtnet website states that the Bav 42 Lagoon (same boat as yours but longer):-
..."An indication of the difference between these 'old' Bavarias and the current versions is that this 42 actually displaces substantially more than the current Bavaria 49".....!!
 As for the length, our 'Lagoon' is 11.5 m, so yes it's 38 ft, I don't know when Bavaria started this nonsense of calling a 38 ft boat a '37'.
In my humble and extremely biased opinion you have made an excellent purchase. ........Have fun.........Bill

[Paul Knowles]

Bill and Symphony, I would like to thank you both for taking the time to explain the history and types of Bavaria. I feel much the wiser for your comments.  I'm very pleased with her, and feel that with some TLC she will give us years of good service. We will be moving her to Dartmouth shortly, and looking forward to the summer..............when it arrives. Best regards, Paul

[Laysula]

Hi Paul. We sail out of Brixham in a 350 Lagoon named Laysula. I'm sure our paths will cross at some point. Look forward to meeting you at some point.
Steve and Lou

[Paul Knowles]

Hi Steve and Lou, thank you for touching base. We moved her this week, so now on the Dart. Look forward to meeting you too. Paul & Karen