Bavaria 37

[SV_Calisto]

Hi There,  I am new to the forum so please forgive any posting faux pas.
I am looking at purchasing a Bavaria 37 and wanted to ask owners or anyone who has sailed the 2006 model if they can give me an unbiased view of the boat and what I should look out for as part of the sea trial.  Many thanks in advance.

[dawntreader]

Hi,
I have a B37 2006, 3-cabin version with Volvo D1-30b engine, fin keel and factory fitted sails/rigging and have had her from new. We have just topped 16,000 sea miles in her, with the longest trips being two transatlantic crossings in 2012/2013. Unfortunately she has been my only yacht so I cannot give a comparative assessment for you.
She sails well in all conditions, has good stability and has performed well even in heavy seas with winds to 45kts and we have built a lot of confidence in her ability to weather these conditions.
The main modifications I have made have been to ancillary equipment and not to the design build so still use the supplied sails and the 2-blade propeller for example. She will motor to 5.5kts at about 2100 revs in good conditions and uses about 2 litres/hour at this speed. She manoeuvres well going forward but is a pig going astern. Over time or due to her age, we have had to replace some items e. g. calorifier; rudder bearings, but in general most of the items on board are factory originals.
Only 'wish' I have is that she would sail a little closer to the wind (but then that might be my poor handling) as she falls off 60 deg either side upwind 

[SV_Calisto]

Thank you Dawntreader,

I had heard that the boats do not sail well to windward so I doubt it's you!  I wondered whether a good sailmaker would help, have you or anyone else heard anything on that front?

My only real concern is the on the shoal East Coat of Suffolk and Essex the 1.92m fin may badly restrict my sailing area.

Be good to hear from any East Coast sailor with similar drafts.

[nornie lees]

Im confused,  60 degrees off the wind? My 2002 1.85 draft cast iron keel Bavaria 37 sails as close as mid 30 ---35 provided genoa halyard very very tight, the sheet traveller's set far back, back stay hauled really hard. Off course you need reasonable sails, mine are 12years old, but only sailed 8000nm, but in good condition. Its not a fastpoint sail though, 5knt the norm, bearaway another  10-15 degrees she starts to rocket along 7s--8s.

Ray

[dawntreader]

I would be interested in forum views on this topic but the 'norm' for me is 60 deg either side (see the attached ST60 wind instrument) 

Yes, I can do better but that is in very stiff winds and not doing the luff of the genoa any good. My sails, for their age, are in very good condition too.

[geoff]

My Ocean 40 from 2001 with original sails will tack through less than 90deg ,so sailing on the 30deg marks on the st60 wind. Geoff

[willfinch36]

Thank you Dawntreader,

I had heard that the boats do not sail well to windward so I doubt it's you!  I wondered whether a good sailmaker would help, have you or anyone else heard anything on that front?

My only real concern is the on the shoal East Coat of Suffolk and Essex the 1.92m fin may badly restrict my sailing area.

Be good to hear from any East Coast sailor with similar drafts.

Hi there, I have a 2006 Bavaria 37 on the East Coast, on the River Orwell.

As the other guy mentioned she easily points to the wind up to about 35 degrees. Average about 7 - 8 knots when sailing along and about 6 under engine at 2200 rpm.

I don't have the deep fin keel, however my last Bavaria 30 did and that was 1.85m and didn't struggle too much.

I was so happy with the 30 that I didn't even bother having a sea trial.. and haven't been disappointed!

[singlefish]

buy a 38 , mine goes up wind !!!!

like a rocket in light stuff and even in 25 knots sailed through lee of starlight 39 deep keel  , beat jeanneau 409s on 25 mile fetch in 20 knots plus , its the way you sail em

[SV_Calisto]

Thanks to all that have responded so far 

willfinch36 I am also looking at the Orwell as a place to keep the boat. I've been told that deep water berths are limited whilst others have said that sailing areas like Brightlingsea will be pretty much inaccessible.  Where, if anywhere, have you experienced issues?

[willfinch36]

Good Choice, Yes Brightlingsea isn't ideal at all stages of the tide thats for sure, even with the 1.65M keel.

I am at the RHYC next to Woolverstone Marina.

Not sure what "stage" you  are at with the 37, but if you want to have a look over one then just let me know.

Will

[IslandAlchemy]

To Dawntrader

I suspect a new genoa will make a big difference to your upwind progress.  I had some new sails made by Quantum, and they were noticeably better to wind that the factory sails. They are now 5 years old and have done a W-E Transatlantic, but still point at about 35 degrees to the apparent.

[Trundletruc]

To Dawntreader

I notice that on your photo of the Raymarine wind instrument it is set on TRUE wind. (dot in bottom left corner). Obviously that is what you wish to talk about, but beware because this is a calculation the instrument does. This depends on having the log properly calibrated - mine agreeds with the GPS sometimes and is different sometime on different tacks. The wind indicator needs to be centred properly as well and the strength it is reading calibrated. (Difficult to do)
The best way to check the TRUE angle you are tacking is to note the tacking angle between your GPS track on both tacks, but of course this depends if the wind shifts mid tack!!!!
I think when people write of angles of 35degrees they have their instruments set on APPARENT. Which is a direct reading off the wind instrument.
I have sailed racing dinghies for most of my life and when I first bought our Bav36 I was appalled by the poor angle of progress to windward. I think that unless you have a racing yacht the angle it will make to windward will be a lot poorer. However, we had a new set of sails last year made by a good sailmaker and we now point 30-35degrees apparent up to 14knots of wind and 35-40degrees apparent above that. The tacking angle has now gone from 120 to 100ish GPS. Shallow keel and comfortable bulbous accomodation are not helpfull in reducing leeway. The genoa has a "foam" luff and although it makes starting the furling more difficult it is superb in keeping the genoa pointing in heavy weather.

[dawntreader]

Thank you TRUNDLETRUC - I will sleep easier tonight 

You are correct in your assumption and I was talking about 60 degrees off True.

[SV_Calisto]

Thanks again to all who have responded so far. These posts have been educational and have helped me to make my mind up. So the question now is the boat needs anti fouling do I bite the bullet and go for Copper Coat or is it really just hype?  Does anyone have any experience with Copper Coat and if so given the option would you do it again?
 

[Jackho]

Have to agree with willfinch36.  Yes maybe a little better than 35deg. but I have the tandem keel which my fellow sailors blame on my race results.  Yes 6 kt at about 2200 revs.  And for whatever reason yes is a pig going astern.  Perhaps someone might advise!!?

[willfinch36]

Thanks again to all who have responded so far. These posts have been educational and have helped me to make my mind up. So the question now is the boat needs anti fouling do I bite the bullet and go for Copper Coat or is it really just hype?  Does anyone have any experience with Copper Coat and if so given the option would you do it again?

 On the Orwell it seems to work better in Marinas than on moorings from what I have seen/heard.

 I personally just use a few coats of Cruiser Uno antifoul.

[Symphony]

Thanks again to all who have responded so far. These posts have been educational and have helped me to make my mind up. So the question now is the boat needs anti fouling do I bite the bullet and go for Copper Coat or is it really just hype?  Does anyone have any experience with Copper Coat and if so given the option would you do it again?

If you are starting with a new boat then it is a bit of a no brainer. The marginal cost of Coppercoat over conventional antifouling is not so great and will more than pay for itself if you intend keeping the boat. It may not necessarily reduce the amount of fouling (although this is unpredictable) but is much easier to clean so a lift and a power wash is all that is needed each year rather than a full haul out, clean and repaint. Not so financially attractive with an existing boat as you have to blast clean and start from bare which puts the cost up, but still worth doing if you are planning to keep the boat long term.

[stevem]

I also sail a 2003 B38 and she is fast and points up well ,even with an  inmast mainsal, in light and strong winds. I can't imagine that the other Baveria models are not good performers.
With regards to copper coating, I put it on my last boat  and found it to be useless. I went back to conventional anti fouling after 3 seasons. It was expensive and really hard work stripping off all the old antifouling and applying the copper coat.

[Lazy Pelican]

We bought our B 39 2years old but she was Coppercoated from new. The first season we owned her fouling was very bad. Taking advice from Coppercoat i abraded the surface with a scoured to expose the copper and since have had no problems. On 2 occasions we've been in the water for 15months with only slime which pressure washed of easily.
The boat was one of the last commissioned by Opal and the keel wasn't epoxied from new so quickly became rusty- we had the keel stripped treated, epoxied and re-Coppercoated in 2013 and no fouling at all this season.
Whatever you do have the keel properly epoxied including the very bottom.

John

[SV_Calisto]

Many thanks to all who responded, that gave me the confidence to go ahead and on Saturday I picked up the keys to "Calisto" a 2006 Bav 37.  I'm going to be taking it easy on the Orwell in 2015 so to all on the east coast, I'll see you on the water 

[willfinch36]

Great news! You will see me for sure

"Time Off II"