Member Forums > Polls & Yacht Opinions

Vision 42

(1/3) > >>

Bailey1234:
Dear forum.

My wife and I are at the final stages of securing a new Vision 42 in the UK. The current plan is 2 maybe 3 years on the East Coast before moving the boat to Greece.  All subject to change of course... We will be ordering above standard as follows:
2 head version
Upgraded engine
Bow thruster
Furling headsail
Laminate sails
Gennaker prep
Additional primary winches
Upgraded primary winches
Additional water tank
Teak cockpit floor
Saloon conversion to berth
Coastal navigation pack
Plus a few other bits such as 3 burner hob, additional lighting, cushions etc

We would welcome any experiences or thoughts on the Vision 42 specifically around performance & sea motion alongside any suggestions when preparing for extending cruising.

Thanks in advance.

Yngmar:
Welcome :-)

Ground tackle is missing from the list. I don't know what Bavaria fits as anchor these days, but it's probably nothing suitable for extended cruising.

Also no mention of power, which is crucial to staying in Greece, even if you don't want to stay at anchor for extended periods, as many of the town quays have no electricity or it's difficult to track down the right guy to hook you up. A stern arch with solar is great, as it can carry more than just solar panels.

Amongst the things we didn't think we needed but now that we have them wouldn't want to be without are a watermaker (not needed until you get to Greece though) and (small, portable) washing machine (useful once you get into the Med and laundry prices suddenly skyrocket).

What we would like and don't have (yet) are some davits, as towing the dinghy is inefficient and can be dangerous, and putting it away is annoying and gets tedious quickly.

Secondary winches are very handy. Upgrading the primaries is probably overkill. If your arms are flabby, work out a bit and/or watch a racer on how to use a winch efficiently (swinging your torso above the winch).

Oh, and (reflective) sun shades are a must on every window, and mosquito nets on all that can open. And a bimini of course (although whilst you're on the east coast, a cockpit tent is probably more useful).

For electronics, AIS is very common now, Radar is expensive and sits around unused a lot, but even if you do few night sails, it's incredibly useful then. And do save yourself some hassle later and get whatever NMEA/Wifi box they're offering - everyone is always asking me about those :)

tiger79:

--- Quote from: Bailey1234 on August 18 2019, 12:01 ---
My wife and I are at the final stages of securing a new Vision 42 in the UK. The current plan is 2 maybe 3 years on the East Coast before moving the boat to Greece. 

--- End quote ---

Welcome to the forum!  As a bit of background, can you tell us what boat you have currently, and where on the East Coast you're thinking of putting the Vision 42?

Bailey1234:
Thanks for the replies.

Ground tackle is part of the standard inventory and suitable while we are in the U.K, mosquito nets for all hatches comes with one of the packs that we have ordered. We have decided to have sprayhood and Bimini fitted during commissioning rather than from factory as I wanted control over the design and materials. We are undecided on cockpit tent given fitting to a Bimini appears to be complicated and the end result being more functional than aesthetically pleasing...  Our previous boat had one and it was used a lot on the not so sunny East Coast! The plan is to fit stainless arch with solar panels, davits and outboard hoist during the winter prior to moving the boat to the Med partly due to available budget alongside it not really being necessary for the sailing we will be doing for the first few seasons. The upgraded winches may be overkill as you say however it is a relatively modest cost compared to retro fitting should we find we need it. We found when sailing the Vision for a week that the small foresail was easily handled however it will require a larger sail for light(ish) airs and should we want to have some fun with a reacher or similar then a larger winch may well make life a bit easier.  I didn’t want electric winches indeed have deliberately reduced the amount of electrical options such as cockpit table and saloon table opting for manually operated. Last time I looked my arms weren’t that flabby (I also checked with my wife and she confirmed!) and I race intermittently but still consider the upgraded winches desirable.

Tiger79; we sold our Dufour 36 Classic in February and have been researching and viewing potential boats since, indeed we have had enough of looking now and just want to have secured a boat for next season.  We didn’t necessarily set out to purchase new and remain open to a used boat should the right one come along before we make our final decision.  Our budget and needs have steered us toward production boats focusing on the Beneteau 41.1, Jeanneau 410, Hanse 418 and the Bavaria Vision 42. (We preferred the Vision to the cruising range). Having viewed them all on many occasions and sailed 2 of them eventually chartering a Vision 42 in Greece for a week we came to the personal conclusion that the Vision was the better finished and the layout/specification best suited to our cruising plans. In regards to price we have found that after negotiation all 4 boats with relatively comparable specification were around the same cost albeit the recent Euro/Pound turbulence may well affect this going forward.

We plan to moor the boat at Burnham Yacht Harbour for a couple of seasons and then maybe one season on the Orwell. We winter at Fambridge Yacht Haven for convenience.

Regards.

Symphony:
Excellent choice of boat.

Brings back happy memories for me having bought 2 new Bavarias, the first a 37 for chartering and then part time liveaboard in Greece and more recently a 33 through Clipper for use in the UK. From what you have written you seem to have a grasp on the additional gear that is needed in the Med (and sailing to get there). The key things are keeping cool (both people and food), good electric and water capacity, good motoring performance and good ground tackle. actual sharp sailing performance is a lower priority as you will spend more time motoring than sailing - and the pleasurable sailing will be mostly light airs downwind.

When buying new the decisions to make are about what to have fitted at once and what to add later. One cardinal rule with Bavaria is to have everything you can that is a "system" factory fitted as it will be well engineered and in most cases cheaper than retro. This does not apply as you have already found to canvas work where the OE is low quality. Suggest you speak to John Bland at Tecsew (who is probably doing your basic canvas work anyway) about your bimini/sprayhood/cockpit tent as he is good at designing such things. If you are adding a gantry it may be possible to design this to be part of the cockpit covering framework.

Other than that my only comments about your original list of items would be the wisdom of spending money on laminate sails. In my view really not needed for cruising in the way you plan. The boat will perform very well without them and once you get going the amount of windward sailing (and indeed sailing of any kind!) will gradually decline. Laminate sails do not in general like UV so will have much reduced life. Better to have the "performance" sails Bavaria offer and spend the money save on a good furling offwind sail with the Selden gear for running the furling lines back to the cockpit. Personal choice if it were me I would also have the furling mainsail for ease of handling and stowing out of UV. If you are adopting a cruising lifestyle you will likely spend over 90% of your time stationary so priority is towards things that make this more comfortable. The sailing bit is primarily a means to get from one desirable anchorage/town etc to another, not squeezing the last bit of performance out of the boat.

Of course a lot of these choices are personal and even then some you are going to find out are not what you expected and regret and others you will find  you got just right. The joys of buying and sailing boats!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page