Bavaria 37

[Jim D.]

I’m considering purchasing a Bavaria 37 and would welcome any comments and opinions on the sailing ability of the boat. Also do you think having a furling main would make a big difference in her performance?

 

[Ken Johnson]

Reviews are available

You can read reviews of all current (and some past) Bavarias on our owners website. There are 2 versions of 37's - one from 1999/2000, and one current - so be careful which review you're reading. I have a 36 and can talk about that boat, if you want.

Here's the link:

http://www.byoa.org/page55/page19/page19.html

 

[wsailing]

Bavara 37

I’m considering purchasing a Bavaria 37 and would welcome any comments and opinions on the sailing ability of the boat. Also do you think having a furling main would make a big difference in her performance?

Hi there,
I have a 3 year old Bavaria 37 which has proved to be a great yacht which is very fast easy to sail.the 37 sails better than other cruser yachts and we are not embarrassed racing out and out racing yachts. The furling main would slow the boat down and is not necssary as the lazy jack system as fitted as standard equipment works very well, with in mast furling the fitting of battens are a problem and the set of the sail when part way out is very poor even fully out its not good.
Using the reef points and the slab reefing system as supplied standard is very easy to use and gives better control than furling main.This normally also means and little larger sail is possible and as the Bavaria is nearly seven tonnes, in light days the set and larger size is needed.
As the wind increases it is a very easy task using the slab reefing system to reef the sail.

With the in mast furling there is always a risk the sail becomes jamed and this has proved to be a problem in high winds

 

[alex33]

I owned a 37' -2000 model for several years. It is a fast and well behaved Bavaria, both as cruiser and and ocassional club racer, higher balast ratio and less flat bottom than later years Bavarias. Mine had an upgraded in-mast vertical battens mainsail of cruising laminate fabric ,anew from factory which served me well 6-7 years I owned the boat without problems .
I wouldn't touch the regular basic in-mast furling mainsail of that years models ,too weak ,unsupported, flutter in anything above 15 knots wind and lose it's shape fast. If not the upgraded in-mast sail, go for regular fully batten mainsail with single-line-reefing + lazy-pack combination, mostly supplied as standard by the German factory.