# Bavaria 44



## labestia (Dec 24, 2008)

Hello:

I'm in the process of purchasing a 2003 Bavaria 44 and will like to know as much as possible before I buy the boat. Any Bavaria 44 owners on the forum? I find the fridge on this boat rather small for a 44' boat; any comments on that?

Labestia


----------



## lbdavis (Apr 23, 2007)

pop-pop-pop. Now where's my beer?


----------



## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

SMALL?? Only in comparison with other production boats designed more as dockside apartments. I do not own one but have been aboard a dealer model. This is a lightly designed production cruiser suitable for charter and coastal sailing with plenty of room and tankage for living aboard. In terms of quality it is similar to Hunter/Catalina and Beneteau which are its' direct competition. I had a friend with the CC version on the Chesapeake and he was pleased with the boat under sail. 
Welcome aboard and good luck with the boat. She should be lots of fun in the islands!


----------



## donbertram (Jun 9, 2011)

Sailed a Baveria 44 from Adelaide South Australia to Melbourne and then to Yeppoon in the Great Barrier Reef North Queensland, about 2500nM. The boat sailed really well even thru some winds of over 60 knots in Bass Strait.Great boat ,go anywhere in it.


----------



## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

SloopJonB said:


> I certainly don't want to rain on your parade but due to a bunch of stuff I read, along with photos, a couple of years back I'd want to carefully check the keel mounting details on any Bavaria.
> 
> They built a fleet of production style high performance boats - 38' to 40' IIRC - for a charter outfit in the Adriatic. They were intended for charter regatta racing. *The keels fell off, actually ripped off along with some of the hull on all or most of them* due to the ridiculously light mounting system.
> 
> ...


This is the case of unsubstantiated and not true statements that can get you a lawsuit, not to Bavaria but to you

*ONE** Bavaria keel feel off* and it was proven that the boat had been grounded before. Several stress evidence were found in several other Bavarias keels, *all on the same model (Match 42)* and the boats were repaired under warranty with reinforcements on that area.

The Bavaria Match belonged to a Bavaria line of performance cruiser racers, very light and fast boats. That line was discontinued after that accident and Bavaria today only makes the old line of cruises boats, heavier than all competition and they say, stronger.

Many Bavarias have circumnavigated and a Portuguese have circumnavigated twice with the same boat, a Bavaria 36.

Recently I have posted about a Bavaria that had not only circumnavigated but had made it trough the Northwest passage, and that means hitting ice with the boat (the passage was almost closed and barely navigable). The Bavaria has kevlar on the hull on the places that are more subjected to hitting submerged objects and that may have helped.

Regards

Paulo


----------



## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

SloopJonB said:


> Sorry Paulo but that doesn't fit with what I read and saw photographic evidence of.


Believe me I know very well of what I am talking about.* One keel fell off *and all the Match 42 were reinforces under warranty at that particular hull point. I had a Bavaria at that time and IO have followed all that with concern.

If you search the net you can find all the story and will find that the problem was only with the Match 42. All were reinforced after but only one keel feel off. There is no other problem with a keel on a Bavaria and none on the "normal" line, the cruiser line.

Since Bavaria makes for here more than a 1000 boats, we are talking about 15000 boats in the last 15 years. That's a lot of boats and the same way we knew of that particular problem, if more problems had happened we would know of.

You should not make that kind of statements without being sure.

Regards

Paulo


----------



## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

PCP said:


> Believe me I know very well of what I am talking about.* One keel fell off *and all the Match 42 were reinforces under warranty at that particular hull point. I had a Bavaria at that time and IO have followed all that with concern.
> 
> If you search the net you can find all the story and will find that the problem was only with the Match 42. All were reinforced after but only one keel feel off. There is no other problem with a keel on a Bavaria and none on the "normal" line, the cruiser line.
> 
> ...


To the best of my knowledge I *was* sure and I only recommended checking the engineering out, not to avoid buying one but I'll take your word for it and remove the post.


----------



## emoney (Jun 2, 2010)

You can find tons of "stories" around that concern just about every 'production' boat that's either on the market, or has been on the market. In this litigious society that we find ourselves in, however, it's hard to find a company that is truly neglient in their production, or they don't stay in business very long. The web has done a great job of one thing; and that's taking mole hills and turning them into mountains. I'm sure you can easily find more people that are happy with their Bavarias than you can those that are not, and they don't count if they've not owned one.

Now, on the other hand, if that frig is too small..................................


----------



## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

SloopJonB said:


> To the best of my knowledge I *was* sure and I only recommended checking the engineering out, not to avoid buying one but I'll take your word for it and remove the post.


Thanks for the confidence. At the time I was posting in this forum and in this thread the subject was thoroughly debated:

Bavaria Match 42 lost its keel... - Boat Design Forums

You can also have a look at the two sides of the story here:

http://www.p-m-c.nl/documenten/AccidentinCroatia.pdf

Bavaria Response

Regards

Paulo


----------



## Narese (Feb 25, 2004)

I own a Bavaria 44. Have owned it for the past 8 years. I have cruised it extensively in the Med with all kids of weather. I am very happy with my boat and wold not change it with any other boat. She handles very well in any weather. There is plenty of room for living on board. I have had no problems of any kind and in 8 years there has been only the need of normal maintenance. No extras! You can't say that of many production boats!
Of course, due to her price, her internal details are not the same as those of an Oyster or a Hinckley, but also her price is different. You get a great boat for what you pay for that will take you blue water sailing in comfort and safety .


----------

