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By
DAVID LOCKWOOD
29 October 2007
Who would have expected an electric opening transom on
the modest Bavaria 31 Cruiser? Press a button and you get an inviting
stern-to entrance into this big little cruising yacht with, among other
things, an Aussie-sized cockpit with 2.2-metre long seats.
Add a barbie on the rail and you can eat and swim,
while anchored just beyond the beach. Oh, yeah, a windlass is
provided to make weighing anchor a snap. And a hot-cold transom
shower comes gratis on what is, by any measure, a complete
cruising package.
Accommodation, meanwhile, spans two double cabins at either end of
the boat. Of course you're wondering about headroom. It reaches
about 180 cm, which, depending on your frame, is either adequate
or a compromise (in which case look to the 34 due here any week
now).
Meanwhile, the galley comes with a two-burner
stove/oven and top-loading 12-volt fridge in which frozen goods
will stay that way for some days. The WC is big with a pressurised
handheld hot/cold shower and electric head (both local upgrades).
And with only one cabin back aft there's room for a huge sail
locker.
The Germans fashioned the hull of the 31 Cruiser
(9.76 metres or 32 feet 1 inch overall) from lashings of resin and
rovings, with a glassed-in GRP subframe and Kevlar reinforced bow
sections. The keel is a cast-iron fin with squat bulb drawing 1.87
metres. There's also a twin fin shoal-draft version for skinny
waterways.
On the engineering front, the yacht has gas
cooking, 12-volt systems with separate 55-amp engine-start battery
and 140-amp house battery, but also 240-volt Shorepower and
battery charger, plus AC outlets that might come in handy when
tied to the marina. The Bavaria switch panel in the navigation
station is a smart bit of work and better than what you find from
many high-volume production yachts.
The freshwater supply is 155 litres, enough for a
weekend with profligate kids aboard, or a week for a savvy
cruising couple. The 90-litre fuel tank will last for a few days
motoring with the freshwater-cooled three-cylinder Volvo Penta
D1-20, which has a big 150-amp alternator and Saildrive. The motor
revs to 2800rpm, makes maximum torque at 2400rpm, where it
produced 6 knots boat speed for 2 litres per hour.
The deck-stepped single-spreader 7/8th aluminium
Selden mast was fitted with an optional solid vang or rod kicker.
Deck gear is all Rutgerson including the genoa tracks and
adjustable cars and mainsheet system with traveller on the cabin
top. Only a small section of boom protrudes into the cockpit where
it's about 1.8 metres high.
The lines all lead back under the optional factory
fitted dodger, much appreciated on this blustery day, to two-speed
Lewmar 18s. The primaries and mainsheet winches are two-speed
Lewmar 30s and interchangeable. With active crew, you can have the
mainsheet winches close to the wheel. If shorthanded, wrap the
headsail sheet there and tack yourself.
The upgraded Elfstrom tri-radial sails should keep
their shape longer than the standard Dacron set. The test boat had
a fully battened main, which drops into lazy jacks and a boom bag,
and a furling No. 2 headsail. You could fit a No. 1 and/or
asymmetrical spinnaker, plus a pole for goosewinging it if you
want to partake in the odd twilight and Saturday club race.
Although the yacht has (Spinlock leatherbound)
wheel steering and a big central pedestal for mounting
electronics, including a chartplotter (Raymarine 80 and Tridata
supplied), you can remove the wheel in a matter of seconds and
create an even more spacious cockpit setting. A folding wheel is
another way to go if you like to entertain.
Either way, the little yacht has a big cockpit
with huge sail locker big enough for the deflated duckie, 2
horsepower outboard, fishing lines and crab traps... all the
cruising essentials are in place.
This was an especially enjoyable sail in the
sprightly southerly whistling down the bay. The Bavaria 31 held
its own and flew the full set of sails with no reefing needed. On
the reaches we clocked as much as 7.6 knots. Upwind, we were
sailing in the 6 to 6.5 knots range, which is still very
respectable.
The helm is balanced and, if you split the wind a
tad, you can sail at 30 degrees and make good headway. With one
big tack, we took the layline straight back to the marina. The
yacht never really felt pressed and only once did we need to dump
the mainsheet in the 15-20 knots of wind? As the Germans would
say: uber alle.
lockwood@intercoast.com.au
AT-A-GLANCE
BAVARIA 31 CRUISER
Price as tested: $198,721 sail-away with optional rodkicker,
high-tech sail set, barbie, bimini, dodger, upgraded Raymarine
electronics, winch covers, wheel and table covers, cockpit
speakers and LED lights and more.
Length overall: 9.76 metres
Hull length: 9.49 metres
Beam: 3.38 metres
Draft: 1.87 metres
Displacement: 4700 kg
Ballast: 1102 kg
Berths: 4+2 on sea berths
Fuel: 90 litres
Water: 155 litres
Engine: Volvo-Penta D1-20
Rated HP: 18 (13.4kW)
Drive: Saildrive
Prop: Three-blade folding
Main and furling headsail: 51.1 square metres
Supplied by: North South Yachting, Quays Marina, 1856 Pittwater
Rd, Church Point, NSW, 2015. Phone: (02) 9998 9600. See www.northsouthyachting.com.au
for interstate sales.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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