Design Insight
New in every sense
It’s not only the management that’s changed at Bavaria Yachts. Race yacht designers Maurizio Cossutti and Alessandro Ganz are moving the boats steadily towards the speedier end of the performance spectrum
It’s Bavaria Yachts’ big comeback boat in more ways than one. Launched at the recent Düsseldorf Boat Show, the Bavaria C42 is the first new sailing yacht brought to market under the shipyard’s new management, following a change of ownership. Not only that, but it signals a significant shift in Bavaria’s yacht building strategy: a definite and deliberate move away from the rather sedate family cruisers of the previous generation, which were aimed primarily at novice sailors, towards a new and more broadly appealing range of boats. They’ll still be spacious, high-volume cruisers designed for easy handling but the Bavaria C42 makes it clear that the new generation of Bavarias will be more rewarding to sail with bigger, higher aspect sailplans, better ballast ratios, sharper handling under sail and more performance potential. One thing that hasn’t changed is the design team: Maurizio Cossutti and Alessandro Ganz are best known for their IRC/ORC racers but since 2015 the highly regarded duo have overseen a subtle design evolution at Bavaria Yachts with a gradually increasing emphasis on sailing performance in the three models leading up to the Bavaria C42. ‘The yard’s request was to retain the main
78 SEAHORSE
design features of the C57, C50 and C45,’ Maurizio Cossutti explains, ‘but at the same time to impart a clear, precise sign of the change in direction and mindset.’
Cossutti Yacht Design has earned a reputation for designing hulls that are elegant as well as easily driven and this one is no exception. At first glance the Bavaria C42 is a good- looking yacht with an attractive sheerline, an elegant silhouette, some race-derived design features and a sleeker, generally more angular appearance than previous models. That said, the brand’s identity has been carefully preserved and despite the Italian-accented style of the hull shape and deck layout, it’s unmistakably a Bavaria.
Hard chines make berths bigger Perhaps the most obvious of this yacht’s key features – especially for those who know the brand well – are the prominent hard chines running back from amidships to the aft quarters of the hull, just above the waterline. It’s the first time Bavaria has ever produced a sailing yacht with a chined hull.
Some yachts’ chines are mainly cosmetic but as Cossutti and Pascal Kuhn, Bavaria’s product manager for the Bavaria C42, are both keen
Above: itʼs a Bavaria yacht but not as we know it... the new Bavaria C42 signals a change in philosophy and mindset at the German shipyard. Key features include a tall mast stepped quite far aft, a rather large self-tacking headsail with a narrow sheeting angle, high volume bow sections, a well thought out cockpit layout and boxy aft
quarters that boost form stability and make space for wider berths in the aft cabins
to point out, on this boat they serve several functions. ‘We’ve developed the Bavaria way of doing chines,’ Kuhn says, explaining that they give the hull a significant amount of additional form stability while creating useful extra living space, or stowage space, inside. ‘And it’s the Italian way of doing chines,’ says Alessandro Ganz. ‘We’ve saved a lot of wetted area and of course we care about the aesthetics too.’ The positioning of chines on a cruising yacht’s hull has to be extremely precise, Cossutti explains, much more so than on a racing yacht hull where higher boatspeed allows a greater margin of error. ‘The position is crucial, otherwise negative effects can occur.’
The extra form stability of the chines comes into effect at a heel angle of 15 to 20 degrees and the hull’s waterline length also extends, improving the yacht’s boatspeed when sailing upwind. ‘When designing the underwater hull, you can also use the dynamic effect of the chines for faster water drainage on the hull,’ Cossutti says.
The other big benefit of these boxy aft sections becomes clear when you look into one of the aft cabins: where most yachts have a tapered double berth due to the curvature of the
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
