My name is Patrick Shaughnessy, and I am the President of Farr Yacht Design, although today I represent the combined design group which has produced the new Bavaria Cruiser 32.
Fresh from the completion of Bavaria’s new flagship, the Cruiser 55, we were tasked as a team with producing a boat at the opposite end of the line to replace the popular 31 Cruiser model. With the 55 as a true flagship we needed to demonstrate flexibility and innovation, and with an entry model like the 32 we needed to strengthen the already strong cost position of the boat and to demonstrate a bookend for the clear Cruiser line styling logic.
A 32ft boat is a difficult design challenge. The interior layout of a boat in this competitive size range has been very well defined by the market place. We challenged ourselves to find places where innovation can happen when a specific product has already been so well targeted. What we found is that exterior living spaces weren’t working quite as well as the interior living spaces in this class. Many of the great ideas we developed on the 55 can still apply to a much smaller boat. We have produced a hull shape which allows great interior volume and next we needed to wisely use the deck space that comes from such a large planform area. The cockpit area now comfortably seats the same number of people the boat can sleep, and more. The cockpit space is closed and secure to protect a young family, but can fully open to be an inviting passage to the sea so that we can truly enjoy the places we spend the time to sail to. With a shallow draft keel option at 1.5 meters we should be able to get pretty close to these nice places. Certainly as a person with a young family I can say that this enormous swim platform is an area where my family will spend a great amount of time. And as an owner I would be happy to have a 32 foot boat where my whole family can sit side by side with our feet in the water.
An entry boat for a range has a strong likelihood of attracting novice sailors and for that reason we have a strong want to produce a boat which can inspire confidence. In order to create a manageable boat we’ve produced a sailplan which ensures that reefing isn’t required until wind speeds exceed 20kts. We also recognize that a true cruising boat should sail at heel angles of less than 20 degrees below 15kts true wind speed. Even with those conservative choices a SA/Disp ratio of 4.18 ensures that the boat will have competitive performance in class. We’ve carefully monitored the boat throughout the design and build process to result in keel weights producing a ballast ratio increase of 12-25% over the previous 31 Cruiser. We have also targeted and achieved both an AVS number of 125 degrees and CE cat A.
The new Bavaria Cruiser 32 is a boat which manages its compromises very well. It combines modern styling and aesthetics with a good level of performance and the demanding safety levels we require for all Farr Yacht Design products. With all of those things in one place it’s very easy to see why this boat has already attracted a nomination for yacht of the year.
Patrick Shaughnessy
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