Just Launched
Bavaria’s got a new look that you’ll want to see
Having had maximum use out of its Cruiser line of Farr-designed hulls, Bavaria Yachts is in the process of renewing its entire range. The first of the new-look Bavarias designed by Mario Cosutti, the C57, debuted at Boot Dusseldorf last year and has now been joined by two new models, the C45 and C50.
The two boats share similar styling which, from the renderings, looks very sharp indeed. They also share a number of key features, including a choice of self-tacking jib or overlapping genoa, clean deck layout with all lines led aft through galleries to the helm stations, built-in wet bar and grill in the cockpit, large drop-down transom platform, a dinghy garage under the cockpit and digital switching that allows you to control and monitor most of the boat’s functions from a smartphone or tablet.
You know you’ve got lots of volume to play with when you can offer a 45-footer with up to five cabins and a 50-footer with up to six (plus a skipper’s cabin). Each boat comes in three versions with differing levels of equipment and layout options—Holiday, Style and Ambition.
Interestingly, despite the boat’s generous beam, Cosutti has eschewed the current fashion for hull chines and twin rudders in favor of highaspect single spade rudders and clean, undistorted lines.
Way back in the murky depths of the early 1990s, France’s Dufour Yachts started a fledgling catamaran brand called Nautitech. Soon Dufour was producing a range of five models, but a few years later the company decided to concentrate on the then booming monohull market and sold Nautitech to Bruno Voisard—a decision Dufour no doubt regretted when Bavaria Yachts took over the brand a few years ago.
Now that wheel has turned full circle and Dufour is back in the multihull game. The first of its new range of cats is the Dufour Catamarans 48, designed by longtime Dufour naval architect Umberto Felci. With its fixed keels and a rig set amidships to permit a large self-tacking headsail to be employed, it promises to be an easily handled cruiser.
Sporting a pronounced reverse sheer that increases headroom in the hulls and a row of large portlights that mitigate the height of the topsides, the 48’s styling is distinctive. On-deck accommodation is split between sunpads on the foredeck, a large, well-shaded aft cockpit and a flybridge lounging area wrapped around the helm station.
Belowdecks, there are three layouts offering three, four or five cabins plus an optional skipper’s berth. In the owner’s version, each of the three cabins can be accessed via private entrances from the saloon. In two of the layouts, a “service” cabin can be configured as a workshop or laundry room.
Offering a different take on the performance-cat concept, the McConaghy MC50 was designed as an express cruiser capable of 20-plus-knot speeds. Light weight is assured by vacuum-bagged composite construction
employing lots of carbon fiber in high-stress areas, and a large yet easily handled sailplan set on a carbon fiber rig provides plenty of motive power.
Unusually, designer Jason Ker has chosen to employ centerboards rather than daggerboards. Another standout feature is the flybridge configuration, with a helm station at either side and full-width seating behind them. On the main deck, the saloon and cockpit are designed as a single living space that can be divided by electrically-powered “garage doors.”
There’s a choice of three- or four-cabin layouts that can be customized to a certain extent, with plenty of trim options. All furniture is made from lightweight composite panels. American importer for McConaghy, Aeroyacht (aeroyacht.com), says the first example should reach these shores in the spring and hopefully will be exhibited at the fall boat shows. s