Launching speech for the Bavaria Cruiser 40s

8:53 AM 0 Comments

My name is Patrick Shaughnessy, and I am the President of Farr Yacht Design, and today I very happy to be here participating in the launch of the Bavaria Cruiser 40s.

Farr Yacht Design is acknowledged as the top racing-yacht design team in the world based upon one of the most extensive and impressive records of winning yacht racing results ever compiled by a single design group. Our long-running record of achievement dates back more than 25 years and includes 40 World Championships and a multitude of design successes at prestigious grand prix yachting events such as the Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup, Vendee Globe, Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Barcelona World Race, Transat Jacques Vabre, Copa del Rey and many others. So having said that you can imagine that we were very happy to oblige Bavaria when they requested a sport version of the Cruiser 40.

When you have an existing platform you need to be very careful how you add performance. It is possible to float the boat too light, and add too much sail area, and to generally ruin a good boat’s characteristics. We needed to be responsible in order to maintain the goodness of the Cruiser 40, but to add performance, and do it in a cost effective way that could fit within the pricing, and assembly logic that has made Bavaria so successful.

We determined that an overall weight reduction targeted at 250kg was the maximum that the hull should be allowed to float up. This has been achieved by increasing the hull core thickness, and eliminating superfluous nonstructural interior components along with removal of a toilet, and the swim platform.

We’ve lengthen the mast tube 440mm, and the boom 390mm. The combination of those changes has allowed us to add 5.6m2 of sail area to the boat focused on improving light air upwind performance. Near masthead asymmetric and symmetric options provide the boat with ample downwind sail area to complement the upwind performance. Sail area / Displacement ratio increases from 4.4 to 4.6. The sails can be controlled in a racing environment by a full German mainsheet system on a traveller, adjustable jib leads, and full spinnaker controls.

Below the waterline a cast iron fin keel increased in draft to 2.3m and achieves an IRC friendly keel geometry which should produce an improved upwind sailing efficiency. The steering system has been changed to a full mechanical component system which should improve steering feel.

With all of those changes we’ve produced a boat which has a measurable performance increase over a standard Bavaria Cruiser 40. As an aside fact it turns out that the average racing windspeed is almost exactly 12 knots when considering the whole worlds racing venues. And so a comparison of the Cruiser 40 and 40 Sport in 12 knots TWS show that the Sport version is 96 seconds per mile faster VMG upwind, and 33 seconds per mile faster VMG downwind. A typical 2 mile windward leeward racing course twice around would have the Sport version finishing 4 and a half minutes earlier. While the performance remains relatively modest in a true grand prix sense we are confident that the Cruiser 40s has the sail area it needs to sailed in light air venues, and the performance versus handicap attributes to be successful under both ORCi and IRC.

Launching Speech for the new Bavaria Cruiser 50

1:48 AM 0 Comments

My name is Patrick Shaughnessy, and I am the President of Farr Yacht Design, and today I represent the combined design group that has produced the new Bavaria Cruiser 50.

The line-up logic for Bavaria’s Cruiser line entailed producing cornerstone type products at 55, 32, and 45 feet, and following that, derivative type products between them at 40, 36, and 50 feet. Today with the 50 we have finally the complete Cruiser line together. For Farr Yacht Design alone this body of work represents 15,000 man hours, or roughly 7.5 man years’ worth of design time. Certainly a substantial undertaking.

We’ve continued our focused effort to link the exterior living space with the water. The enormous swimming platforms that we’ve created for the Cruiser line continue to be a focal point for the 50. The deck concept is improved by adding more opening ports and hatches in response to a want for greater ventilation.

Like the 45 and 55 the 50 is a twin rudder boat. This choice allowed us to create large central storage area beneath the cockpit and to give this boat the benefit of real controllability at high angles of heel. The twin rudders also allow us to create a hull shape with a long waterline and a great interior volume. By keeping our halyard runs and dodger above deck we’ve been able to package a large interior beneath a moderate freeboard height. Within our large interior volume we’ve packaged both a 4 cabin charter boat, and an owners cabin forward 3 cabin boat. Both of those interior options can also be had with a forward Pullman style cabin increasing the potential cabins to 3, 4, and 5 cabin versions. A range of interior options available for both owners and charter fleets. All of the cabin options will be able to seat the number of people they can sleep at the exceptionally large salon seating area. A separate shower area adds to the interior features list. Beneath the cabin sole we’ve been able to use large centrally located water and fuel tanks which should improve pitch response in waves. In our engineering work we’ve moved to a thicker hull core which has produced both weight reduction, and reduced boat assembly time.

We’ve used the deck space wisely so that the whole crew can sit comfortably for dinner on deck just like we can below deck. We created a cockpit space that is closed and secure to protect a young family, but can fully open so that we can truly enjoy the places we spend the time to sail to.

We’ve worked hard to produce a boat that can be kind and forgiving for a novice and rewarding in the hands of an experienced sailor. This is a boat with 2 keel draft options at 1.85m and 2.25m, both with produce ballast ratios exceeding 28%. Both keel versions follow our logic that a true cruising boat should sail at heel angles of less than 20 degrees below 15kts true wind speed and avoid reefing until over 20 knots TWS. Even with those conservative choices a SA/Disp ratio of 4.7 ensures that the boat will have a very competitive performance in its class.

And so we have the complete Cruiser line with the new Cruiser 50 following the line logic for styling and aesthetics but still managing to find improvement in several key areas. It does all of those things with a level of performance, engineering, and safety that has been the signature of every Farr Yacht Design product. Having said those things I would like to thank Bavaria for the opportunity to produce design work for the Cruiser line, and to be here today before you.