Beneteau Oceanis 40 / 2 CABINES ----versus--- Bavaria 40 Vision 2008/2009

[Alain Brauckmann]

Does any body know something about this Boat ?
I am planing to buy one of these ...

The Hanse and the most of the other brands in the same price category have in the moment an rectangular design witch is not pleasant to us.

The Beneteau Oceanis is better equipped for the price ...
What you know about those Boats ?

I hope to get more informations soon (visiting an Beneteau dealer)

[John Shasteen]

That I don't know, I have not seen any Bavaria's on the hard, but Beneteau's seem to be very popular in the Galveston bay area, so there is more opportunity to see them. From what I see, most of them tend to just sail in the bay, which is huge, but has numerous opportunities to run aground if you aren't familiar with the bay - not sure how many of them go offshore.
This won't sit well with the Beneteau owners, but all of the people I know sail sturdy ocean going sail boats - Bristols, Pearsons, Cape Dorys, Hinckleys, Choy Lees... and most consider Beneteau's Clorex bottles with a stick in the top.

[ratherbesailing]

LOL!

That's funny about the Clorex bottles with a stick! Some of them are pretty fancy Clorex bottles... ha ha...

But sailing "sturdy ocean going boats" around the bay doesn't seem very sensible to me....

:-)

John Shasteen said:

That I don't know, I have not seen any Bavaria's on the hard, but Beneteau's seem to be very popular in the Galveston bay area, so there is more opportunity to see them. From what I see, most of them tend to just sail in the bay, which is huge, but has numerous opportunities to run aground if you aren't familiar with the bay - not sure how many of them go offshore.
This won't sit well with the Beneteau owners, but all of the people I know sail sturdy ocean going sail boats - Bristols, Pearsons, Cape Dorys, Hinckleys, Choy Lees... and most consider Beneteau's Clorex bottles with a stick in the top.

[Alain Brauckmann]

The Adriatic Sea is for me like a bay ;-)
2 meters of waves and 40kn of wind are happening sometimes.
With my Elan 333 i had never problems ... i suppose that with a modern Beneteau it would be the same ...

[John Shasteen]

That's funny about the Clorex bottles with a stick! Some of them are pretty fancy Clorex bottles... ha ha But sailing "sturdy ocean going boats" around the bay doesn't seem very sensible to me


Some VERY expensive. However, those "sturdy ocean going boats" typically don't get sailed around the bay - most of them are scattered along the coast in marinas just off the Gulf (Galveston Island, Freeport, Corpus Christi, South Padre Island), so, like Paloma most of their sailing is offshore. But the best boat yards for sailboats are up in Clear Lake, off of Galveston Bay - that's why Paloma was at Southern Yachts (best yard on the Gulf Coast). When you are on the coast, there aren't many sailboats, so most of those boat yards are more used to dealing with, mega-yachts, lots of big, captained offshore sport fishers and a few shrimp boats. I had Paloma quick-hauled down in Puerto Isabella which was the closed US port that we came to after fighting the March '08 Force 10 storm for 36 hours in the Gulf off the Mexican coast, and she was one of only three sail boats in a yard of probaby 75 boats - a huge collection of some of the most beautiful and expensive looking sport fishing trawlers I've ever seen in one place.

[Franc]

You'll be fine with a Beneteau. You're going to have a blast with this VERY FAST sailing machine! Congratulations on your new boat!

rds said:

The Adriatic Sea is for me like a bay ;-)
2 meters of waves and 40kn of wind are happening sometimes.
With my Elan 333 i had never problems ... i suppose that with a modern Beneteau it would be the same ...

[Alain Brauckmann]

First I have to wait for the price offer they are going to make.
Than I will compare prices between this dealer and dealers in Slovenia, Netherlands, France and Belgium.

[Andrea]

I know we considered Bavaria's a few times when purchasing a boat. We went with the Beneteau. I would recommend taking them both out for test sails.

I found these articles online that talk about the boats you are considering.

Article on Bavaria
Article 2 on Bavaria

Article on Beneteau


When you look through the specs, there are many similarities...water and fuel tanks, engine HP, LWL, displacement. The Bavaria's sail area is larger. The Bavaria looks like it is about 30% more in price ($US $236K vs $180K) but I do not know if the standard equipment differs much.

I still say, go for test sails and the wind will lead you to your new Résidence du soleil ...Best of luck with your choice. Looks like it's going to be a tough one!!!

[Alain Brauckmann]

The Bavaria has =/- the same basic price as the Beneteau
If you add all the extras i want to have ( 1 electric winch, clima, AIS transponder and and and ... ) than the Bavaria will come much more expensive. I visited both of them and I found some good features in both but also some negative points. Under Sails, both are real similar ... ( nothing to compare with my ex- Elan 333 witch was real exceptional but now to small for us and the new Elan Boats are out of Budget ).
Thank you for the reviews.
In the next days I `ll know more about the price ...

[Andrea]

Oh that's right! In the US Bavaria's are a bit more...that's great for you. Best of luck, I cannot wait to hear which way you went.

[Alain Brauckmann]

The first price I recived from a dealer (I also ask the price to other dealers in europe ) is 210 000 euros ... ( full equiped with many extras )

By the way, what you think about the orginal anchor of Beneteau ?

[Franc]

Ours came with a standard Delta but we upgraded it to a bigger model. Still have to replace the rode with all chain, though...

[StephenMichael]

I took delivery of 2009 Beneteau 40 in May 2009. Did you finally make your decision?