Bavaria Yachtbau Virtess 420 Coupe Yacht Review

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Anywhere the word ‘Teutonic’ is heard by connoisseurs, they immediately interpret it as perfect design and spectacular engineering skills. When news got around about the new Bavaria Vitress 420 Coupe made in Bavaria, connoisseurs from all over got into their exotic cars to view this boat because they knew the company was well known for one thing- their Teutonic nature.

Construction

The Bavaria production line has been said to be the most advanced in the world; they were the first company to employ the use of robots and automated machines in their boat factory, which is the largest boat factory in Europe. The 420’s slippery hull, accented by large window, is designed by Italian designer, Marco Casali. Build quality is stellar, using Corecell foam sandwich construction and vacuum resin infusion that is precisely measured to obtain the highest strength possible with minimum weight. Extra’s include; an aluminium plate located under every fitting, which provides strong support; making sure the bilge finishing is of high quality.

Accommodations

From the cockpit, you can fully admire the intelligence used in the designs. The DuraDeck teak sole is a nice addition, as well as furniture which can be moved and adjusted in various ways to give the cockpit different settings. The furniture is well attached to a track and cannot be thrown about haphazardly. You can rearrange a few things to get a cockpit which opens up to the swim platform; you can also move things around to form a dining area for alfresco meals; a backward-facing seating can also be created.

The saloon has extra wide sliding doors and can be opened up completely to connect with the cockpit on one level; on this same level, is the dinette to starboard, the galley counter to port and the helm forward. An enormous overhead sunroof that has large side windows almost likens it to a runabout.

As surprising as it may sound, the 420 has three staterooms with two heads. The master’s berth is in an island workaround form, a 4-drawer bureau and two big hanging lockers; it also has a private head with a full size shower. The port guest cabin is located beside the dayhead; the starboard cabin guests need to go through the lower hallway to get to a large spacious head with a large stall shower. The two cabins have twin berths and filler cushions that can be converted into an almost queen size berth.

Performance

The boat we used for our trial had optional Volvo Penta IPS600 pod drives (standard are IPS500) with a standard joystick and side-power bow thruster. This combination made the experience of sliding into our tight slip with a crosswind, a very easy-to-scale-through event. On a rough sea trial day, with the twenty knots wind blowing from the North against the Gulfstream, the 420 stood its ground without any creaking or squeaking.

I also noticed that the helm was lightweight and responded quickly to the throttle. At the slightest touch, the combined 870 horses of the pod drives would fire off the 420 at a quick pace.

When the seas were calm at 2- to 3-feet, speed was at 35.7 knots using half fuel with three people aboard. The most amazing thing is that the 420 uses just 44 gallons per hour when the hammer is down, and when you go back to 21 knots, you will get that one nautical mile per gallon which has been used as bragging rights by most owners.

LOA: 44’8″
BEAM: 13’10”
DRAFT: 3’8″
DISPL.: 24,250 lb.
FUEL: 317 gal.
WATER: 108 gal.
STANDARD POWER: 2/370hp Volvo Penta IPS500s
TEST POWER: 2/435-hp Volvo Penta IPS600s
TRANSMISSIONS: Volvo Penta, 1.70:1 gear ratio
PROPELLERS: Volvo Penta P2 propset
WARRANTY: 2 years bow-to-stern hull and systems
BASE PRICE: $650,563

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