Our resident used boat expert Phil Sampson explains how to find a good Bavaria S33 HT on the secondhand market and what features to look out for…

In build: 2015-current
Price range: £170,000-£250,000

What do you get if you cross a joiner with a yacht broker? Answer: a boat builder. At least that’s what happened in 1978 when window maker Winfried Herman joined forces with charter agent Josef Meltl to create Bavaria Yachtbau.

By 2006, a year before the founders sold the business to a US private equity investor, their burgeoning company had built 3,500 sail and motor boats and was employing 600 people.

Things then took a turn for the worse, but despite filing for bankruptcy in 2018 and subsequently being acquired at the eleventh hour by a second private equity firm, Bavaria Yachtbau rose again and today is one of Europe’s biggest boat manufacturers, with the largest yard in Germany.

Aspirational craft

The Bavaria S33 HT is a prime example of what it does best – building stylish, spacious but also affordable craft that buyers of all ages and experience can aspire to.

Launched in 2015 as the Bavaria S330, and available in either open or hardtop format, it was rebadged S33 from the 2017 model year onwards. Production is still ongoing with an estimated 400 examples delivered to date.

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