Bavaria should be off the list. It is basically the Chevy line of GM, not the Cadillac. I
work on these boats for a living. I myself own a 1985 Beneteau 15.5 Idylle. Very well constructed and built when the
family still owned the business in
France. If I had the
money I would buy every 15.5 Idylle I could get my hands on, restore all of them and sell them. Not many out there. My point is I would go pre 90s if I were you. If you can find a clean boat more bang for your buck and I'm sure you could find one who's owner took care of her. Find a Mason if you can. Built like a brick **** house and not overly pricey. As for Bavaria, the
fiberglass is so thin in some structural areas, I couldn't believe it. The
trade off is for the joinery inside, not so bad. The Bavaria's and Dehler use an oscillating nylon ball in their
rudder shaft assembly as I'm sure some other do. The rudders always jamb up after awhile because the
aluminum rudder shaft tube pits and chaffs the nylon ball to the point where it loses its free play. While changing one of these on a Bavaria I was inside the
hull right by the shaft tube and I had to rub my eyes thinking i was seeing things. Maybe its my flood lamp reflecting off the inside of the
hull. Nope, the sun had just come out outside, and yes it I could see the light thru the hull. This was right by the shaft tube where you would think due to stress on the leading edge of the rudder they would of built up the
fiberglass. I couldn't believe how thin it was. Not just this area, but the whole stern to transom area. I informed the owner, and for my own piece of my I built up layers of alternating cloth around the shaft tube and surrounding area. If you ever hit something with the rudder in a Bavaria, the rudder wouldn't snap off, the whole stern of the boat with the shaft assembly would come with it. A year later this guy had a friend with a Bavaria, let him know I knew how to replace the rudder assembly, same thing. Junk. I don't care what anyone on here tells you after reading this. Yes they may own one and its all great, no problem blah blah blah. Everyone defends their boat, no one wants to think they bought a piece of ****. If your crossing anything other then a local bay, don't buy a Bavaria. You may be safe in Sir Francis Drake channel. Anyone who's made it around the globe on one without incident is lucky as hell. I don't know if the construction has improved on the new ones, but don't buy an old one.