Bavaria 42 Sport HT

It may seem incongruous that a German sportscruiser built for cold-climate boating would be so at home on Sydney Harbour on a day when the sun beamed overhead, the water shimmied and seduced, and the only Bavarian thing in sight was the beer café on Manly Wharf. Prost!

But like Cinderella's (fibre)glass slipper, the European boatbuilder's flash new 42 Sport HT - at this point the flagship in an ever-expanding powerboat range - was more than comfortable parading along the premier waterway where, it should be noted, style has as much to do with the boat you drive as substance, seaworthiness and solid engineering.

Fortunately, the 42 HT looks the part. Even better, with a pair of Volvo Penta's IPS 400s, which are modest 290hp diesel engines with electronic common rail injection, forward-facing props on pod drives, plus a joystick docking device, sport was the operative word for the handling. Which seems to be a recurring trait for most German conveyances.

The HT stands for hardtop, which like all good sportscruisers, features an electric roof for when the sun or moon does shine. That it was when we took to the harbour. Button pressed: roof opened. Top down, we traced the foreshores, marvelled at the waterfront mansions and the myriad sandstone forms around Middle Head, arced into Cobblers Beach where clothes appear to be optional (very German), and dashed across to Balmoral Beach where the water beckoned for a swim.

Whether thrown the task of dayboat, weekender, entertainer or family conveyance, the Bavaria 42 HT is a big, comfortable, capable cruiser that can, of course, venture well beyond The Heads. But going one better, the local importers improved the boat's functionality by fitting a custom-made extended boarding platform that adds considerably to the waterfront real estate. There was also a neat locally-made teak lunch table, fixed rear awning and cockpit fridge that together create a better lunch venue. A visit to beer café would have to wait.

ON THE MARCH
Despite its location, Bavaria builds a global boat. In fact, the German boatbuilder has been so well received on diverse waterways from The Med' to North America and Melbourne to the Gold Coast that its story is about a meteoric rise to fame. Starting out as a yachtmaker, Bavaria turned its hand to building powerboats just a few years ago and now trots out some 4000 sportscruisers annually from 600 employees and an impressive spread of robotics, CNC cutters and computer controlled routers on a frantic production line. My goodness, that equates to something like 6.5 boats per person per year.

Importantly, Bavaria gets the bones right before pressing the buttons and putting the production wheels in motion. As with the other Bavaria sportscruisers I have driven, the new 42 Sport HT, the flagship of the powerboat range, was designed with sweet and, fittingly, sporty lines. But this boat derives its performance from more than the pen...

The 42 Sport HT was designed for Volvo Penta's radical Inboard Performance System or IPS for short. IPS features a through-hull steerable drive using fly-by-wire technology and forward-facing propellers much like an airplane. Volvo Penta claims that the efficiency of IPS is so great - with more speed, better acceleration, less fuel and noise - that you need smaller motors for the better performance compared with conventional shaft drives. More on this later.

Meantime, there was a small 3kW Panda generator fitted to the boat so you could run 240V appliances, say, a kettle and toaster at breakfast time. The boat didn't have air-conditioning, however, as a cold-climate boat manufacturer, Bavaria is quick to point out the insulating properties of its hulls, which are balsa-cored above the waterline. There are also plenty of hatches for natural ventilation.

Engine access is very good and the comparatively small four-cylinder blocks and stainless steel wing fuel tanks leave a surfeit of servicing and additional storage space. Meantime, in the big moulded under-lounge storage hold, I found a roll-up 2.6-metre ducky and 3hp outboard, dive gear, cleaning gear and more.

While the IPS 400 produces just 290hp per side, they claim to perform like 400hp motors with conventional shaft drives. Given that the 42 HT returned a peppy 30kts top speed, I was impressed. What's more, the drive was nice and the views out the windscreen were such that we safely navigated the harbour at speed.

CRUISE FOR VIEWS
With most of the cockpit framed by picture windows and shaded by a hardtop with sunroof, you can cruise for views and muse on this boat without getting a drop of spray on your nautical wear. The seating plan is interactional, with room for a half dozen guests on the L-shaped lounge set around the teak lunch table. The rear section of the lounge converts to a sunpad or, with the full camper covers fitted, a daybed or sleepout.

There's room to work on your tan on a foredeck sunpad and, as with all good family boats, the sidedecks are nice and wide to ensure it's safe to go forward and tend mooring lines. Of course, a windlass gives push-button anchoring. Anchor down, you get to use the big swim platform with ladder, handheld hot/cold deck shower and, the boat really needs one, the aftermarket barbecue.

Meantime, the amenities centre in the cockpit features a servery, sink and fridge.

One doesn't need to stretch the imagination to picture the repast, the prawns and salad, otherwise grab the LCD television from below decks and mount it on the servery where a digital TV outlet was fitted for this very purpose. Cricket anyone?

Additional seating extends from a twin co-pilot lounge to a twin helm seat. With a comparatively wide footprint and low centre of gravity, the 42 HT didn't appear to bobble about, either.

Piece it all together and you have a good stable platform for cruising and entertaining.

SLEEP ABOARD
Should you wish to spend a weekend or more on the 42 HT, no worries, there are twin cabins and twin heads - a popular layout for heading away with the family or another couple as you each get your own bathroom - and a nice spread of creature comforts. You could, as mentioned, also sleep two on the cockpit lounge and another body on the saloon lounge.

Meantime, the lower galley features a convection microwave, two-burner stove, bench-height fridge and top-loading fridge-freezer.

There are twin sinks, opening ports and a good amount of bench space. The carpeted floor probably needs a runner to protect it from spills. The dinette and lounge opposite are big and, with the two supplied pouffes, you could seat seven for dinner.

The stateroom in the bow boasts a big island berth, while the aft cabin has twin single beds that are adult sized and, thanks to the IPS engines, there's a lot of living room for an aft-cabin boat. Both heads have electric loos (saltwater only) and hot showers, with the forward en suite featuring a folding shower screen. The 410lt of water should cater ably for at least a long weekend.

But the highpoint is surely the lofty headroom that towers more than two metres and gives the living areas a real sense of space. As ever from Bavaria, the interior styling and finish are nothing too radical, with semi-gloss light mahogany joinery, bone-coloured upholstery and blue scatter cushions.

CRUISING BEAUTY
The matt-grey dash was home to a spread of Volvo Penta gauges, a signature Bavaria 12V multifunction panel, trick carbon sportswheel, retractable QL trim tabs and, with the EVC electronic engine display, you get at-a-glance log, trip, fuel consumption and range. Press the electric roof button and, top down, your set for some German-style cruising.

Despite small four-cylinder engines, the 42-footer jumped out of the harbour and wasted no time setting off on a sortie. The boat was smooth and dry. Having tested several other boats fitted with IPS in recent months, I expected the Bavaria to be somewhat quieter, however. I'm betting additional sound insulation would dampen the noise.

At 2500rpm, I noted a low-speed cruise of 16.9kts, while 3000rpm returned a very efficient cruise of 22kts for 88lt/h consumption.

A touch of tab helped keep the bow down and maximise vision, as did sitting upright on the helm-seat bolster. Maximum continuous revs of 3300rpm produced 24.5kts for 102lt/h on total. At 3500rpm, the boat ran to 27.5kts, but it was a tad noisy.

Last but not least, when it's time for the knee-knocking docking you can rest easy. With a Volvo Penta Joystick docking device, you only need thrust the lever in the direction you want to go and the IPS drives shunt you there.

Child's play to park, sporty without big fuel bills, and a high-volume boat for staying out for a night. The flagship of Bavaria's Sport range is a real crowd pleaser. Which won't come as a surprise to the owner who, I'm told, regularly cruises and lunches aboard with a full complement of 10 or more relatives.

As they say, the family that plays together...

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