Bavaria Cruiser 51 Review, Layouts and Used Prices

Bavaria Cruiser 51, the grand finale of the Farr range

Bavaria Yachts USA called the Bavaria Cruiser 51 the grand finale that completed a full range of new Cruiser designs. It was shown alongside the revamped Cruiser 41 at boot Dusseldorf in January 2014, where SAIL's editor found two capable boats with very good cockpit ergonomics and well executed interiors, flooded with light from many hatches and portlights. In the US it was offered for pre-order in 2014 at $404,649 delivered.

The 51 sat just below the Cruiser 56 flagship and was aimed squarely at families, groups and charter fleets. Bavaria's UK site described it as one of the largest yachts in the range yet surprisingly easy to handle, designed to accommodate up to ten people, and later called the 51 one of its most popular privately owned yachts. It remained in Bavaria's range through the late 2010s, alongside the new C50, and had disappeared from the yard's website by 2026.

Built on the Cruiser 50's hull

Like the 41 and 46, the Cruiser 51 is a reworking rather than a new hull. SAIL reported that of the previous Cruiser generation, only the hulls remained, under new interiors and deck layouts. The 51's hull is the Farr Cruiser 50, which premiered at boot Dusseldorf in 2011 and was sold in the US from 2012 at $374,669; Bavaria Yachts USA said 40 of them were already sailing by then. That hull was drawn with twin rudders, which Bavaria described as unique to the cruising class at the time.

Because the underwater shape carried over, Cruising World's test of the Cruiser 50 off Alacati in Turkey is the best guide to how a 51 behaves. With a 75 hp Volvo and optional Gori propeller it cruised at 7.6 knots at 2,200 rpm and made 8.5 knots or more flat out, spun within a boat length and a half, and in just 9 knots of true wind sailed at just under 7 knots, tacking through 85 degrees.

Do not confuse this Farr lineage with the J&J-designed Bavaria 50 Cruiser of 2005 to 2008, which is a different and older boat.

The 51 Style and its stainless-wall galley

In 2016 Bavaria added the Cruiser 51 Style, part of a new Cruiser Style range aimed at owners who want a more luxurious finish. Yachting Monthly's Chris Beeson saw it at boot 2016 and singled out the redesigned galley: U-shaped, to port, with a large fiddled work surface outboard and aft and a wall of stainless steel forward holding a huge fridge and freezer, a choice of wine cooler or dishwasher, and a microwave.

He also noted a walk-in wardrobe, a simple cockpit with plenty of bracing, and the mainsheet set forward of the companionway for safety. His verdict was that the Style would be excellent value as a Mediterranean base for an active family or gregarious retirees. The test boat had three cabins and was priced at 289,680 euros including VAT.

Three cabins for owners, five for charter

The standard Cruiser 51 has three cabins; on request it can be built with four or five, and Bavaria Yachts USA listed three heads. For private owners the three-cabin boat is the one to buy: it gives a big owner's suite forward, two guest doubles aft and the most stowage. Four- and five-cabin boats were mostly built for charter fleets and sleep up to ten people, at the expense of storage and privacy.

Headroom in the saloon is a generous 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in). Bavaria's US data sheet listed 190 gallons of water and 80 gallons of fuel, a useful combination for anchoring out for a week or more with a full crew.

A big cockpit run from two wheels

On deck the 51 follows the pattern of the Design Unlimited Cruisers. Twin steering pedestals give the helmsman a view of instruments and sails from either side, a large central cockpit table gives the crew somewhere to sit and brace, and lockers plus stowage under the cockpit floor swallow fenders, lines and toys. The full-width fold-down transom, a signature of the Farr-era Cruisers, turns the stern into a bathing platform.

As on most big production cruisers of its era, the mainsheet is led forward of the companionway rather than to the helm. That keeps it away from guests but means a short-handed crew should plan who trims the main, or consider electric winches.

Reading the numbers, and the ones nobody published

Published figures for the 51 vary with the source. Bavaria Yachts USA quoted a 15.57 m (51 ft 1 in) overall length, which includes bow and stern fittings, while Yachting Monthly and Boat-Specs give 14.99 m (49 ft 2 in). Waterline is 13.86 m, beam 4.67 m and displacement 14,100 kg; drafts are about 2.25 m deep or 1.85 m shoal, and the US sheet listed 131 square meters of sail and a 75 hp Volvo Penta saildrive.

We found no magazine sea trial of a Cruiser 51 itself with measured speeds, and some online databases have muddled its entry with data from the older J&J Bavaria 50 Cruiser. Treat any Cruiser 51 spec list that shows a masthead rig, a single rudder or a first build year of 1999 as wrong, and ask the seller for Bavaria's original documentation.

Which Bavaria 51 is in the listing?

Searches for a Bavaria 51 can also surface a much older boat. In 1993 Bavaria built a Bavaria 51 designed by Axel Mohnhaupt, a masthead sloop of 15.60 m with a 102 hp Volvo, of which sailboatdata records 19 built. It is a rare, heavier boat from a different era and has nothing in common with the Farr Cruiser 51 beyond the number.

• Bavaria 51 (1993): Axel Mohnhaupt design, masthead rig, about 14,500 kg, 19 built
• Bavaria 50 Cruiser (2005 to 2008): J&J Design, single rudder, traditional transom
• Bavaria Cruiser 50 (2011 to 2013): Farr design, twin rudders, BMW-era styling
• Bavaria Cruiser 51 and 51 Style (from 2014): Farr hull of the 50 with new deck and interior
• Bavaria C50 (from 2018): Cossutti design and the 51's successor in the 50-foot class

Bavaria Cruiser 51 prices and the cost of a 50-footer

In 2026 a used Cruiser 51 typically asks $210,000 to $340,000, which is roughly what a new mid-size 40-footer costs. That is the attraction: three private cabins, three heads, big tanks and a 45 ft waterline for 40-footer money. The catch is running cost. Plan on $25,000 to $50,000 a year for a 50-foot slip, insurance, a haul-out of a 14-tonne boat, saildrive and rigging service, three heads' worth of plumbing and a big sail wardrobe.

Many 51s spent their early years in charter, so condition varies widely. The best buys are three-cabin owner's boats or Style versions that never joined a fleet.