Bavaria S40 and S40 HT Buyer's Guide

Sport 400 or S40, and why both names matter when you shop

Search for a Bavaria S40 and you will find boats advertised as the S40 Open, S40 HT, S40 Coupe and, just as often, as the Bavaria Sport 400. They are the same boat. Bavaria launched the Sport 400 in 2014 (it was on show at Cannes that September and made its US debut at the Miami show in February 2015), then folded it into the new S-Line naming. By early 2017 the yard's website listed it simply as the S40, alongside the S29, S30, S33, S36 and S45. Motor Boat and Yachting described the change as principally a rebranding exercise.

That matters for two reasons. First, your search should cover both names, because brokers in the US and Europe still use them interchangeably. Second, the two eras do differ in detail: the earlier brochure quotes a 720 liter fuel tank and twin MerCruiser 377 MAG petrol engines as standard, while the later S40 spec sheet lists 750 liters (198 gallons) and the 6.2 liter MerCruiser V8. Check the build year and the actual tank on any boat you view.

The S40 was eventually superseded by the SR41, which launched at boot Dusseldorf in January 2020 and is a substantially different boat. YachtBuyer dates S40 production to 2022, so late S40s and early SR41s overlapped in dealer stock.

Open, ST, HT or Coupe: one 38 ft hull, four personalities

Bavaria sold the S40 with four deck configurations: a fully Open boat, an ST with a soft top, the HT with a GRP hardtop and sliding sunroof, and the Coupe, which adds a three-part sliding glass door at the aft end of the hardtop to turn the upper deck into an enclosed wheelhouse. The HT is the most common on the used market and the most useful compromise for US owners in the Northeast or the Great Lakes, where shade and spray protection matter as much as open-air fun.

The Coupe is the one to want if you boat in shoulder seasons. MBY's used test of a 2016 Sport 400 Coupe praised the way the patio door links cockpit and upper saloon into one space, and noted the large electric sunroof plus a wet bar unit with grill and fridge at deck level, so nobody has to go below to make lunch. All that glass does heat the boat up, and the owner they spoke to called air conditioning essential.

Hull length is 38 ft 3 in, overall length 40 ft 1 in, and 43 ft 7 in once the large bathing platform is counted. Marinas usually charge on the longest figure.

• Open: lightest (8,645 kg on the Sport 400 data), best for hot climates and trailing the boat between lakes on a ship
• HT: 8,984 kg, GRP roof with fabric or glass sunroof, sliding side windows
• Coupe: 9,129 kg, enclosed upper saloon with sliding aft doors
• ST: soft top version, the rarest on the brokerage market

Six feet eleven of headroom and a cabin puzzle

The headline below decks is height. Bavaria quotes 6 ft 11 in (2.10 m) in the saloon, and the lower deck feels more like a 45 footer than a 40. The trade-off is four fairly steep steps from the cockpit, which need care under way.

The layout is conventional on paper: an island double in the bow, a saloon with dinette and L-shaped galley, a single large head with a separate shower, and a second cabin aft under the cockpit. In practice the aft cabin is the better room. It has two singles that convert to a double, a third berth, a settee and more floor space, which is why many owners end up sleeping there and giving guests the bow. The single head is the main limitation for families who cruise with another couple, though the MBY owners found it rarely mattered with good marina facilities.

Standard joinery is solid wood and veneer with mahogany as the default, and the galley gets a ceramic hob and a 110 liter 12 volt fridge. A 20 liter water heater, blinds and mosquito screens came in Bavaria's Enhanced Standard pack on later boats.

From MerCruiser V8s to twin Volvo D6s

Every S40 runs twin sterndrives. The petrol choices were MerCruiser V8s (377 MAG at 320 hp on early Sport 400s, then the 6.2 liter 350 hp unit) or Volvo Penta's V8-350. Diesel buyers could pick twin D4-300s or the six-cylinder D6 in 370, 380 or, on the Sport 400, 400 hp form. The D6 boats dominate the European used market and are the ones that hold value.

For a US buyer the decision is less clear-cut than it looks. Petrol V8s are cheap to buy and easy to service at any MerCruiser dealer, but on a 9 ton boat they drink heavily at cruise. The D4-300 is adequate but leaves the boat working hard when loaded. The D6 is the sweet spot, with the caveat that Volvo's EVC electronics and Duoprop drives need a dealer who knows them.

Speed and fuel burn: what the published numbers say

MBY reported that S40 and Sport 400 boats with twin D6-370s nudge 38 knots, and the 2016 Coupe it tested with D6-400s was claimed to reach 40 knots in calm water. Its published figure for the D6-370 boat is 3.4 liters per nautical mile at 27 knots, which works out to roughly 92 liters (24 gallons) an hour for both engines. YachtBuyer lists 32 knots maximum and 25 knots cruise for the D6-370 boat, with 226 nm of range at cruise.

Take the range figures carefully. MBY's 223 nm at 27 knots with a 20 percent reserve was calculated with a 950 liter tank, larger than the 750 liters on Bavaria's S40 spec sheet. Using the factory tank and the same burn rate, a realistic planning range at fast cruise is closer to 200 nm.

Owners describe a boat that is happiest on the plane. The Sport 400 owner quoted by MBY said she wobbles at slow speeds in a sea but settles nicely once over the first stage of the plane, and the boat's weight helps offset windage from the tall superstructure.

What a surveyor looks for on a used S40

MBY's surveyor, Chris Olsen, found few recurring build problems on the Sport range. Bavaria's VacuTec vacuum infusion gives consistent laminates, and the yard used isophthalic resins for better resistance to moisture. His checklist is still worth following on any S40 or Sport 400 you consider.

Start with the roof. On HT and Coupe boats the sliding sunroof is a major selling point, so run it through several cycles and make sure the guides are clean. On Coupes, test every panel of the aft sliding door and check the seals. Look for stress cracking or staining where rail bases are fastened to the deck moulding upstands, and inspect the corners of the big bathing platform for impact damage and quick repairs. Below, watch for sharp furniture edges, which are a minor safety issue in a seaway.

Mechanically, insist on a long run at wide open throttle with your surveyor aboard to reveal heat exchanger or cooling problems, and have the Duoprop drives inspected and their service history verified. Sterndrives on a 40 ft boat work hard.

Should you pay up for the SR41 instead?

The SR41 is the obvious alternative and it is a better boat in several ways: two heads, a full-beam midships owner's cabin with ensuite, a lower and more cohesive profile, and a cleverer transom lounge. It also costs far more. In Europe, 2022 to 2024 SR41s ask roughly 400,000 to 500,000 euros, while good S40 HTs sit between about 160,000 euros for a 2016 boat and 250,000 GBP for a 2019 example.

If you mostly day-boat and weekend as a couple, the S40 gives most of the experience for perhaps 60 percent of the money. If you regularly cruise with guests, the SR41's second head and private master justify the premium.

Owning a European sportscruiser in American waters

Bavaria's US motorboat presence has always been thin, and S40s on the American market are mostly imports or boats delivered through Bavaria's own US operation. That affects you in three ways. Parts for the hull, windows and canvas come from Germany, so allow lead time. The engines and drives, on the other hand, are mainstream MerCruiser and Volvo Penta units that any qualified dealer can service. And because of the 230 volt European electrics on many boats, check whether the shore power system has been converted or fitted with an isolation transformer.

Budget roughly 26,000 to 48,000 dollars a year to keep an S40 in commission, depending on slip costs, hours and engine type, before depreciation and insurance on a high-value boat.