Design and Construction
Mohnhaupt's late-eighties design pairs a solid-fiberglass hull and hand-laid fiberglass deck in a sandwich layup, a construction choice the builder used to insulate the cabin against cold water and cut condensation below sandwich construction hull and deck improve the indoor climate. The keel is a fin with a bulb, cast in iron, and draws between 5.41 and 5.71 feet depending on load — shallow enough to make most marinas accessible. At a displacement around 7,500 pounds with a 41 percent ballast ratio, she carries more ballast than half of comparable designs, and her length-to-beam ratio of 3.05 makes her roomier than 58 percent of similar boats. The wetted surface runs about 312 square feet, and the immersion rate of 929 pounds per inch speaks to a moderately loaded hull that sits sensibly in the water.
Rig and Handling
The 300 is built with a fractional rig and a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 17.29, modest by modern light-air standards but consistent with her categorization as a "light racer" on the displacement-length scale, where 85 percent of similar designs weigh more. Her theoretical hull speed is 7 knots, matched by a 7-knot maximum under the optional 18-horsepower Volvo Penta 202 diesel through a saildrive. Period sail plans list jib and genoa sheets at 30 feet with half-inch diameter, a 75-foot mainsheet, and a 66-foot spinnaker sheet — all 12 mm — which tells you the boat is trimmed with manageable, standard cruising hardware rather than grand-prix kit.
Accommodations
Below, the Bavaria 300 is laid out with three cabins and six berths, a galley, and a toilet facility, finished in mahogany like many of her contemporaries. Fresh water is carried at 36 gallons and diesel at 21 gallons in a stainless tank. The cabin volume benefits directly from the insulating sandwich structure, which keeps the interior drier and warmer than a single-skin hull would in cold conditions.
Performance Profile
The capsize screening value is 2.01, a figure that would bar her from ocean racing under that metric, and the Motion Comfort Ratio of 19.6 places her as more comfortable than only 27 percent of similar designs — useful context for a buyer weighing her against heavier bluewater boats. She is, by the numbers, a light-displacement coastal and lake cruiser-racer rather than a passage-making heavyweight.
The Verdict
The Bavaria 300 is a thoughtfully packaged small cruiser from Mohnhaupt's Bavaria era: insulated sandwich construction, a practical three-cabin layout, and a light, handy hull with marina-friendly draft. Her numbers mark her as a coastal performer rather than an offshore racer, but for her size she delivers space and cabin comfort that many larger boats of the period did not.
Pros
- Sandwich hull and deck reduce condensation and insulate the cabin
- Iron bulb fin keel draws 5.4–5.7 ft, suiting most marinas
- Three cabins and six berths in a 31-foot hull
- Ballast ratio higher than 50% of similar designs
Cons
- Capsize screening value excludes her from ocean racing
- Motion Comfort Ratio better than only 27% of similar boats
- Light-racer categorization means less load-carrying than 85% of peers
