Design and Construction
The 890 carries a 44 percent ballast ratio from 1.4 tonnes of iron on a 3.2-tonne hull, a figure the period press treated as proof of serious construction intent anchor. The hull and deck are sandwich lay-ups using hand lay-up with iso-resins, with stressed areas left solid, and the hull-deck transition is fully laminated. YACHT's testers found the build quality good and described the boat as robustly built, with not a single hairline crack in the gelcoat on the test example. The 890's 8.94-metre torso length and 2.95-metre beam give it a proportion that reads as purposeful rather than voluminous.
Rig and Handling
A notable quirk of the 890 is its inland rig, present on boats that originally came from Lake Constance: the forestay attachment moves from 7/8 to the masthead and the boom is dropped, immediately creating more sail area but leaving the boom almost dangerously low. With every tack or jibe the crew must duck, and a sprayhood is hardly possible any more. The mainsheet runs on a traveller on the bridge deck. Under way the boat sails with exceptional agility downwind in 8 knots, achieving turning angles around 80 degrees at some 4.5 knots — excellent given conditions — and shows very good performance on the cross. Rudder pressure is very light and the boat is sensitive on the wind edge, almost a little nervous. The original brochure mentioned a Volvo diesel with 18 hp and saildrive, though the test boat carried a Faryman on a shaft that the owner reported as also original; the engine compartment is large and accessible through a cockpit-floor hatch, leaving room for more expansive engines.
Accommodations
Below, the 890 is a study in compromise. The berths are rather short at 1.90 metres and headroom matches that length, so all berths and the headroom suit people no taller than 1.80 metres. The saloon table is height-adjustable, making a 1.10-metre-wide sea berth 1.90 metres long. A mini-toilet room fits the picture, and one layout placed the toilet between saloon and foredeck with sliding doors both sides, shifting the interior forward about half a metre to create an oil locker in the saloon; the test boat instead had a small toilet room without washbasin, with the galley to starboard next to the companionway. The shipyard brochure claimed forward berths of 2.05 metres, but the foredeck berth does not meet today's minimum standard in length and width. Storage is a strong point, with huge spaces to starboard and in the stern, plus large water and diesel tanks.
Known Issues
Writing in YACHT, testers flagged stability: in 1982 the magazine's colleagues found the 890 not stable enough for a cruising yacht and recommended retrofitting anchor. The wheel-steered version suffers a too-small gap between aft bench and wheel to steer standing, a wheel too small to indicate direction from the coaming, and lost rudder sensitivity through deflections. A worn upper plastic rudder bearing on the test boat is straightforward to swap when the hull is out of the water. Superstructure windows are usually Plexiglas, become brittle, and need replacement — though their small size eases the job. The cast-aluminium bow fitting is brittle with no available replacement if damaged. Glued cabin-roof lining comes loose over years, shedding material from above, and WC seacock operability is poor.
The Verdict
The Bavaria 890 is a compact, heavily ballasted early Bavaria that rewards the right-sized crew with agile sailing and honest construction, while demanding tolerance for tight quarters and attention to aging fittings.
Pros
- High 44 percent ballast ratio and fully laminated hull-deck joint
- Agile downwind and excellent turning angles in light air
- Large accessible engine bay and generous tankage and storage
Cons
- Headroom and berths limited to ~1.80-metre sailors
- Inland rig leaves boom dangerously low and precludes sprayhood
- Brittle Plexiglas windows, non-replaceable bow fitting, poor WC seacocks
