Bavaria C57 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Cossutti's hull is a very beamy form at 17ft 3in, carrying a plumb bow and a barely-visible soft chine, with twin rudders and a low cabin top that takes advantage of the deep canoe body. The wrap-around dark glass helps reduce the visual sense of height, and the keel was flattened to cut wetted surface. For the first time in the builder's practice, the C57 uses vacuum-infused construction — Bavaria calls the method VacuTec — which, combined with the larger hull, brought displacement nearly 10 percent below the earlier Cruiser 56 while keeping the hull light but stiff. Five leading-edge keelbolts sit on a massive load-spreading base plate washer, and the standard 6ft 5in fin keel delivers a 31 percent ballast-to-displacement ratio on 11,705 lb of iron ballast against 37,765 lb displacement.

Rig and Handling

The sailing concept is built around ease with a small crew. Sheets and halyards all run to winches within reach of the helmsman, and a self-tacking jib makes sailing to windward straightforward. The test boat carried that jib with an in-mast furling main, though a 106 percent overlapping genoa and traditional-hoist mainsail are available, and the rig itself is a tall 79ft 6in keel-stepped Seldén mast with double aft-swept spreaders and a Dyneema split backstay. The fractional, generous sail plan totals over 1,646 sq ft — a 15 percent increase over the Cruiser 56 — driving a hull with a 10 percent higher sail-area-to-displacement ratio. On the water, test sailors found her agile with tight, easy turns, and sitting outboard gave excellent sightlines. In 18 knots apparent she glided at 8.3 knots at 65 degrees, held 8 knots at 45 degrees, and fell to 5.7 knots off at 120 degrees.

Accommodations

Below, the boat is offered in three to five cabins plus an optional crew berth forward. The owner's version places the master stateroom forward with a centerline berth and a split head, while charter layouts can fit a pair of staterooms in the bow or an extra over/under berth to starboard that removes the day head and nav area. Aft, two cabins and a full head with separate shower to port and day head to starboard are options. The saloon is among the largest in class, with a U-shaped settee to port facing a double lounge, and the hydraulically dropping table adds another double berth. The galley stretches across the full beam at the mast, one step down, with a three-burner stove to port, twin fridge drawers and optional microwave to starboard, plus a wine fridge and rack. Modular furniture is built outside the hull and dropped in, leaving it non-structural, with solid wood edges for durability and USB ports at the reading lights. Wood finishes run to dark walnut, mahogany, or light oak.

Deck and Cockpit

The social cockpit wraps facing U-shaped settees around two hi/lo tables, and the transom seat hides an outdoor galley with refrigerator, grill, and sink — a pop-up gas barbeque and sink also sit under the transom seating. Lowering the transom reveals a huge swim platform and teak beach, with a dinghy garage sized for a fully inflated Williams MiniJet tender. Forward, an open pulpit and added stainless bow roller lead back to a vertical Lewmar windlass. Six oversized pop-up cleats and a molded-in bulwark on the side decks aid footing when heeled, and four flush deck hatches amidships serve three sun-pad areas.

Power and Systems

The standard engine is an 80hp Volvo Penta diesel with saildrive, upgradeable to a 110hp Yanmar, and with a fixed wheel the standard setup reached 8.3 knots at 3,300 rpm, though some vibration at that speed may have traced to propeller pitch; cruising normally settles near 7.5 knots at 2,600 rpm. An optional Fischer Panda generator feeds multiple AGM banks. Bow and stern thrusters — optionally by Sidepower — make precise docking a few-move affair, and B&G displays sit both sides of the cockpit with optional Carbonautica wheels on superyacht-style binnacles.

The Verdict

The C57 is a thoroughly modern cruising flagship that trades the old Cruiser philosophy for a lighter, stiffer, volume-rich hull with genuinely small-crew-friendly sailing. It is not an out-and-out racer, but the numbers and the cockpit ergonomics show a yacht built for effortless passage-making and expansive living aboard.

Pros