Discover Germany | Design | Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH
The new yacht C57.
Bavaria Yachts, a shipyard away from the sea Yachts estranged from any navigable waters sounds perplexing at first. But the answer lies in Bavaria Yachts’ history; because revolution often happens where you least expect it. TEXT: MARILENA STRACKE I PHOTOS: BAVARIA YACHTS
88 square metres of living space. It will certainly set the bar high for its competitors. The yacht convinces with its technical brilliance, clever layout and design, and an ingenious amount of customising options to effortlessly fulfil individual requirements.
Bavaria Yachts, located in the small town of Giebelstadt in Würzburg, has not always manufactured yachts. With no navigable waters in sight, Winfried Herrmann’s idea to turn his company for plastic windows into a top-notch shipyard sprung from seeing a grand opportunity for true innovation.
yachts, and hence make them available to a larger clientele. Top quality paired with this modern approach turned Herrmann’s company into one of the world’s most successful shipyards. Bavaria Yachts spokesperson Marcus Schlichting adds:“Winfried Herrmann’s was often referred to as the Henry Ford of yacht building.”
However, one question remains. Why was the shipyard never moved to the seaside? Schlichting answers: “All yachts are delivered to clients by truck and Würzburg is in the heart of Europe. Therefore, the Mediterranean is almost the same distance from us as the Baltic Sea.”
In 1978, Herrmann realised his ambitious plan and started to specialise in building yachts. The primary difference to other shipyards? Herrmann’s optimised manufacturing process. Back then yachts were crafted entirely by hand, making them very costly. Herrmann began incorporating industrial processes. He was one of the first to use computer-controlled mechanisms to achieve the majority of building processes.
Today Bavaria Yachts not only manufacture luxurious yachts, featuring state-of-theart technology, but also build motorboats, catamarans and sailing ships that leave nothing to be desired.
It seems founder Herrmann thought of everything, and he teaches us a wonderful lesson: with passion and determination anything is possible – even building yachts without an ocean.
“Today customers expect a much higher standard,” Schlichting explains. “A yacht is not only supposed to be safe and speedy but should also be fitted like a modern holiday home whilst featuring a paramount quality of construction.”
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The precision and speed that his industrial production afforded made it possible to significantly lower the prices of the 12 | Issue 46 | January 2017
The brand new yacht Bavaria C57 boasts a stunning 149-square-metre sail area and