Bavaria Yachts SR35 OT Review (2025 Edition) by Aquaholic

On Deck

Bavaria gives you a choice with the SR35, and it all plays out aft and overhead. One version carries a solid sliding hardtop. It’s neat and secure, with a decent opening, but because the panel needs somewhere to go, the roof has to be as long as the slide track. The result is a sturdy but smaller aperture. The other version uses a canvas concertina roof. It isn’t quite as robust, but it folds right back, leaving a wide open space above the helm and cockpit.

The cockpit layouts also tell two different stories. One boat has wraparound seating that flows aft, a sunbed behind it, and a proper locker underneath big enough for a life raft. The alternative swaps that locker for a height-adjustable dining table with facing seats. The table drops down to form a sunpad when needed, though you lose that valuable stowage beneath.

Up on the bow, there’s a sunbathing area and the anchor gear laid out as you’d expect. Some boats have been finished with synthetic teak decking, though that’s an option rather than standard fit. The deck layout is practical - grab handles fall to hand, the fuel fillers are easy to reach, and the nav lights, radar gear and antennas are all fixed on top where they should be.

Like so much with this boat, it’s a matter of priorities. Do you want the reassuring heft of the solid roof and a life raft locker, or the airy feel of the canvas system with its flexible dining space? Neither is “better” outright. They’re just different takes on how you want to spend your time on deck.

The cockpit is the clear area where Bavaria wants you to live. This is very much an outdoor boat. The seating wraps around, and the modules slide to change the layout; one adjustment and you’ve stretched the sunbathing area, another and you’ve tightened up a dining spot. Right beside it, there’s a compact bar unit with a sink and a single-burner hob, fridge tucked underneath, and lockers for the basics. Everything you need for weekend catering is here, within arm’s reach, and all of it outside where the action is.

Drop down the companionway and you feel the indoor/outdoor shift. The lower deck is neat and open-plan, more of a retreat than a main living space. A small settee offers somewhere to tuck away, but the priority remains clearly up top. There is a second galley down here, though pared right back: just a sink, another fridge, and some stowage. No hob, no oven. The idea is you cook where the people are, up in the cockpit.

There’s a playful touch, too. A TV can be mounted on a panel that drops into a recess when you’re finished with it, disappearing cleanly beneath the countertop. Add in the hull windows, lockers above and around, and it feels light and functional rather than extravagant. It’s accommodation that supports the cockpit rather than competing with it.

The heads sits off this space, fitted with a proper separate shower cubicle, a basin with storage beneath, and lockers behind mirrored panels. It’s practical, bright, and has enough space to move about without knocking elbows.

Owner's Cabin

The forward cabin is a simple space but a comfortable one. The bed runs full width, a proper double, with plenty of headroom so you don’t feel hemmed in. Overhead, there’s a hatch for ventilation and light, and the hull windows run long down each side with opening sections to let air through. It’s a bright place to wake up, and there’s stowage tucked into lockers above the berth for the everyday bits you want to keep out of sight.

It’s not trying to be a hotel suite as the focus of this boat is always the main deck, but as a private space  for owners it works well. Big bed, decent light, and just enough room to stand and move without bumping into everything.

Guest Accommodation

Aft beneath the cockpit, you find the guest cabin. It’s  under the raised sunpad, which is why Bavaria has managed to carve out such impressive headroom back here. Walk in and it doesn’t feel like the low, crouched space you might expect.

There’s a double berth running across the beam, a hanging locker for clothes, and a few recesses for stashing bags or the cockpit infill cushions. Those cushions, by the way, are the ones that convert the cockpit seating into another bed if needed, so you’ve always got options.

Because the cockpit floor runs right above, the layout drops down and creates a surprising sense of volume. It’s not palatial, but it’s clever, and it gives guests a private spot with a proper door that closes off from the saloon. Even the lower saloon table can drop to form more sleeping space, so for a 35-footer you’re getting quite a few berth choices.

Lift the cockpit hatch and you’re into the machinery space.  The engines sit cleanly with a clear run of space ahead, which makes getting down to them less of a squeeze than you might expect on a 35-footer.

Power comes from a pair of Volvo Penta D4-300 diesels. That’s 300 horsepower each, enough to push the SR35 just over 30 knots flat out. In reality, you’ll sit most comfortably in the mid-20s, 20 to 25 knots giving a good balance of speed and economy. Range is around 200 nautical miles, give or take, which is plenty for the weekend hops this boat is built for.

There’s no generator in this engine room. The boat doesn’t really need one as everything runs happily off the 12V system at sea and the 240V shorepower once you’re back in the marina. No air conditioning as standard either (in the UK you wouldn’t expect it) though both air con and generator can be added if you plan to keep the boat somewhere hotter.

Bavaria splits the model into two versions: the SR35 with the canvas roof and the Bavaria SR35 HT with the solid hardtop. As for the numbers, expect annual running costs to sit in the 6–10% bracket of the boat’s value once you factor in servicing, insurance, mooring, and routine maintenance. The twin Volvo Penta D4-300s are proven engines, well supported worldwide, and happily cruise in the mid-20-knot range without guzzling fuel. Range sits at roughly 200 miles, which is perfectly pitched for coastal hops and weekend cruising.

It’s also worth looking at the Bavaria SR35's rivals. The Sessa Marine C38 is the bigger, glossier option, with more interior volume and a hardtop as standard, though it comes with higher running costs to match. The Jeanneau NC 37 pushes the enclosed coupe-cruiser line harder, with its wheelhouse and sliding doors, giving a different style of use entirely.

The Bavaira SR35 is a fun, flexible sportscruiser that’s easy to run, gives you two genuine layout choices, and works as well for UK weekends as it does in the sun. A boat built around being out on deck, with just enough below to keep everyone comfortable when the day’s done.