Swallow Boats Forum

I took delivery of BR3 in mid-August and kept her on a swinging mooring in the Camel Estuary for a couple of weeks of holiday. I am really impressed with the boat, she has really met my requirements for a safe, big family dayboat, but one which has really fun performance when you wish to make use of it. It meets all of Matt\\\'s marketing claims and more in my view. We sailed in winds varying from a light breeze to F5, in some of the biggest tides of the year and crew varying from singlehanded to 3 adults and a child:
1. It is a very simple boat to launch and recover, and rigging/derigging takes less than 10 minutes.
2. Several of the Swallowboats design features are clever yet simple ideas which save time and effort, eg. the self-tacking jib, permanently attached rudder with emergency step and outboard well closure system.
3. The water ballast is a great idea, it works well and is simple to use, really giving you two boats in one (the only time it surprised me was when I left the \\\'fill\\\' bailer open by mistake so that she emptied when she dried out before her weight closed the bailer - leaving me scratching my head when I got back to find her refloated with the ballast tank empty!).
4. The rig is really versatile, she points well up into the wind with lots of sail/weight giving a real feeling of power when you want it. Even with the water ballast in she has a really rapid pick up and a really good turn of speed. Reefing is easy but once under way our default reef was to drop the mainsail and sail under jib and mizzen. Under that rig she still handles well enough to sail on and off our mooring through row after row of boats at Rock and we sailed with small children like that in a F3 as a \\\'confidence giver\\\', when she tacked perfectly and hardly heeled at all.
5. With ballast in, two crew and one reef in the main she gave a really fun sail in quite a stiff breeze with a reasonable chop whilst remaining predictable and fairly dry. She is an easy single handed sail, the only tricky bit being adjusting the continuous jib sheet, but I believe Matt has already devised a modified layout to solve that.
6. As I didn\\\'t know the Estuary I took a crew out a few times, a man who sails and rents out a Shrimper and two Drascombe Luggers from Rock (I have his number if anybody fancies a holiday sail in Cornwall!). He was thoroughly impressed with the BRs design, space and performance which I thought was a pretty good commendation. She also got a lot of admiring comments when on her mooring as she has got very attractive lines.
7. There are are few things which Matt is still refining. I have suggested some lockable storage and we have discussed sail stowage as tidying away boom, main and yard would make picnic sails or fishing under jib and mizzen or motor less crowded, but there is nothing major I have found to address.

As you can probably tell I am really pleased with her and am just frustrated I won\\\'t be able to get down for another sail for a few weeks! I have attached a couple of pictures which also give a clue to who really thinks the boat is theirs....

Guy

Guy, thanks for your early impressions. Seems like you are really enjoying the BR.

I was fortunate enough to sail for a day with Matt in France at the Semaine de Golfe.

I agree that the execution of the motor well, self tacking jib are well done. The feel of the boat under sail was very nice. I had never sailed with a mizzen before, and found it very versatile. The BR handles chop well. We were in some pretty fast tidal rips with standing waves all around.

I sail a 17\\\' boat, and really liked the feel of the extra few feet in length and the wider beam. She has a lot of power.

I think as the boat evolves, some of the small details will evolve with input from early users like you. My point, already mentioned to Matt, would be to raise the height of the seats by 2-3\\\". More leg support for taller people.

Enjoy the boat when you get back to it!

I fell in love with the Bayraider at Beal Park earlier this month. I have posted a short video of it sailing there in the summer sunshine, for viewing whilst I dream on. You can see it on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFEq9cIZWbM

To carry on with my love affair with the Bayraider/Baycruiser. I have posted a second video on YouTube showing two Bayraiders going through their paces on Cardigan bay last July. You can see it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzYq5_pB5Xg
These are really lovely boats, both to sail and just to look at

Did a few modifications to my BR Llafurio:

* Put 2 each side extra long holes into the gunwhale timber strip for the forward bungee hooks of the new cover.
* Replaced the fairly heavy timber mainsail boom with one built from a windsurfer mast. Thick side facing aft.
* Fitted a 100 ltr./ min. manual bilge pump onto the outboarder bracket, port side of the engine. As it is mounted it will suck water from the sump, but I can attach a longer suction hose to suck out the waterballast tank if need be.
* Built a teakwood grating for the water sump to hold a 6 kg grapnel anchor in place.
* Below that grating, beside the selfbailer is the new position for the fishfinder transponder.
* Built that goosenecked Mizzen boom.
* Fitted that engraved transom name board 
* Fitted rubber bungees in the swallows nests like in the show BR.
* Fitted a swivel onto the stemhead for the jib clubboom.
* Put a rubber bung under the clubboom rear end.
* Moved the mainsheet footpoint 5\\\" to aft in order to better sheltered space for the GPS cum fishfinder aft of the C/B case.
* Put a fixed position for the battery (17 AH) onto the outboarder bracket, starboard of the engine.

Hello Claus,

Can you post a photo of the fixed position for the battery, does your outboard charge the battery? How about a solar powered 12v 1.5w battery trickle charger.

Regards

David

David,
pls gimme a few days, I am waiting for a watertight fuse and distribution box which will be part of the installation.

No, my outboarder has no charging coil/outlet.

Re a solar charger: I can do without, simpler to disconnect the battery and take it home for recharging, once per month max. My GPS displays the voltage of the battery.

Kind regards.

Hi All,

I have just had a test sail in a Bay Raider so these are my \\\"First\\\" impressions:  The BayRaider looks a large boat when it is on its trailer but I was impressed how easy it was to move her about while still on the land.  It is obvious that Matt has put a lot of thought into getting the complete design right and making the BR a true trailer sailor as opposed to a boat that can be trailed once in a blue moon.  I like the way the rudder and tiller remain in place when towing (one less thing to forget) and that it is possible to gain access to the lockers when the boat is on the trailer.

The next surprise was that Matt launched the boat with the mast down and proceeded to rig her once she was afloat.  Now on other boats I have almost always put the mast up in the car park because the operation involves fiddling about at the pointy end with a high risk of dropping shackles and pins into water.  None of this was required on the BR as all the work of tensioning the fore stay was done at the mast, all very slick.

Once on the water she was a dream to sail taking the rollers coming off the bar in her stride.  The jib arrangement is just brilliant, I loved the ability to self tack and this is coupled with  very light jib sheet loads. So light I would think that even the smallest crew member should be able to handle the jib if needed.

So in summary a very impressive \\\"trailer sailor\\\". 

best wishes and a Merry Christmas to all

Simon

P.S. I have attempted to post a snapshot......

David,
here comes the photo of the battery position. :

Hello Claus,

Thanks for the photo showing your pump and battery installation.

I note in your earlier post listing modifications you have made that you have put the mizzen boom on a gooseneck. Do you have a picture of that and what was your reason for the change?

Best wishes for the New Year to all on this forum.

Bill

David,
no need for a battery cover, the battery is all encapsulated, but the contacts need greasing against the saltwater.
Those inspection covers, I suppose they are standard with GRE / GRP boats? Not using them for storage - yet.
The bags were made by a sailmaker as copies of bags that I could no longer buy from the shelf. Very useful for small items.
The tiller extension (it is a telescopic one) is absolutely indispensable when you steer while sitting on the gunwhale.
Happy New Year.

Great article in this months Practical Boat Owner about the Bay Raider.
Matt had given their editor a demonstration the day before we went down to Wales for our test sail.
This should raise the profile of the boat; Matt will be busy at the Boat Show.

Happy New Year to you all!
A few thoughts on Claus\\\' arrangements. I like some of what he has done... but I am yet to be convinced about his mizzen sheeting arrangements!
Each of us are shaped by our own experiences and Claus clearly likes a conventional boom on his mizzen.
Personally I think the sail shape when off the wind is better with our sprit boom, as technically Claus\\\' arrangement needs a kicking strap. But the other disadvantage is that you cannot nearly as easily back the mizzen as you can on our standard arrangement.
I have found this very helpful when tacking in very shallow water, when you cannot always have the board down, or when running aground on the board in light winds prior to tacking slows you down too much to go about using the rudder alone.
With our system instead of using the rudder to go about, simply haul the mizzen in beyond the centreline. This brings the head of the boat through the wind in seconds and onto the new tack, in a similar manner to backing the jib, though it will work through a greater range of wind angles.

I like Claus\\\' other arrangements, though you will see that he only uses a small suzuki engine (2.5HP). Owners with heavier engines should probably not put this much additional weight in the stern. The usual position for the battery is just forward of the CB case. The underside of the timber top plank on the CB case has a full length slot cut in to house power/fishfinder cables out of sight.

Hope to see as many of you as possible at the London Boat Show - 9th-18th Jan 09, on the Classic Boat Magazine Stand.

David,
the helmsmans bags you enquired, I found them.: http://www.svb.de/segelboot+decksausruestung/reling+bootsstuehle/relings+zubehoer/relingstasche.html

If you cannot order them from UK, I would be happy to help buying them for you and mailing them on to you.

Those bags above, what you cannot see in the photo: in their back they have three flaps with Velcro so they can be fastened with no further ado around that little railing on either side of the BR cockpit, anywhere there.
The bags are well suited for holding VHF, binocular, knife, little stuff and refreshments within reach of the helm.

Thanks Claus I have orderd four. I will have to fix a railing on either side of the BR cockpit as it is not on the ply BR.

David

About that Mizen sheeting again.: If you look at a few photos of  standard sheeted BRs taken in windier conditions, you can see the leech of the mizen sail pretty slack and flapping while the luff is tight. This can be expected with a spritboom, and this is what I can avoid with the conventional boom and the different  sheeting arrangement, and even without an additional kicker.

Sorry,
I wanted to say the FOOT is tight.

My experience has been that a sprit boomed leg of mutton sail sets better if the foot angles up from tack to clew (as it does on the sails for the Storm 17).  This allows more nearly equal tension on the foot and the leech.  A sail with the foot cut at more or less right angles will set better with a conventional boom or if the snotter is raised on the mast, making the angle between the mast and the sprit boom more accute (and requiring a slightly longer sprit).

I am very fond of sprit booms because they are easy to sheet, they give great control over the curvature of the sail with low tech hardware, and they are self vanging.  Other experienced sailors have other preferences.  If something works for you, enjoy it.

JohnT

John,
you are very right with your comment in general, but things on the BayRaider in particular are really different from the norm because of the extreme mizzen sail stern overhang.
Do look at the different geometries yourself.
I put the photos in as proof to show that on the BR the standard spritboom sheeting alone does not work too well in some wind.

Hi, Claus.
Just a comment. Ive never had the leg o mutton mizzen flap on the CBL- unless  I was pinching up into the wind  and I failed to sheet in hard.
The difference could be that my simpler mizzen is laced to the mast, not in a pocket (or sleeve).  This might set more taught, if less well from the aerodynamic point of view.
Sheeting arrangements are basic. A single sheet is cleated at the tiller and runs from the rudder head to the sprit boom. The only mod Ive made is to move the sheeting point to the very end of the sprit (makes it easier to roll the sail away) and to double the length of the sheet (enabling the mizzen to be de-powered – weather cocked - even with the wind from astern.)  As the CBL is a double ender there isnt a simple way to fit twin mizzen sheets, so backing the mizzen involves grabbing the sprit and hauling it over by brute force.  This is also useful for annoying the racing boys by sailing backwards off the club pontoon after a lunch stop parked head to wind. The  manouver is completed by the lug main being raised and backed, spinning the boat around. Sheet in the mizzen and off you go!

What I like best about your gooseneck and boom ( intend stealing most of your good ideas, by the way) is that you could de-power  and power up the sail again instantly with a topping lift or brailing line. Very useful in tight moorings. If the boom can be raised to the vertical you also have a very quick method of stowing the sail, held between mast and  boom with a bit of shock cord.

Note:- Quick harbour stow = 1st to the Bar.

Cheers!
            Tony

Hi Tony,
I do not know if your Cardigan Bay Lugger is comparable with the BayRaider with regards to the mizzen stern overhang.

So I have done my computations with regards to the BayRaider only. By putting one additional sheeting footpoint centrally over the transom one improves the sheeting lever by around 40 %, and by using two blocks under the boom one gets additionally a 2 to 4-fold purchase.

Meaning, with some modest pull on the sheets one can bend the mizzen mast like on a windsurfer.

BTW, these lever, and force improvements would work just as well with the spritboom. They just result from the additional sheeting footpoint (fitting costs Euro 10.00) and the two blocks (Euro 10.00 apiece).

Hi Claus,
I was wondering what size your national flag is?  200x300mm or 300x450mm

Regards

David

Hi David,
the size of the national in the photo above is 260x480 mm.
If your question is whether there are minimum sizes and formats required by regulations, I suspect there are but I have no idea. I am sure someone else here can help.

In the photo below are a few variations. Notice the red tell-tale, that is glued into a simple bamboo stick from a garden market. The Irish is really just a cheap souvenir flag picked up from a newsagent, works just as well.

BTW, we will be sailing in the Welsh Flotilla at Morbihan, honoris causa the boat was built in Wales, and the Welsh Dragon flag I have for that is 900x1500mm.

Happy Easter.

Claus

Back to Early Impressions.:

I have the GRE version. The boat feels over-stable, but when you look at the speedo she\\\'s fast.
I find the rudder angle is too limited, she turns a bit slow in tight places, but doesn\\\'t get stuck which is good. A few more degrees of rudder would help.

When the ballast tank is full and the rear vertical hatch is open, there is too much water on the cockpit floor for my taste when the boat is at anchor. I put in some suitable size fenders into the ballast tank until the cockpit floor is dry at equilibrium, much better like this. I am sure the self-righting is not significantly affected, maybe Matt can check his AVS tables.

When heeling the boat until the green water comes over the gunnel, the water on the side benches seeps into the storage compartments underneath. I have no better solution than avoiding too much heel, which is simple enough.

All else works fine, to a degree it\\\'s actually a bit boring. Once the sails are set up well, it\\\'s like riding on a bus, very little to do for the passengers. Some tiller and changing sides, that\\\'s it, no sheets need to be touched for miles.
What works particularly well is the self-tacking and the self-steering. I had actually put in fittings for a tiller-pilot but I never use that, the boat is so well behaved when she is heaved to and the main is slack. However, I recommend a tiller brake, simple to fit one onto the tiller.

Michael,
I have brought your question from the Storm Petrel thread here. Your underlying question probably is what I think about the rig size of the BR. In short, I think it\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s ideal, for small crew (2 aboard) and coastal sailing. All I modified was the mizzen sheeting, which was pretty obviously necessary. And I changed the main boom to carbon, but that is more a comfort detail. Otherwise, totally happy.

Only when we were in Italy with 3 experienced and keen crew aboard, and struggled a bit against these ligthwind lagoon boats there, came the wish to have some more canvas up at times.
For that I have got me an asymmetric foresail now, and I am currently preparing an option to be able to swap the SeaRaider rig (sport version) onto the BayRaider, just in case we should ever go back to Venice or attend an inland lake sailing event with that boat.

I hope that this is the correct thread to post this question to. It seems the topice thread has mutated to a list of modifications that have been made to a BayRaider.  Any way, the question:

Have any Bayraider owners added some form of locking catch to the side lockers, or to put it another way do you think that a way of locking the lockers is desirable?

best wishes

Simon

Simon,
the reason why mods are collected here is that there were early impressions they were either missing, necessary, or would be useful.

Yes, my early impression was too that catches are missing on the side locker lids, so I fitted some, lockable ones.

What I havent found a proper fitting for yet is how to keep the locker lids opened while handling stuff therein.

Claus,

I wonder if a gas strut, similar to those used on estate car hatches, could be used.  The challenge would be to find one that would stand the salt water.  Otherwise some form of wooden prop.

I have just been out to check my boat which is along side the house and I have discovered that one of our cats has been sick in it - what joy!

best wishes

Simon

Hi, Claus.
Had a similar problem with an anchor locker on a hired cruiser that kept trapping my fingers. Used a stick with Velcro stick-on pads to locate it. Crude, but it worked perfectly. Leave the stick stuck to the underside of the locker lid and it self-located the next time the lid was lifted. I wonder if its still in use.

Cheers!
Tony

Simon,
to lock the lids I am using a fitting similar to the one depicted below. Stainless steel. Main thing is you need short screws, and some Sikaflex as extra adhesive and sealant.
Sorry about the cat. I remember a scene in \\\'Cranford\\\'. Ugghh.

Tony,
velcro, good idea, I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'ll try that. Thanks.

Claus,
That is a good looking catch, all the ones I\\\'ve found are quite ugly in comparison.

Tony,
Velcro and a stick - simple and elegant.

Simon

Simon,
those catches are available from http://www.toplicht.de/shop/schloesser-riegel-und-verschluesse/spannverschluss-und-ueberfall/ueberfaelle/ueberfaelle-mit-drehverschluss .

You can have them in plain brass, or brass with chrome plated, Euro 9.95 apiece.

Toplicht is nearby, if you let me know you want them I can collect them for you. I\\\'ll see Matt next week in the Netherlands, so he could take them across to UK. Or I can post them directly to you. Send me a PM.
C.

Claus,

I have attempted to send you a pm but I am not confident that it was sent.

Simon

BayRaiders,
the mainsail+gaff halyard how it is attached to the gaff yard, I have now seen several different versions on production boats, and they are all not too practical. The idea was/is that the carbon yard is hollow and so as not to compromise it#s buoyancy, the yard should not have any through-hole.

Well what the heck I have drilled my yards. I reinforced the area of the through holes -on both sides- through glueing on thin strips of teak using Pantera sealer (Epoxy does not bond with carbon, while Sikaflex and Pantera do).
I then drilled the through-hole. To retain the buoyancy of the spar, I sprayed in a small quantity of PU foam, and while that was filling up and setting inside the yard I had inserted a wooden peg (oiled, so as not to bond with the foam). Very happy with this arrangement. Plenty strong too.

Plastic BayRaiders,
here is a solution for a common problem. Anyone knows which problem?

And my guess is....

End of the mast hitting the rudder blade when towing.


best wishes

Simon

Well guessed, but no, what you have there is another common problem. But one that\\\'s more easily solved: With a cut-off old blue jeans leg. I spare you a photo.

Have another guess?

How about a high rise tent to allow the donning and doffing of the afore mentioned one legged jeans in comfort?

Good! But no, the better tent pitching is just a side effect, a welcome one however.
There is yet another and somewhat more important issue which this little thing solves.

How about you can now steer the boat with the mast stowed?

Simon

BINGO!
AND have good space under a boom tent as well. A simple little thing, it should be standard with every boats. Simple to make.

Two other things, in plastic BRs,
water collecting on the lee bench and draining not onto the cockpit floor but into the lee storage locker when the boat is sailing well heeled. From green water coming in over the side in gusts or from rain squalls and spraywater.
I fear it\\\'s more than a nuisance.
Anyone else here who has had that? What is your solution to get the water out again?

And the shiny foredeck. Looks excellent but I think it\\\'s dangerous, too slippery. I think all boats should have a non-slip surface on the foredeck at least where one stands around the mast tabernacle.

Anyone agreeing/disagreeing?

Claus,

Why are you standing up by the mast? 

Simon...

Hi, Simon.

Its obvious.
The better to look astern for  the rest of the Raid fleet. Need you ask?

Happens all the time.:
To tie or untie the parrells in the luff of the mainsail around the main mast.
Then, when wrapping the spare halyard around the harbour furled mainsail to better secure it against being blown open. The higher you stand doing that the better it holds the sail.
And then, generally to work on the foredeck, to set the Gennaker, for anchoring or taking the mooring rope.

On Llafurio I have put adhesive non-slip strips onto the foredeck, which is a huge help, but I think this is a general problem which should be solved generally for all boats. You disagree?

Hi Claus
I found the roof of Daisy G very slippery when wet. Over the winter I gave all of the roof and the fore and side decks an extra coat of International Toplac with a non-slip additive. It just gives a very fine additional texture which seems to do the trick. You can barely see it and for once it is remarkably cheap, only about GBP 3.50. I had to spend a fortune for a whole tin of Donegal Green just to touch up some scratches.

This armchair-messing-about-with-boats is great fun!Here´s an idea,for the downsizing baby-boomer market:Take a CBL or Storm 19 hull,possibly stretched by the odd foot,half-decked,properly ballasted,with a self-draining cockpit;add a hinged,lifting cabin-top,Broads style.Please see attached my favourite inspirational picture,from \\\"The voyage alone in the yawl Rob Roy\\\"

Sorry,wrong topic

Claus et al,

\\\"On Llafurio I have put adhesive non-slip strips onto the foredeck, which is a huge help, but I think this is a general problem which should be solved generally for all boats. You disagree?\\\"

No not at all; having just sold a Drascombe Coaster which made several attempts to pitch me into the wet stuff while I was standing on the roof I was planning to keep my feet firmly on the floor of my BR.  I will probably add non slip to the foredeck once I have fallen off once or twice and/or dropped the anchor on to it and spoiled its gloss finish!

best wishes

Simon

Interesting comment from Simon. One of the reasons we chose the conventional bermudian rig for the BayCruiser, rather than the gunter rig of the BayRaider, was to avoid any necessity to get on the cabin roof whilst sailing in order to deal with the sail or yard. This was seen as a real danger point on the Coaster design. I can confirm that whilst I was out yesterday and kept getting hit by F7 gusts I was able to lower and stow the main without getting out of the cockpit at all. The trickiest bit is getting the jib furled when it is flogging, and not getting loose riding turns on the furling drum.

Yours is a wood-epoxy boat. Doesn\\\'t work for the plastic BayRaiders.
Any slippery foredeck is an accident waiting to happen, sooner or later, gaff or Bermudian alike.

Re the Coaster:
I use to find that I either ended up hugging the mast with one arm while gathering the sail or I stood on the CB case up through the hatch with the edge of the hatch thumping my legs as the boat moved in the sea.  The latter offered excitement as there was always the chance of falling down into the cabin.  I could have put up with all of these faults if the cabin had been larger than your average rabbit hutch.  No, its a tent for me ;-)  dib dib dib....

best wishes

Simon

Here is another issue, the self-bailing of the waterballast tank.
I found it works 100% on the SeaRaider, but not so well on the BayRaider. What are your own experiences? Have you modified your selfbailers yet?

Hi Claus

I don\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t bother with the forward self bailers on my BayRaider. Instead I have fitted a single Anderson Large self bailer next to the forward-facing filling  bailer under the rear watertight hatch. At 5 knots plus this empties the tank in 15 minutes. Beats pumping and much easier to get to. I also have two additional self bailers in the outer corners of the sump to help empty it when heeled. These have loops of thin bungy courd wrapped over the protruding fixing screws to help hold them open.

Hi Jeff,
we have come to similar conclusions. But there is one relevant difference: I remember from Morbihan you have a big engine. That affects the trim of the boat and the achievable speed through the water. We have the small 2.5 HP Suzuki. So our boat has more forward trim and cannot reach full sucking speed under engine alone.

Yes, the forward bailers, I never bother with them as well. Worse even, on BR Llafurio one of them started leaking badly, so rather than putting in a new rubber seal, I finally sealed them off completely.
On my newer BR Tipsy I had asked Matt not to put in forward selfbailers at all.
I too have two bailers in the sump - Andersen MINI- and underneath the main hatch one Andersen NEW LARGE. I found the MINIs suck a little keener than the bigger one. But this is difficult to judge, I suspect not only the speed through the water matters but also the positioning. The two bailers in the sump work best.

All my bailers are the ones for outside mounting. The GRP is too thick to use the ones for inside mounting.
Some Andersen bailers have this plastic grill insert. That gets clogged easily by leaves and stuff so I cut that out.

In addition to what you have, I have inserted a big one inch diameter drain bung between tank and sump, as low down as it would go. That is working extremely well. About 60% of the tank content gravity drains into the sump and the two MINIs take care of that. If I motor, the tank drains about 95% through that bung and through the sump bailers. I am planning to fit two smaller drain bungs further off to the sides, but that is tricky to retrofit due to the limited space.

Further, I have two bailing pumps on either side of the engine, which are connected cross-wise i.e. the windward pump sucks from the lee corner.

I can connect a longer pipehose length to them pumps to suck dry the tank when the boat doesn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t move. That length of pipe is stored inside the tank when not in use.

Very happy with that arrangement, but it has taken some time and trial and error to figure it all out.

See you in Morbihan 2011?

P.S.
I forgot a most important detail: I fitted a permanent airvent to the tank. All is nothing without venting the ballast tank during filling and emptying.

Gents,

Any chance of some pics of these mods?

Simon

Will do Simon but not for a little while as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'Spark\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' is 60 miles away in her summer quarters at Ashlett Creek.

Bayraider, Early Impressions?
  Phew!
Sorry to hear that you guys are having trouble with self bailers etc.
Comfort yourselves with the thought that for the rest of us the lasting impression of a Bayraider is of its stern - as it disappears at high speed over the horizon!

Here a photo of the mizzensheeting, of the permanent airvent underneath the fishfinder, and of the pump sump arrangement.

Jeff,
>Will do Simon but not for a little while as \\\'Spark \\\' is 60 miles away in her summer quarters at Ashlett Creek.<

Thanks! 

Do you know if Ashlett SC are still accepting \\\"distant\\\" members?  I was signed in by Jim Hopwood (Drascombe Gig Hippo) some years ago and was offered membership which I foolishly did not accept :-(

Sorry for wandering off topic....
Simon

@Claus,

You are,obviously,a most experienced SwB owner.On the subject of ballast(gold excepted):I´ve sailed,and copiously enjoyed,a heavy long keeler for 25 years (Frances 26,to be passed on to my sons.):
After much research,my quest for a suitable OAP,thin-water,sailing boat
led me to SwB.I am in the process of tormenting Matt to produce what I will eventually want,for 2011.Among bottom-line specs are stability and ease of handling.This would,from where I´m sitting(Stockholm)seem to preclude H2O ballast in favour of Pb and batteries.

We would probably also get a Storm 15 for my wife.
Would you care to offer philosophical advice on this subject?

Do you know if Ashlett SC are still accepting \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"distant\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" members? 


Simon

Don\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t really know. They accepted me and I live near Reading. And I know of another chap who comes from Loughborough. Each prospective member is interviewed by the committee and is on trial for the first year but I think if you can show a committment they are quite accomodating. But should you want one, moorings generally go to the locals and there is a long waiting list. Space ashore in the pound is also a bit tight. It\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s a great spot to sail from but you\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'ve got to watch the ebb; you have about 90 minutes after the second high before you are stuck in the mud.

Johan,
not here. This thread is about BayRaiders - Early Impressions. Let\\\'s stay close to that topic here. Rather open a new thread.

Re - non slip decks.... a very good idea as I managed to fall down the outboard well.

Simon :-(