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

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