Colin
Will suggest Matt updates his Bayraider 20 specification
The BayRaider is extremely versatile. She is not just a tough, fast Raid boat, the water ballast makes her suitable for a wide range of conditions and levels of crew experience.
Surprisingly, perhaps, she is an ideal boat for beginners as, with ballast tanks full, she is stable, forgiving and very hard to capsize (See this Video from Denman Marine our Licensed builder in Australia to see just how hard!)
In fact, with the ballast tanks full she will self right from a 90 degree knockdown and thanks to her sealed hollow mast and asymmetric capsize buoyancy, she can easily be recovered from a full inversion.
As your crew gain experience, leave the ballast tank empty ( or empty it on the move) and you transform her into something approaching a racing dinghy. Add toe straps and her wide side decks provide seating for hiking out to maximise her performance, with the potential to semi plane and surf in the right conditions. Flying the asymmetric spinnaker further boosts performance for the experienced sailor.
The BayRaider is a two masted ketch and has the huge advantage over a single mast rig of allowing a quick and massive reduction of sail. Dropping the mainsail completely takes only moments, leaving her well balanced, very stable and able to tolerate virtually any weather - even making to windward under jib and mizzen alone.
The outboard motor (2hp -4hp gives 6 knots) does not hang obtrusively over the transom but is housed in a well at the rear of the large cockpit, for easy access. When sailing the motor can be tilted out of the water, the well being sealed with shutters, eliminating drag.
Unusually for an open boat she has a self draining cockpit, which again is of huge benefit to safety. In a swamping or knockdown situation there is no need for bailing, leaving the skipper free to concentrate on the situation in hand.
The optional spray hood gives shelter, if required, for the crew while sailing and, once moored up a secluded creek, is used with the boat tent and camping accessories to make you comfortably independent of civilization for a few days.
A change of scene is no problem as she can easily be towed short or long distances behind a family car. (Brittany, Spain, South of France, Italy, and Greece have all been visited by UK-based Swallow Boats.)
She can be fully rigged on the trailer in less than 10mins (!), launched and recovered, single handed, without getting the wheel hubs wet.
At only 330kg in wood/epoxy or 430kg in GRP, the BayRaider is light enough on her trailer to be easily manhandled by one person around a dinghy park – or tucked into a safe spot in a hotel car park when on your travels!
NOW INCLUDING AN IPHONE SLOT WHERE YOU CAN INSTANTLY DEPOSIT YOUR IPHONE FOR A COMPLETE NON INTERURUPTING SAIL.
You might want to give this app a go as well
