I had an interesting chat with Ian at Nestaway boats this week - he suggested that the combination of the BR20's lightweight hull and the EVO mode's inherent hydrodynamic resistance would mean that we'd be mostly be better off without it - we'd lose too much speed for it to be useful; unless it was blowing a hooley, in which case we'd be sailing anyway.
That said, it's kinda weird that they're even offering the option on the Spirit - since if its not suitable for a boat this size then what would it ever be suitable for?
He also talked me out of the Navy/Pod/DIY lifting bracket - it would all end up being too heavy, quite apart from it being way too expensive
According to my latest calculations, even a 6hp petrol motor would never free us from thinking about tides and river flow - so I think i'm going to press the button on a Spirit Plus XS and see what happens! With the money i didn't spend on a Navy 3.0 I can buy a porta-potti and a games console for the kids so we can stay out indefinitely...
I think i'm going to follow Graham W's lead on the 12V/solar controller tip - that sounds excellent!