BayRaider 20 No. 4 ‘Spark’. Now SOLD pending inspection.

[Jeff Curtis]

SOLD. Pending inspection after Easter but I'm pretty sure that she will go.



For Sale. BayRaider 20 No. 4 'Spark'. Price £6000 to include trailer, sprayhood, all-over cover, asymmetric and accessories.

Built in epoxy-ply and delivered in 2007, Spark is one of the very first BayRaiders. She is extremely light for a boat of this size and easy to launch, sail and recover single handed.

She was professionally repainted in 2011 and over the years has been tweaked and modified for easy single-handed sailing.

Spark has a red and white asymmetric made by Jeckells sails. This is flown from a two-piece retractable carbon bowsprit. When extended, the bowsprit is held in place by a line beneath the rear of the foredeck and braced by an adjustable bobstay. The tack line is adjustable and passes through the centre of the hollow bowsprit. The guys come aft to a pair of ratchet blocks and are cleated, together with the jib and mizzen sheets, amidships. The head of the sail is hoisted through a violin block that also carries the jib forestay. When not in use, the asymmetric sits under the portside foredeck in a tethered bag. Provided all the lines are set up correctly the sail is relatively easy to launch on a broad starboard tack, although gybing needs practice and good teamwork with the helm.

As with most of the BayRaiders I have seen, the tabernacle screws were prone to pulling out of the deck. This was largely the result of the mainsail tack downhaul being fastened directly to the tabernacle. Tightening the downhaul pulled the tack of the sail down as intended but also pulled the tabernacle up and off the deck. I resolved this by fitting a large eyebolt through the base of the mast for the downhaul and fitting a pair of sacrificial teak runners for the tabernacle screws. These runners are firmly screwed to the deck and I always carry a couple of spares. if the tabernacle screws work loose it is a quick and easy job to replace them.

The square mast is hollow and relatively light but the shape did not lend itself to the gunter jaws as supplied. Spark now sports a fairly crude track system which works fine. I have also fitted a roller sheave to the head of the mast for the main halyard. The mast itself is fairly weather stained and supports several additional cleats as well as a roller and lever rope clutch to facilitate tensioning the jib halyard. With this system it is easy to get everything nice and tight at the expense of a rather cluttered mast base.

Along the mainsail sprit boom I have fitted a double purchase for the outhaul and drilled the gooseneck to take a cotter pin. The boom is supported by a simple lazyjack system which keeps the mainsail out of the cockpit although because of the sail shape it is rather untidy to stow.

All sheets are brought amidships through a pair of roller organisers and cleated with cam cleats in reach of the helm. The tiller has a spinlock extension and a 'Tiller Tamer'.

After the outboard well flaps distorted I got Swallow Boats to remove them and extend the opening of the outboard well up the transom a few inches in an attempt to ease the water flow. This was only a partial success, i.e. it works when the boat is heeled, so to stop the splashes when sailing upright I fitted a removable plywood shield to go across the outboard well and around the top of the outboard leg that does not inhibit the outboard's ability to tilt fully up. I also fitted slot gasket to the centreplate opening to stop splashes from there.

Included is a Silva compass and a Garmin GPSMap 298 chartplotter. This is as old as the boat, as are the loaded UK charts, but it will show you where you are, what the tide is doing, as a depth sounder and fish finder and has various other functions. The transducer is fitted at the front of the centre plate slot and power comes from a sealed 7AH battery mounted forward of the outboard casing. A fully charged battery lasts four to six hours, depending on how bright you set the screen. Four batteries are included.

The trailer is an unbraked Snipe swinging cradle type as supplied with the boat. I have changed the wheels several times so the wheels and tyres are good and a pair of old wheels are included as spares or for winter storage. Overall, the trailer is in pretty good condition and the wheel bearings have never been submerged.

The ballast tank is filled by a forward facing self-bailer and emptied by a large self-bailer fitted next to it. Motoring around at full chat empties the tank in 12 to 15 minutes. I've also fitted two extra small self ballers in addition to the central one in the rear well to empty any accumulated water when heeled.

Spark has a few battle scars, mainly from an encounter with a stone wall while manoeuvring the boat and trailer. I have filled the resulting small hole and it is sound but you can see where it was as the surface is a little rough. I also had to reinforce one of the locker lids and refit one of the rowlock bases. A pair of oars and stainless rowlocks are included.

Spark has a dark blue folding sprayhood and a purpose-made all over cover in dark blue heavy canvas. She has not been afloat since last year's Semaine du Golfe so is in need of a wash and brush up, but she is a good boat, especially for someone seeking the light weight of a wooden BayRaider and prepared to do some cosmetic tidying.

She can be viewed ashore by appointment at Ashlett Sailing Club SO45 1DT.

The attached photos are not particularly recent and may pre-date some of the changes but are the best I have of her afloat.

Please note, I am not including an engine with this sale as I'm keeping my 6hp Mariner for my new BayRaider Expedition due this August. But if you are desperate for a stopgap engine I have a 2.5hp Mercury two-stroke in very good condition for £200.

Further details from Jeff Curtis. Mobile 07736360649.  Email jeff.curtis@btinternet.com or reply to this posting.