The Journey begins. I have followed the Swallow Boats "Bay Raider" for over two year now. Time to do something about it.
 Contacted Matt, the boat designer and builder, in Wales, UK. There is a new importer into the USA. Request made to contact. Contact made. Rig Reese is the importer. Good email chain with Rig finding out about the boat and options
Time for a test sail? To cold in Newport RI in Jan for me to see Rig. He has a dealer in Jacksonville, Florida. A much better choice if you are sailing in January. All set for a test sail Jan 28th with dealer - Bill Vogel.
Fun, Fun, Fun..... Great day out sailing on the Bay Raider. Winds started out around 20 mph so good test of the handling with good wind. Tried without ballast first. Yes it is a kick in the pants. Went from 3 knots to over 7 knots in what seemed like a blink of an eye. Heeled over and exciting!
Time to try with the water ballast. Filled the ballast tanks. (An easy operation of just opening the valves). The boat sat down as the water ballast tank filled up. I guess we lost about a knot in speed. But the handling was great. The boat handled more like a full keel boat.