Owned one for 10 years. Really liked the
boat.
The positives...
Very dry comfortable
boat. Excellent
hull. Nice accommodation for it's vintage, works well for a couple who are on good terms with each other.
Cutter is easy to balance, and the boat tracks well. Mainsheet is end sheeted with the traveller behind the
wheel making it simple to
single hand sail. Safe and secure feeling deep
cockpit, and low freeboard made stepping off onto a low
dock easy. Hand holds and wide side decks made going forward in rough
weather a simple task compared to other
boats of the same vintage.
The negatives...
Long shallow
keel will give up a lot of leeway moving upwind. Reversing the boat can have a mind of its own.
Single handed
docking I found much more challenging in this boat than other larger monohulls. There are big differences in electrics from early models to later models. We ended up replacing all the original fuse
panels on ours with CB
panels.
Cockpit is crowded with more than four people.
We loved our time with our Bayfield and were sad when we parted. The only thing I would do if looking for one would be get the tallest rig model, and have the
surveyor pay close attention to the
tanks, decks, and
keel step for the
mast. These
boats are three or more decades old now so expect a lot of owner
DIY that can be a blessing or a curse depending on who the owner is.
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