It has a cutter rig with anodized aluminum spars, a clipper bow, a conventional transom, a keel-mounted rudder controlled by a tiller, or optional Edson wheel, and a fixed long keel.

[1] The design has sleeping accommodation for five people, with two straight settees in the main cabin, one of which converts to a double and two quarter berths aft, one on each side.

Its springy sheer line concludes forward in a bowsprit/platform; the silhouette is high; the underwater shape features a deep forefoot and a long, full keel with rudder attached; and the modest sail area is distributed in a cutter rig, with no provision for a spinnaker.

They concluded, "in summary, we found the Bayfield 29 to be a comfortable, sturdy design with oceangoing capability, appealing most to the cruising couple or the single-handed sailor.

"[4] In a review Michael McGoldrick wrote, "the Bayfield 29 has a full keel, cutter rig (two head sails), a shallow draft, and a built-in bowsprit (complete with stylized wooden trail boards on either side of its bow).