The Barge always seemed a hot ship to me compared to the Mk3 and the Swallow seemed like a spaceship compared to the Barge !!
Back in the dark-ages, I went solo in a RAFGSA T21c at Dishforth.
Talking about space-ships, my club recently sent a student solo in this:
A DG-1000S - 20 m span, 45:1 glide ratio and electric gear!