Byte Travellers' Series 2015
by Eddie Pope 5 Nov 2015 15:21 GMT
5 November 2015
Bowmoor Byte Open © John Saunders
This year has seen a surge of interest in the Byte as a suitable boat for juniors, ladies and lighter-weight adult males. Hartley Boats have sold lots of new boats and there is a good demand for secondhand examples.
There were 39 entrants at 9 events in 2015, compared with 26 entrants at 7 events in 2014.
The series ended on 31 October in real style at Bowmoor SC, with 15 attending training on Friday and 17 entering the open meeting on Saturday. Numerous new Bytes built by Hartley Boats were there, including 2 with the smaller C1 rig. The Bowmoor SC fleet has grown to 12 in double quick time thanks to the new club Commodore John Banbrook, and the challenge is for other clubs to follow this example. There are also healthy fleets at Combs SC and Weston SC.
The season started in April at a windy Haversham SC where Mike Radford won, followed by Eddie Pope and Andrew Sant. A training and open was then held at Calshot SC in May, won by Rachel Moore followed by Gary Hogan and Elaine White. The fleet then returned to Cardiff YC for the Inlands in June. There was very close competition in light winds, with race wins shared between Louis Saunders, Eddie Pope and Ryan Bush, and overall results in that order.
The Nationals took place at Weston SC in July with 13 entries in medium wind strength. We were given a lesson in sea sailing by Andrew Blundell who borrowed Chris Rees' boat, Louis Saunders was second and Ryan Bush third.
Excessive weed led to the cancellation of the August open at Haversham SC, and we were grateful to Gary Hogan and nearby Emberton SC who held a substitute open at short notice. Louis Saunders pipped Rick Whitehouse to win, with Rob Bell third. September saw opens at Combs SC and Chew Valley SC, with training at Combs on day one. The Emberton SC pattern was repeated with Louis Saunders winning both despite a very strong challenge by Rick Whitehouse in second. Jenn Lamb was third at Combs SC and Charlie Sansom was third at Chew Valley SC.
The penultimate open was at Frampton on Severn SC in October, where there was another Louis Saunders-Rick Whitehouse 1-2, with Ryan Bush third. Louis Saunders was not able to attend the final open at Bowmoor SC, but had already done enough to secure the 2015 Travellers' series title. Rick Whitehouse ran an excellent training day at Bowmoor, then gave a display on how put things into practice by winning the open meeting. Ryan Bush was second, having won race 1, and Andrew Sant sailed really well to come third.
The travellers' results were computed, and following Louis Saunders came Rick Whitehouse, then Ryan Bush and Andrew Sant.
2016 should prove to be a bumper year for the Bytes, with the "old" guard of Louis Saunders and Rick Whitehouse being challenged by emerging youngsters and fast-improving Andrew Sant.