Byte Inland Championships at Cardiff Yacht Club
by John Saunders 21 Jun 2013 09:25 BST
15-16 June 2013
Byte Inland Championships at Cardiff © John Saunders
The 2013 Byte Inland Championships took place on June 15-16th at Cardiff Yacht Club. The club is an excellent venue with a comfortable clubhouse giving spectacular views over Cardiff Bay where racing takes place.
The Byte Inlands were sailed alongside the clubs own regatta fleet and was sailed under testing wind conditions. When racing began on Saturday morning the wind was strong and much of the regatta fleet sensibly decided to not venture out. However, all but two of the Bytes braved the fierce conditions and sailed out into the bay where they were greeted by powerful gusts and a sharp chop.
In race one Louis Saunders was very quick to the windward mark and rounded well clear of the pursuing fleet. Louis increased his lead throughout the race and won by a considerable margin from Kevin Moore and Charlotte Gough.
Race two also saw Louis comfortable round the windward mark this time with Stuart Moore in hot pursuit. Louis once again pulled away in the testing conditions to win from Rick Whitehouse with Eddie Pope in third place.
The boats now sailed in for Lunch during which wind conditions continued to deteriorate. The cruiser racers stayed within the bay behind the barrage for their race and could be seen from the clubhouse struggling with much reduced sail and ridiculous angles of heel, nevertheless the Bytes rigged to to go out again and waited sitting on the boats to stop them from blowing away! However as the Officer decided to delay the start Louis Saunders and Stuart Moore became impatient to get on with it and sailed out. Just as they disappeared in clouds of spray, racing was called off for the day. They reached the line and were sent back! At this point wind was a constant 29 mph gusting to 35 and the committee boat was dragging its anchor!
The forecast for Sunday was considerably more benign and so it proved to be. Winds were between 8-12 mph but quite shifty. In race 3 Eddie Pope made good choices up the first beat and led Louis at windward. He held his position downwind but saw it reversed on the next beat. Louis won at the end from Eddie and Sarah Kirk.
Race 4 was again dominated by Louis but with Rick in second and Charlotte Gough in third. The main body of the fleet was bunching up now as the girls and lighter sailors came through. 14 year old Lewis Bennett managed a creditable 7th in this race whereas Kevin Moore was dropping back having reveled in the heavy conditions previously.
Race 5 was reduced in length in order to save time and was again won byLouis with Rick in second and Charlotte again third.
Race six was once again short with Louis first Sarah Kirk second and Rick third.
The weekend was a trying one because of the wind on Saturday but Louis Saunders dominated the event under all conditions.There were four women racing in these exciting boats. The Bytes survived under extreme conditions where many others dare not even attempt.
Bytes are the Youth Olympic boat again next year but the RYA seem to have little interest in this. In this country Bytes are sailed by anyone under about 11 stone who wants a modern exciting ride. So much more fun for the lightweights among us. The oldest sailor regularly competing is a lady of 66... so much for youth!
Next stop the Combs Sailing Club Open. This is the home club of Louis and Rick who have been hard to beat in recent years and they would welcome any additional competition. The Weymouth Nationals follow in August... now that will be exciting!
Overall Results:
1st Louis Saunders (Combs Sailing Club) 5pts
2nd Richard Whitehouse (Combs Sailing Club) 13pts
3rd Eddie Pope (Ogston Sailing Club) 17pts
4th & Ladies Trophy, Charlotte Gough, 18pts