Byte National Championships at Margate Yacht Club

Hilary Ross, Olwen Binks and Mary Stamp (near to far) at the Byte Nationals © Clive Morley

Nick Miller (yellow hull) wins the Byte Nationals 2006 © Clive Morley

The UK Byte Nationals 2006, shared with the Miracle Southerns, was held on July 15th and 16th at Margate Yacht Club.

The first day saw howling winds and high seas. Some wise sailors decided they would rather be safe than sorry. A small number of the mad few who launched quickly became sorry, not making it out of the harbour but the ones that made it to the start were in for some exhilarating racing. The Bytes, who out numbered the Miracles nearly 4:1, went off first at the start line. Strong wind, tides and waves made it a difficult start, catching a few out sending them reaching down the line away from the starboard end bias. The best start came from Ray Smith (Dabchicks SC) which was made obvious when he shot off with a good lead around the first mark. Second around was Ken White (Mudeford SC) followed by Daniel Hawkes (Minnis Bay). Ray carried on but by taking the safer option of tacking instead of gybing the fleet closed in. At the gybe mark Ken also tacked safely but slowly whilst Daniel took a risk and stuck it in, ending his race. This allowed Nick Miller (Marconi SC) to slip through into second, chasing Ray. The challenging conditions saw plenty of place swapping throughout the fleet. Nick caught Ray and managed to creep away from him. Eddie Pope (Littleton SC) worked his way up to third towards the end for a close finish with Chris Tack (Tynemouth SC). Due to the conditions the Race Ofiicer cancelled any further racing for the day.

Day 2 brought perfect conditions. Beautiful blue skies with a steady force 2-3. Four races back to back were planned for the day to make up for the previous day. With a well-organised race committee these were done quickly and efficiently with very little waiting between races. The first race with the lightest of the days winds saw the best start from Nick Miller allowing him to be first round the mark closely followed by Mary Stamp (Royal Harwich YC). Nick held her off to the leeward mark and managed to pull away on the upwind leg. Meanwhile Eddie Pope was also quicker upwind and managed to pass Mary into second place. The top three positions stayed the same till the end but the next three places were extremely close, they finished within 1 second of each other. Young Tom Arnold (Pembrokeshire YC) came top of the three over Ray and Rick Whitehouse (Combs SC).

A quick turn around with a slight shift in the wind direction ed line bias which only a few spotted in time for the start. The three boats that made the most of the line saw a close upwind battle to the windward mark. Ray and Rick ended up rounding the top mark at the same time followed by Nick and Eddie. But Ray got his lifejacket caught up on his main sheet while tacking and capsized onto Rick. Rick made a quick exit only to get in another collision with Eddie allowing Nick to sneak round into the lead. After much pirouetting making the course look more like a ball room the fleet got their act together on the chase for Nick. Rick and Eddie slowly left the fleet and were hot on Nicks tail. On the upwind leg Rick and Nick ended up crossing each other regularly, switching between first and second place all the way up the beat. Rick came of the better around the mark only for Nick to gain back the lead on the downwind leg. With less place swapping for the next lap Nick increased his lead and got another first followed by Rick and Eddie.

The next race saw a tricky start and some strong decision-making needed. It was a port end bias although the tide was slower at the starboard end. Ray got the best start at the starboard end of the line. Nick got the second best start at the port end but Ray being further inshore crept up to lead over Nick. Eddie and Mary closely followed. Ray held off Nick to the leeward mark but couldn’t hold him upwind. Nick strode out to claim another first, Ray held second with Eddie third. The fifth and finally race seemed more relaxed maybe due to the heat and tired bodies. A good start and a quick upwind leg allowed Nick to comfortably win. Mary managed her best result of second and Eddie third.

Trophy winners:

1st Overall - Nick Miller
2nd Overall - Eddie Pope
3rd Overall - Ray Smith
1st Junior - Tom Arnold
1st Youth - Nick Miller
1st Master - Eddie Pope
Mid fleet - Tom Arnold
Best placed new comer - Chris Tack
1st Lady - Mary Stamp

Special thanks to Margate Yacht Club for holding such a well-organised and enjoyable event.

Overall Results: