Byte (dinghy)

Byte
Boat
Class symbol

Crew	1
Hull
Type	Monohull
Construction	GRP
Hull weight	100 lb (45 kg)
LOA	12 ft (3.7 m)^[1]
Beam	4 ft 3 in (1.30 m)
Sails
Mainsail area	73 sq ft (6.8 m²)
Misc
D-PN	97.4 (91.4 C-II)

The Byte is a small one-design sailing dinghy sailed by one person. It was designed by Canadian Ian Bruce, who also commissioned and marketed the Laser.

History

The Byte began as an inexpensive version of the Europe dinghy that could target sailors weighing between 45 and 65 kg (99 and 143 lb).^[2]

Design

The Byte is 12 ft (3.7 m) long, 4 ft 3 in (1.30 m) wide and roughly 100 pounds (45 kg). The hull is composed of glass reinforced polyester and foam sandwich. The Byte is designed for sailors weighing 120 to 145 lb (54 to 66 kg) although most sailors weighing 90 to 160 lb (41 to 73 kg) should have no problems sailing this boat on a recreational basis. The Byte sail size is only 58 square feet (5.4 square metres) making it the ideal boat for those sailors who enjoy the independence and simplicity of a cat rigged boat, such as the Laser, but who are not strong or heavy enough to control a large sail.

The rigging is similar to that of the Laser except one noticeable difference. The traveler is just below the main sheet block and not at the stern of the boat (similar to a Finn or Europe dinghy). This eradicates the chance of the main sheet getting caught on the transom which is a common complaint of the Laser. The sail controls are also "split" and led to both side-decks, again somewhat like a Finn or Europe and allows for more technical adjustments.

The Portsmouth Yardstick handicap of a Byte is 1190.^[3] The alternative D-PN handicap rating is 97.4.^[4]

Byte CII

The Byte was updated in 2004 with the development of a fully battened sail and two piece carbon-fibre mast. This CII rig has a slightly larger sail made of mylar and similar in appearance to the 29er sails. The new rig is designed to be self-depowering and was a welcome update to the previous byte rig. The inspiration for the new rig and sail was to create an out-of-the-box, cost effective, women's and youth boat. These developments give a speed improvement reflected in the Byte CII's Portsmouth Yardstick of 1150^[3] (a 4.2% improvement) and D-PN of 91.4.^[4]

Fleets

Although the Byte class operates on numerous continents, its largest fleets in Canada, Singapore, Bermuda, Great Britain and Switzerland.

Events

Class World Championships

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1999 Open	Eric Holden (CAN)	Alexander Kirkland (BER)	Leete Parker Garrett (USA)
2001 Open	Silja Lehtinen (FIN)	(CAN)	(CAN)

Youth Sailing World Championships

The Byte CII is one of two boats designated in the ISAF Regulations for use as the Girl's One Person Dinghy for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships. The other is the Laser Radial. The Byte CII has been used at two Youth World Championships, in Australia and Canada,

Youth Olympic Games

The byte was used in as the equipment for the male and female dinghy disciplines Youth Olympic Games in the first two events held in Singapore and Nanjing.

Builders

The Byte CII is produced by Zou Inter Marine, Qingdao, PRC. Zim Sailing, Rhode Island, USA. Hartley Boats, UK. Nautivela SRL, Milan Italy, Xtreme Sailing Products Singapore, Armada Boats, São Paulo, Brazil and by Performance Sailcraft Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia

The long time Asia-Pacific Laser manufacturer Performance Sailcraft Australasia (PSA), after receiving permission from ISAF, acquired the Copyright and worldwide building and marketing rights to the single handed Byte and Byte CII dinghy in 2012.

References

↑ "Rules of Byte". www.byteclass.org. Archived from the original on July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
↑ "History of Byte". www.byteclass.org. Archived from the original on July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
1 2 "Portsmouth Number List 2012". Royal Yachting Association. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
1 2 "Centerboard Classes". US Sailing. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.

External links

Classes of World Sailing
Current Olympic classes	470 49er 49er FX Finn Laser Laser Radial RS:X Nacra 17
ISAF centreboard classes	29er 420 505 B14 Byte Cadet Contender Enterprise Europe Fireball Flying Dutchman Flying Junior GP14 Int. 14 Laser 2 Laser 4.7 Lightning Mirror Moth Musto Performance Skiff O'pen BIC OK Dinghy Optimist RS Feva RS Tera RS100 RS500 Snipe Splash Sunfish Tasar Topper Vaurien Zoom 8
ISAF keelboat classes	12 mR 2.4 mR 5.5 m 6 mR 8 mR Dragon Etchells Flying 15 Hansa 2.3 Hansa 303 Hansa Liberty H-boat J/22 J/24 J/70 J/80 Melges 20 Melges 24 Melges 32 Micro Platu 25 RC44 SB20 Shark 24 Soling Sonar Star Tempest Yngling
ISAF yacht classes	Class40 Farr 30 (Mumm 30) Farr 40 IMOCA 60 J/111 International Maxi Association Soto 40 Swan 45 Swan 60 TP 52 X-35 X-41
ISAF multihull classes	A-Class Dart 18 Formula 16 Formula 18 Hobie 14 Hobie 16 Hobie Dragoon Hobie Tiger Hobie Wildcat Nacra Infusion SL 16 Topcat K1 Tornado Viper F16
ISAF windsurfer classes	Formula Experience Formula Windsurfing Funboard Kona Mistral Raceboard RS:One Speed Windsurfing Techno 293
ISAF kiteboarding classes	International Kiteboarding Association
International Radio Sailing Association classes	10 rater A Class Marblehead One Metre
Former ISAF classes	11:Metre One Design 29erXX Aloha Buzz C-Class Division I Division II Division III Elliott 6m Farr 45 Farr Maxi One Design Hobie 17 Hobie 18 IOD ISO Laser Vago Lechner A-390 Mistral Junior Mumm 36 Nacra F18 Open 50 ORMA 60 Sydney 40 Ultimate 20 Windglider X-99

Sailing dinghy, Sharpie and Skiff classes
Dinghies under 10 ft	Frog Cape Cod Frosty El Toro Fatty Knees Fly Holdfast Trainer Manly Junior Minto Naples Sabot O'pen BIC Optimist P Class Pelican Puddle Duck Racer Sabot Starling Tadpole Topaz Taz Turnabout Zoom 8
Dinghies under 15 ft	10ft Skiff 12 foot dinghy 125 ("One-twenty-five") 12ft Skiff 13ft skiff 29er 29erXX skiff 2000 3000 405 ("Four-oh-five") 420 Access Liberty Adventuress ASC Astus 14.1 Australian Sharpie B14 Banshee Beetle Cat Beneteau Wizz Bermuda Fitted Dinghy Blaze Blue Jay Bonito Bosun British Moth Butterfly Buzz Byte Cadet Cherokee Cherub C-Lark CL 14 Comet Coypu Dabchick Daring Dart Enterprise Escape Europe Envy Extra Farr 3.7 Finn Firefly Flying Ant Flying Eleven Flying Junior Force 5 GP14 Graduate Gull Heron Idle-along IDRA14 International Twelve International 14 Javelin (NZ) Javelin (US) Jet 14 Jollyboat (NZ) Lark Laser Standard Laser 2 Laser 3000 Laser 4.7 Laser 5000 Laser Funboat Laser Pico Laser Radial Laser Vago Laser Vortex Lido 14 Mark Marlin Merlin Rocket MG14 Miracle Mirror Moth Musto Performance Skiff National 12 NS14 OK Dinghy O'pen BIC Otter Pacer Pegasus Penguin Phantom RS Feva RS Q'Ba RS Tera RS Vareo RS100 RS200 RS300 RS400 RS500 RS600 RS700 RS800 Sabre Scorpion Snark Snowbird (sailboat) Solo Spiral Splash Streaker Sunburst Sunfish Tanzer 14 Tinker Star Traveller Tinker Traveller Tasar Topper Topper Topaz Topaz Magno Topaz Vibe Topaz Xenon Twinkles 10 & 12 Vagabond Vaurien Wanderer Weta Woodpussy Zeddie Zephyr
Dinghies under 20 ft	16ft Skiff 18 foot dinghy 18ft Skiff 470 49er 505 Albacore Beaufort Invitation Buccaneer Caprice 15 CL 16 Comet Contender Corsair Day Sailer Fireball Flying Dutchman Flying Scot French National Monotype 1924 Hornet Interlake International Canoe Jacksnipe Javelin (Europe) Jersey Skiff Jollyboat (UK) Jolly Boat JY15 Laser 4000 Laser Bahia Laser Stratos Lelievlet Lightning M 16 Mirror 16 Mutineer 15 O-Jolle Osprey Payne-Mortlock sailing canoe Pirate Precision 15 RS K6 RS Vision RS700 RS800 Salcombe Yawl Sea Bright Sea Scout Standard Boat (BP18) Snipe Spanker Tanzer 16 Texas Tornado 12m² Sharpie Thistle Topaz Omega Vanguard 15 Wayfarer Windmill Windy Winkle Brig X boat Y flyer
Dinghies 20 ft or over	Highlander M 20 Norfolk Punt

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.