THE BYTE WORLDS by Jon Emmett
At last! I am finally a World Champion, and it is all somewhat unexpected... When I heard the Byte class was having its World Championships at Weymouth at the end of August I jumped at the chance to race at the venue for the 2012 Olympics. Better still, it meant I had the chance to do a regatta sleeping in my own bed (rather than in my van as I had done most of the summer!)
Dave Hall from Ovington boats sorted it out so I could use the demo boat (the Byte that tours the country so people can see what the boat is like to sail, and also the first boat they ever built). Luckily for me Dave brought the boat down a few days early so I had a brief chance to sail the boat before the first race.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find the boat fully rigged as a young Brazilian sailor impatient for his boat to arrive fully rigged my boat and was just about to take it for a sail. Luckily for me I arrived just in time, meaning all I had to do was pull on my wetsuit and push the boat in the water. I was somewhat concerned at how slow I seemed upwind compared to the trapeze boats zooming around the harbour, but with no one to line up against I had no idea of my real speed!
I then gave the boat a good wash, filled and sanded away as many of the holes and scratches on the hull and foils as I could and gave the boat a quick polish... I was prepared, I think!
As it turned out I had no need to worry about my boatspeed, as I won every race in the series but one where for no apparent reason I had very poor boatspeed and was struggling to get the boat to plane downwind (to add insult to injury I got yellowed flagged for pumping, meaning I had to do two complete turns to exonerate myself for illegal propulsion). I was hiking hard and the rig looked great... I just could not figure out the problem.
Upon returning ashore all was revealed, as I sat on the back of the boat for three minutes emptying out all the water. It appears one of the screws holding the toestrap had half pulled out leaving a gaping hole which all the water went into... no wonder I was slow! Anyway, Dave filled the holes and reattached the toestrap and I was all sorted for the next day, where funnily enough the boat seemed to go much faster!!!
After prize giving I had a huge party with my closest University friends coming down to visit me, one with his six month old son in tow. It was great to finally have the chance to let my hair down and it really reconfirmed how much I love living in Weymouth. However I must now turn my head to the future and start considering the winter season...
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