Byte

The BYTE is a modern singlehander with characteristics that make her the ideal boat for a wide range of sailors. It is designed by Ian Bruce, better known as the father of the Laser, the man who gave the world its first out-of-the-box performance dinghy.

30 years later and building on that experience, Ian was able, with the BYTE, to answer to the requests of a market that has been looking, for many years, for a boat ideal for sailors of middle to light weight. The BYTE is a highly technical boat yet one which is easily handled by both the up and coming or the experienced lighter weight sailor. It was designed for the weight of the sailor and not for any age or gender. It is the ideal boat for sailors from 40 to 75 kg.

The dimensions of the hull and the small sail area, (BYTE is 3,6m. LOA, weights only 45 kg with a 5.4 sq. m. radial cut main), together with the lines of the hull, make it simple but very efficient, and especially fast downwind. The full underwater sections of the bow reduce the risk of nose-diving.

IDEAL FOR LESURE TIME

The BYTE is very light, and can be transported on the top of any car. The aluminium mast is in two pieces and very easy to assemble. The boat can be rigged in minutes.

The mainsail is raised and lowered with an external halyard and is attached to the mast with a simple zippered luff tube. This means that the sail can be lowered while sailing and, on shore, it can be removed and the boat left with the mast up and all the lines rigged. Thanks to this clever and simple detail, safety while sailing is greatly increased and the time for preparation of the boat before and after sailing substantially reduced.

FOR THE LOVERS OF RACE AND COMPETITION

BYTE has got all the characteristics typical of the more technical racing dinghies. All vang, cunningham, outhaul and traveller control systems are lead through ball bearing blocks to both sides of the deck allowing for extremely easy fine-tuning of mast and sail.

The main is controlled by a centrelead traveller with central ratchet block which allows for very easy de-powering of the rig without the need for vang sheeting and for more precise boom control and positioning than the conventional rear deck rope traveller.

An ISAF Recognized Class, the BYTE has already been twice selected by ISAF (the International Sailing Federation) as the female singlehanded dinghy in the ISAF Youth World Sailing Championships of Sydney, Australia, 2000 and Lunenburg, Canada, 2002.

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