Testimonials
Peter,
Priscilla and I finished the rigging and have had several fine weather sailing days. We had a sailing party with my friend Roger Robichaud (who is a sailing instructor in Maryland). Roger took his fiancé sailing on the Megabyte and got hit with gusty winds from 2 different directions concurrently, capsized, and his fiancé had to swim (with life preserver) all the way back. Everybody is fine and we are still very happy with the Megabyte. I have had some wild sailing trips and so far have not capsized. The bailors work perfectly.
I am writing to express my appreciation for your (my) fine sailing boat and your excellent and personalized service in assisting us in rigging this boat. We are delighted.
Best wishes to you and yours, thanks again,
John W Davis, June 2004
The Megabyte Sailboat
I had been thinking of getting a new, small, one-design sailboat for over a year. For the past twenty-five years I had sailed and raced a Laser, and before that I spent time with a Sunfish, a Moth, and going way am. I'm now in my 50s and, while I am tall, my light weight at 158 lbs combined with decreasing flexibility and an inability to hike flat out for an entire weather leg have left me back in the pack in the highly competitive Laser Masters fleet. I also like to sail for fun with my wife and it's hard to comfortably fit two full sized adults in a Laser cockpit. After an afternoon of ducking under the vang and jibing around a half-raised daggerboard my crew is full of bruises. I needed a boat that was simple to launch and that could be sailed by one person but could also accommodate a second adult easily. The newest off-the-beach boats looked interesting but their rigs, while simple to use, are unsophisticated and I was looking for more performance. Single person catamarans have evolved into fast, responsive boats but any club's launching site is tight and can't accommodate their beam or weight.
I was about to give up the search when I found the Megabyte, a new Bruce Farr design billed as a "Gentleman's Finn" and built by Performance Sailcraft 2000 (formerly Byte Boats Inc) in Quebec. These are the same folks who for years built thousands of Lasers. The Megabyte is two inches longer and six inches wider than a Laser but thanks to a long, wide open cockpit with a low sole, there is plenty of room for two sailors. Up-to-date foam core construction means the hull is stiffer than a Laser yet it weighs the same. Ninety square feet of mylar sail suggests that it could be a handful in a breeze but this boat is well thought out with a two piece carbon fiber mast, a full width center located traveller, and easily adjustable, multipurchase controls led to both sides of the cockpit. Depowering the rig is a pretty easy. The wide cockpit hasn't any hard edges to crease my thighs and it comes equipped with two serious bailers and two pairs of hiking straps for both skipper and crew. I am impressed with the attention to detail shown in the design of the boat and the selection and placement of the hardware. Build quality is flawless but most amazing are the foils - extruded aluminum sections which look like they were made by a NASA fabricator.
So how does she sail? Very nicely! Compared to my Laser, the boat is faster, more responsive and more stable. Lasers respond quickly to the helm but they seem sluggish when compared to the steering feel generated by the Megabyte's blades. Put the helm down to tack and the boat comes about so quickly that I often over-rotate the boat. Bearing off in a breeze can be a chore in older designs, but this boat has the stability to remain perfectly placed under its sail plan when the traveller is eased while changing course. The hull eagerly jumps onto a plane when the wind exceeds 12 knots. Performance Sailcraft 2000 states that the Megabyte was designed for a solo sailor weighing over 200 lbs so I was concerned about my ability to keep the boat flat in a breeze. For the days I have sailed the boat, the wind has not exceeded 15 knots and I haven't had any problems managing the rig's power. Over 15 knots the heavier skippers may have an advantage when racing but the Megabyte Class rules allow a crewmember as long as the crew is aboard for all races. If conditions are blustery, I'll take along a friend. The Megabyte is simple to rig and exciting to sail - it feels like a thoroughbred. It's everything I was looking for and more.
Dr. Paul Gingras
Megabyte Owner, Palm Beach, FL