Urs Scherrer
8th November 1939 – 20th August 2010

It is with great sadness that we have to announce our great friend and Musto skiff sailor extraordinaire Urs Scherrer passed away on the 20th August following a battle with cancer. We were all proud to call him our friend and he never ceased to amaze us that, what ever the weather, this dedicated sailor born in 1939 would be out their fighting with some of the best skiff sailors in the World!

Urs was a great inspiration to all the sailors in the fleet sailing competitively into his late 60s in a class which most would have suggested was perhaps more suitable to young guns; Urs reset peoples sights as to what is possible for older sailors and gave vision to all about what can be achieved in later life with a good proportion of determination and a little cunning.

Urs was one of the driving forces in the successful growth of the class in Switzerland, and was key in organising our hugely successful World Championships in Silvaplana 2008.

We have all lost a great sailor and personality, and our heart felt thoughts go out to Marie-Claire and her family.

Urs Scherrer 8th November 1939 – 20th August 2010 a real class legend.

WORLDS CONTAINERS - UPDATE >>>

Hints & Tips: Upwind Speed Priorities This came from the forum; a very useful post by Richard Stenhouse. If you are looking for improved upwind speed then it is useful to break down the challenge and prioritise where to focus your attentions. In order of importance:

1) Keeping the boat flat - biggest effect on speed by far
2) Main sheet trimming and tension
Find out the rest >>>

Dutch MPS Masterclass Training We are very happy to offer a training clinic on the 16th & 17th of September in Bruinisse, Netherlands. Following the first two days of training, sailors will get the opportunity to showcase their skills while competing in the Dutch National Championships. Which is also the final event in the '10 EuroCup series. Find out more >>>

2011 World Championship update This could be a lifetime experience to sail in Melbourne, and the opportunity to there if you want to come along! There are currently 25 sailors signed up from Europe to go to Melbourne in January, with sailors from Germany, Great Britain, Holland and Russia booked in. Read more >>>

The date of our "Performance Cup" is approaching and with this also the Entry date closing on August 31st (late entries will be accepted, but with additional fee). As you probably know, Portoroz (Slovenija) is the host of next year's MPS European Championship, so this will be also a test regatta for all of us: sailors, race committee, race management and all involved. We are enjoying wonderful summer and temperatures of around 25-28°C. Read more >>>

Small Sail Project Based on general comments last year about trying to help youth & women into the class (usually lightweights compared to the average MPS helm. The following question was asked in the class on-line survey. "Should the class investigate developing a smaller class legal mainsail; this would perhaps make the class more attractive to lightweights and female helms. It could also be used as an introductory sail by newcomers. The intention would be for a smaller mainsail that is used within the fleet and would race off the same PY in handicap races ... "
Read more >>>

Sailor Profile: Bruce Keen. 2010 UK National Champion

Here is a Q&A that was completed by MPS UK National Champion Bruce Keen.

What got you into the MPS class?
I had been sailing Lasers for over 10 years and I was getting bored and wanted a new challenge. There were a few Musto Skiffs sailing at Stokes Bay, so the class seemed like an obvious choice.

Read the rest of the Q&A >>>

2010 Inaugural Euro Cup This is the first year that we have run a EuroCup series, and the class continues to surprise me! We have currently got an amazing 115 sailors taking part in different regattas around Europe, what a fantastic result… See future events and the results to date >>>

Parkstone Yacht Club Skiff Weekend - July 24-25 Sunshine and a light sea breeze greeted competitors, from Plymouth in the west, Chew Valley in the north and Wilsonian in the east, to Parkstone. Racing was held out in Poole bay with the wind shifting in strength and direction. Bruce Keen started where he left off at the nationals with a win from Dan Vincent and Brendan Jenner. Jenner went one better in race two as the wind had picked up, leading for a long time, and was only just pipped at the line by Keen with Vincent slipping into 3rd place. Read more >>>

Weymouth 9er Event – Oct 23/24 2010 – Cancelled
Unfortunately the Weymouth Open scheduled for 23/24 Oct will not take place. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Footage needed for Class Promo Video If you have some good quality, and exciting Musto Action please send through to Nick Hollis

UK Demo Boat is at Blackwater If anyone fancys a go in the demo boat please contact Jon or Paul

Thorpe Bay YC - Open Details - 25th & 26th September 2010 - All the details are now on the fixture page >>>

Feedback on Redress Protests from the Nationals All, following on from the nationals the chair of the protest committee (Bill Handley) has provided the below very useful feedback to assist us in future cases. It makes very interesting reading, some of you may already know all this stuff but I personally found it very imformative. Bill is willing to field any further questions should anyone have them. Find out more

Musto Skiff pre-nationals training Pre-nationals coaching has become a regular occurrence in the Musto Skiff class. This year, ex-musto skiff sailor turned coach Ian 'Bov' Turnbull ran the coaching at Hayling Island, in the 2 days prior to the nationals. Demand was so high that the 20 spaces were filled in a matter of days. Many more sailors expressed an interest, so Ian asked Graeme Oliver, fellow northerner and top Musto Skiff sailor, to kindly step in to help coaching on the second day, meaning no one was left disappointed. Read more >>>

Transition from the 29er, to the Musto Performance Skiff When most people look at the Musto Skiff, they think you need 4 arms and super hero abilities to sail it. The Musto Skiff is the fastest single handed trapeze asymmetric dinghy inn the world. It may sound pretty hard to gybe the kite, steer smoothly through manoeuvres, and get the main sail across without going for a swim, but I am here to tell you that coming from a class such as the 29er, it will give you a great platform to join the fastest single handed trapeze dinghy in the world, that is fully ISAF world recognised. Read more >>>

UK Nationals Buddy Prize Richard Pelley improved Brendan Jenner from 51st to 24th …Brendan started the first day with 51st, , DNF, 23rd. Sorry for not dealing with this at the event prize giving ... your prizes will be posted :-) Please contribute some on-line applause here >>>

Harken donate a perpetual trophy for the UK National Youth Champion The MPS class has enjoyed a long & good relationshipship with Harken UK and to continue this they have recently donated a perpetual trophy to be awarded to the UK National Youth Champion. As the class has now reached it's 10th birthday the committee are keen to capture the history of the class and this trophy is, hopfully, the first of a few that will be retrospectivly engraved to capture the full history of the class. Read more >>>

Parkstone Southern Circuit Open A quick reminder that the next Open meeting takes place at Poole on 24-25 July; click on the title link to get to the event website. This combined Musto & 29er event is fast becoming a skiff festival as on the Saturday after racing there’ll be an opportunity to try your hand in some 29erXXs, and we hope to set up a short, two boat downhill skiff cross course in front of the clubhouse. There will also be a beach barbeque at the club for spectators & sailors (an opportunity to catch up after the Nationals and chat with the next generation coming up through the 29ers). More info and innovative accommodation ideas from the event website.

Gocycle® UK Nationals After 4 days & 12 races finally we have a new national champion; well done Bruce Keen. Going into the final day defending champion Richard Stenhouse had a 6 point cushion over the fleet and most of the pundits were backing the odds on favorite to retain the championships. As it turned out the competition in the 74 boat fleet was tough and any errors were punished hard and top 3 finishes were hard to come by. Bruce scored 9,1,2 on the final day to take the title ... Read the full report >>>

Brunnen - 2010 Inaugural Euro Cup Brunnen was at its best - brilliant weather, time of onset of thermal-wind and a super panorama provided a good sailor mood. With the onset of wind we have expired. He has also been properly enforced then with 3-4 Bft, when we arrived at the starting vessel. When first run, I already felt as a safe third when Stephen suddenly came flying from behind me and just before the goal nor reconditioned. Read the full report >>>

10th Anniversary Hoodies & T Shirts - NOW ON SALE Class sponsor Musto have donated the class some 10th anniversary T shirts & hoodies. All the proceeds from these sales will be used to support the 2011 Melbourne Worlds Containers. So please help us to put on a better worlds by ordering your T shirts & hoodies ASAP. For UK sailors please order prior to the nationals. Stocks are limited so please act now to avoid disappointment. Please order here >>>

Gocycle® UK Nationals : The entry deadline is 23:00 on the 2nd July 2010 after that a late entry fee of £20 will apply. So please get your entries in ASAP on the HISC website. The event looks like it will be the biggest UK event in the history of the class and we have a load of competitions within the fleet to give everyone somthing to race for. This includes Silver & Bronze fleets, Youth, Master & Grand Master plus a buddy competition. Find out more here >>>

Musto Skiff German Open 2010, Travemuende Week The seasons highlight of the German Musto Fleet is coming. From 25th to 28th of July the Musto Skiff German Open 2010 will take place at Travemuende Week. Beside of that it is also an Eurocup event. Online registration is already working!!! Travemuende Week is the second largest sailing event in Germany. Find out more >>>

1st GoSailing Performance Cup 16. – 19. September 2010 Portorož – Portorose Slovenija. Pre-event to 2011 European Championship. All MPS riders, specially those who are serious about Europeans next year, those from neighbour countries that don't have a lot of regattas nearby and specially all those, who like the variety of food, tasty wine and good fun, we welcome you all in sunny Portoroz and Slovenia. The 1st GoSailing Performance Cup will gather not only MPS, but also A-Class and Moths in a nice event that will be held in the waters of next year's European Championship. The regatta promises good social program, prizes for every participant and many sailors from different countries. Please find "the base" of the web site and the NoR published at www.gosailing.si

Musto Skiff regatta in Dongo (Lake Como): 5th-6th June Last week-end 20 Musto Skiffs coming from 5 different countries (Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Germany, Nederland and Great Britain) gathered at the Skiffsailing Club in Dongo (Lake of Como) for the usual regatta, which is now part of the swiss sailing calendar. This year the event was made part of the Euro Cup Series, the inaugural Euro circuit putting together 10 Musto Skiff events in 10 different European countries!
This regatta is every year attended by a good number of sailor but this year we were really surprised seeing 20 entries! Report >>>

Belgian Open Skiff 2010 The 5th edition of the world famous Belgian Open Skiff will take place over the weekend of June 26th & 27th. The event is hosted by club SNEH on the picturesque Lac de l’Eau d’Heure (aka Plaite Taille) located in the southern districts of Belgium. Find out more here >>>

Checking your foil fit from new All Musto Performance Skiff’s are supplied with the highest specification foils, made from CNC aluminium tools and the best materials available. However, it is very important that before you go sailing with a new boat that you check the fit of the rudder blade in the aluminium cassette stock. Read more >>>

Whitstable YC Open: 5th & 6th June 2010 In spite of a forecast that could best be described as feeble, yet sunny, 23 Musto Skiffs turned up at Whitstable risking the possibility of spending a windless weekend cultivating a lobster tan on the beach. With the Race Committee carrying out their threat of turning races around quickly (invariably the finishing gun for the last boat was the 5 minute for the next start) seven excellent, closely fought races were shoe horned into the weekend. In the first two races Rick Perkins reaped the benefits of a slightly dubious training strategy of hardly sailing (allegedly) for the last 12 months whilst slimming down to waif like proportions on his road bike. This led to the swift accrual of two bullets whilst being followed home by Dan Henderson (student) and Richard Stenhouse (recent father) who have quite clearly employed contrasting training regimes in recent months. More >>>

Gocycle® UK Nationals : Category & Buddy
Prizes We are expecting a good turnout for this years nationals and just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that unlike many classes at the MPS Nationals there is something for everyone to race for. There are age categories, Silver & Bronze Fleets & the buddy system. As usual with the Musto Skiff Nationals the best prizes will not go to the top sailors, they get the glory the rest are racing for the goodies ...
Find out more & please enter ASAP >>>

Derwent Reservoir SC held a High Performance Open meeting on 29th and 30th of May The event was part of the Scottish Skiff series, the Musto Skiff Northern area traveller series and the B14 national traveller series. A total of 23 boats turned out, ranging in speed from 49ers and a foiling Moth to Laser 4000s. Read more >>>

Wear on fore and aft bowsprit mounts It has come to the attention of the class association that the mounting points for the bowsprit may become worn due to the regular movement of the bowsprit tube when launching and recovering the spinnaker. Speaking to Chris Turner from Ovington Boats, they are happy to supply the new boats with some PTFE tape to act as a slide on these two points. You can also purchase the PTFE tape (also known as Jap Tape) from themselves. Pimp your pole mount >>>

Musto Skiff Travemünde training camp | 21-24 May 2010 Great weather, weak to moderate winds and 8 registered Musto Skiffs – a promising forecast for this year’s training camp at the Lübeck Yacht Club (LYC) in Travemünde, Möwenstein. And for once, the experience exceeded the expectation. Max and I took the Friday and Tuesday off work to turn the long Whitsun weekend into a short vacation. On Friday, we enjoyed 20 degrees and sunshine as we rigged up the boats at the Lübecker Yacht Club. We then took the boats out for a spin to the fairway buoy to find our sea legs and ended the day with a barbeque and a few beers. Read more >>>

Worlds Note: the Aussie dollar has been slipping in value over the last few days, down from $1.64 to $1.75 = about 6%. Also Air Asia are having a big sale for tickets covering our time period - I had a quick look and London – Melbourne seems to be £921 – that is a good price. These can be booked on-line.

Whitstable Open: Usually a very well attended & run event. Just a month before the UK Nationals so a good chance to hone those starting skills and check your pace. Please note that there will FREE chilli on Friday night at the bar .Details here >>>

Regatta Report Wittensee Fight 1/2. May 2010 (GER) This year saw a spectacular turn out at the Wittensee Fight, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. A total of 9 boats showed up on saturday morning, which is a rather significant increase over 3 in the previous year and none in 2008! The Wittensee Fight has a history of peculiar weather conditions and it was no different this year, wind claiming many ship wrecked on Saturday and being practically un-sailably light on Sunday. Read more >>>

Scotland training session A training day for Musto Skiffs was held at Aberdeen and Stonehaven Yacht Club ( Loch of Skene) on Saturday the 8th of May. 11 sailors took part in the training (2 not on the picture) which was held in in perfect wind conditions, from 14 to 16 knot winds on Saturday. Ian Renilson provided the coaching and debriefing Read more >>>

Pre and during event coaching options for the UK Nationals. Ian Turnbull has put together 2 seperate coaching options for this years UK Nationals. There is a 2 day training programme prior to the event plus the option of coaching support during the event. Places are limited to ensure each person gets plenty of attnetion so please book your plase ASAP. More details >>>

Harken Sport Phillip Marine MPS Victorian Championships 16 Musto Performance Skiffs, the largest fleet yet assembled in Australia, contested the HARKEN Sport Phillip Marine Victorian Musto Performance Skiff Championships. The event was held over the ANZAC day long weekend at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, on the flat waters at the southern end of Port Phillip. The fleet welcomed a range of newcomers travelling from as far afield as Chris Sutherland from Perth who picked up and assembled his new MPS on the Friday before the regatta, current World Contender Champion Jonothan Neate and current Australian Javelin Champion and 49er sailor Jon Newman . Read more >>>

Asymmetric classes event. WPNSA Jaffa. Chris Knight from the academy has asked that sailors enter online in advance. The NOR is available from this page

Coaching Tips from the Palma de Mallorca 2010 Training Class sec Paul Manning has put together a range of vidoes which have excellent coaching tips in both the soundtrack (somtimes he's competing with the outbaord & the wind) and he's added tips in the notes on each video.

See more clips & tips >>>

Appointment of lifetime members in 2010 Our class is very lucky in having long term support from sailors who have put in a huge amount of time in helping the class. Fortunately, we have the ability to appoint lifetime members to thank those involved. This year the class has appointed lifetime membership status to Rick Perkins and Richard and Kit Stenhouse. Read more >>>

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Pimp my skiff
Inspired by the cult MTV series "Pimp My Ride" this section of the site shows you those little mods made by various owners to their boat. Please send us your mods to feature in this section.

The Musto Skiff Learning Curve >>>

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Transition from the 29er, to the Musto Skiff >>>

Wedding Invitations

US & Canada Dealer Has Boats in Stock Find Out More

What the Sailors say
I brought an MPS and am very very pleased with my choice.
It has re-vitalised my sailing”
Ian Renilson: Contender Champion

The Best Fleet Racing
In a recent survey it was revealed that almost 40% of MPS sailors are past champions in other classes.

How to sail a Musto Skiff 
by Richard Stenhouse, Multiple Champion.

Simon Hiscocks diary from the Musto Skiff Gold Cup
Double Olympic 49er medallist Simon Hiscocks recently joint the Musto Skiff fleet to compete in the Gold Cup at Lake Garda as part of his post Olympic relaxation. During the event he maintained a diary of his experiences which were recently published in the UK sailing magazine Yachts and Yachting . For those of you who missed the magazine here is the article, for those of you who did read it - here is the unedited version.

Read the diary >>>

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2010 English Series (South) >>

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2008 Scot. Series >>>

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