Musto Skiffs at Yacht Club Schaffhausen, Steckborn (SUI) In perfect weather, but little wind 12 Mustos met for the first event in 2010 organised by the Yacht Club Schaffhausen, Steckborn. After a long wait on Saturday, two races will be sailed. Although the wind was weak, the race took place under fair conditions. Dieter won both races. Behind Fritz provided me with a millimeter-battle for second place (first run) and third place (second run). It was so close that we did not know who was ahead in each case. Read more >>>

Musto Skiffs at Stokes Bay 24th-25th April Nearly 30 Musto Skiff’s arrived at Stokes Bay for their annual open meeting over the weekend of 24th-25th April and were joined by a strong fleet of RS700’s and 800’s. Saturday produced better than expected conditions with sun and a fresh easterly wind between 8-12 knots, moving South Easterly through the course of the day. Spring tides moving from West to East whipped up some short chop and coupled with the sun worshippers in the Solent out for their annual trip on their yachts and speed boats the water seemed even more confused. Read more >>>

Measurement advance notice for UK nationals The class international senior measurer (Chris Henderson) will be at the UK nationals to answer any rules questions you may have. Chris will be checking boats prior to the regatta and has highlighted the following points that he wants to check, so it's worth checking your equipment in advance to reduce any stress! 1. Centreboard and rudder lining to the 2010 class rules 2. Sail number positioning - see class rules for ISAF guidelines on the correct positioning (see page 14) 3. Spinnaker halyard cleat type - the class rules specify the cleat can be replaced by a similar type (this would be a camcleat) other cleat types are prohibited 4. Random checking of equipment and advice

World Entries Now Open We know it seems a long way off but please help the organisers to plan by entering early >>>

Shipping quote for the Worlds Peters and May’s Neil Curran has been working hard to get the class the best possible rates for shipping to Melbourne. At the moment the quotes are based on the current rates and these will be monitored on a monthly basis in order to try and reduce the shipping cost. More info >>>

Northern Area Training Weekend
A training weekend for Musto Skiffs was held at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club over the weekend of the 17th and 18th April. 11 sailors took part in the training which was held in a wide range of wind conditions, from 20 to 25 knot winds on Saturday, to very light conditions on Sunday. Read more >>>

HARKEN Sport Phillip Marine Musto Performance Skiff Victorian Titles The Melbourne Musto fleet will hold its annual Victorian State Championship at Blairgowrie this weekend. The regatta starts on Saturday with 2 invitation races as part of the regular club racing and a beer and pizza night at the club. Marcus Hamilton and Tim Hill will be on hand to demonstrate tacking, gybing, kite sets and drops for anybody interested during the day. The regatta kicks off on Sunday with 2 races scheduled from 10:30 in the morning followed by 2 races in the afternoon. 3 races are planned for Monday. So, if you’re new the class this is a great opportunity to meet other sailors and hear about their experiences – or if you’ve been in the boat for a while come celebrate the phenomenal growth of the class in Melbourne – we’re expecting 17 boats!!

1 day race training programme at Stokes Bay with Russ Clark next weekend on Saturday 17 April where on completion you are invited to join the club's Musto fleet for racing on the Sunday (2 races back to back 11am start), then leave your boat at the club for the week all tuned and ready for the MPS Open meeting the following weekend.
Cost - £10 per boat for training and the club is offering a discounted £10 for sailing fees and storage for the week - total £20.
I need 15 boats to confirm this by Wednesday evening.
I have just returned from coaching in Palma and I'm full of ideas to boost your early season racing...! Sign up here >>>

The Roadkill Cup – Palma de Mallorca 2010. Over the recent Easter holiday weekend a keen and enthusiastic group of Musto Performance Skiff sailors met on the beach at the Yacht Club Nautic S’Arenal, Mallorca to conduct race training in the Bay of Palma. The majority of the Spanish Musto fleet is based here and now numbers eight in strength and growing. Last years training event was a huge success and so this year the intention was to commence the 1st Euro Cup event of the season. The fleet consisted of boats from ESP, GBR, SLO and FRA (although a British sailor) and totalled 10 boats for the training event. Read more >>>

Rutland Musto Open 20-21 March 2010 22 boats turned up to the first circuit event of the season, which was a sort of accelerated transition from winter to spring, starting with a cold, rainy and grey first race which changed progressively until by the final race on Sunday we had bright sunshine and a light breeze. Read more >>>

2010 Inaugural Euro Cup The continued excellent growth of our class in Europe has reached a point where a number of sailors have asked whether the class along with the national representatives can organise a Euro Cup series. So Paul and some of the driving supporters of the concept have produced a series with overall prizes from Musto. As you can see there are 10 regattas nominated for the Euro Cup from 10 countries. Read more >>>

Melbourne: Port Phillip Bay, The Brit Perspective Having arrived back from my honeymoon to the mighty shores of old Blighty I thought I would drop the class a note on the 2010 Worlds venue of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne. The event started for me getting picked up by the poster boy of the Musto fleet at the airport. After spending a lovely evening with Marcus and Sigrid I was relaxed for my first days sailing in the Musto since Garda. The warm water, sunshine and good breeze did not disappoint. After a couple of training days with some video work it was time to go into the first days racing. Read more & watch the video >>>

Musto Skiffs at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club – March 13th/14th With the Ice Age of sorts now dissipated and the recent weather taking a marked turn for the better, 12 Musto Skiffs were in for a treat at Chew Valley this weekend where boats were rigged up in glorious sunshine and T-shirt conditions. There was even chat of sun cream. And with the first circuit meeting next weekend at Rutland Water, this was an ideal chance to blow away the winter cobwebs. It also provided an ideal opportunity for a large contingent of enthusiastic newcomers to find their feet against other Musto Skiffs Read more >>>

Pimp Clinic, Buedelsdorf February 28th 2010 With continental Europe having it’s fair share of snow and ice this winter and often the only way to get on the water being to put on your ice skates, the opportunity of the Pimp Clinic seemed too good to be true as a way of getting to know our recent acquisition – a Musto skiff each. Late last year we decided to bite the bullet and get Musto skiffs since this would give us a few boats in Holland to sail against (a plus over the RS400 where we are the Dutch fleet). Over the skiff Benelux site (www.skiffbenelux.com) we learned the fleet in Germany is growing rapidly with double numbers at events on a regular basis. Read more >>>

Asymmetric Sailing : Dinghy Show Presentation by Richard Stenhouse & Rick Perkins Thank you to all those who turned up to listen to the presentation on Asymmetric Sailing by Richard & Rick this weekend on the main stage of the Dinghy Show. As promised at the show the presentation is now available to download here >>>

The RYA Volvo Dinghy Show The fabulous looking 10th anniversary skiff on the stand created a great deal of interest from existing class members visiting the show and potential new members alike. This was enhanced by a clothing display of the new UK Olympic team kit from Musto, and the UK national sponsors Gocycle bike. Read more >>>

High-performance commuting comes to the Musto Performance Skiff, with the generous sponsorship of the UK National Championships by Karbon Kinetics Ltd. (KKL), producer of the award-winning electric two-wheeler Gocycle®. The UK MPSCA are pleased to announce that KKL and Gocycle will be supporting the Whitstable Open Meeting and will be title sponsors of UK Musto Skiff National Championships, to be held in Hayling Island in July. Paul Manning, international class secretary, said, “The simple, stylish, yet functional design of the Gocycle fits perfectly with the design ethos of the Musto Performance Skiff. We are very grateful for KKL’s generous support and look forward to working with them over the season.”
Read more & see a Gocycle >>>

SIGN-UP ASAP TRAINING/COACHING WEEKEND NORTHERN REGION A training weekend has been arranged for the weekend of the 17th and 18th April at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club. Martin Boatman, an experienced race coach and successful Musto Skiff sailor will carry out the training and coaching. Musto sailors of all levels are welcome. Interested sailors should contact John Evans by email jevans@nodent.co.uk or phone 07711 612775

Blairgowrie Invitational Weekend 20-21 February 2010 Blairgowrie is about 2 hours south of Melbourne on the tip of the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a spectacularly pretty seaside holiday spot, which gets ridiculously crowded over summer, and just next door to the very flash towns of Sorrento and Portsea. Read more >>>

Congratulations to Richard & Kit Stenhouse : Baby Oliver Born 10pm on the 9th Feb. 8 lbs 11oz. reports are that young Stenhouse is always hungry; just like his Dad. Congratulations from all the MPS fleet to Richard & Kit; Oliver is the first MPS baby.

MPS Vang Lever Reinforcement This is a basic guide to fitting the stainless steel vang lever reinforcement to an ‘old style’ MPS vang lever. The templates used are derived from the new model vang lever; the final result will be a vang lever of the same geometry as the new design. Guide & Template >>>>

Musto Performance Skiff class and Ovington Boats are celebrating the 10th birthday of the class by offering 10 limited edition Musto Performance Skiffs 10 years ago many people gathered around the first Musto Skiff to be exhibited at the Dinghy Show and marvelled at the impressive posters showing Paul Brotherton putting the boat through its paces and wondered who would be capable of sailing such a challenging dinghy. Read more >>>

11:30 Main Stage: Asymmetric Sailing - Richard Stenhouse Tips for perfecting high speed, asymmetric sailing – hoisting, gybing and dropping; assisted by Rick Perkins More >>>

Musto Skiff Coaching at Stokes Bay with Russ Clark This weekend, 13/14 Feb there will be a training weekend for the Musto Skiffs at Stokes Bay. Russ Clark (GBR 414) will be running another of his intensive training sessions over the 2 days focussing on boat handling and starting. Classroom work (in the warm!) will include discussions on starting, the new ISAF rules and guest presenter Olympian Penny Clark (the wife) covering race preparations on the water. The sailing sessions (in the cold!) will be active and designed to get the blood flowing and optimised to get the racing thoughts brought out of winter storage and onto the water. More >>>

Recommended bushing of an existing rudder stock Due to the long term wear found on the aluminium rudder stocks, the class now has all rudder stocks supplied with removable plastic bushes. Owners wanting to bush their rudder existing stock can also purchase this product at Ovis If you want to bush your stock, then you will need to follow these instructions >>>

Chainplate bolts ... upgrade There have been a few failures of chainplate bolt, fortunately in all cases the other bolt has held on and this has never caused a mast to fall. See discussion >>> There is now un upgrade kit from Ovi's to sort the issue; thanks to those on the class association who did lots of research on the bolt options. More details >>>

Musto Skiffs at the Tiger Trophy 2010 The annual event held by Rutland Sailing Club in support of the John Merricks Sailing Trust is usually either blowing 20knots + or light, but still attracts upwards of 200 entries from different classes. This year was no exception with an entry of 176 boats, and light winds for both days of racing. More >>>

Skiff coaching at Blackwater Sailing Club with Ian Turnbull 15 club boats and visitors of various skiff classes arrived at Blackwater Sailing Club just outside Maldon in Essex for a weekend of coaching with top skiff sailor Ian (Bov) Turnbull. Organised by Jon Simpson from the home club, the sailors were ready to go at 11:00 on Saturday morning, with a good breeze, and brilliant sunshine. All be it that they also had to remove the ice from their ropes and centreboard gaskets etc as it was still -2°c… Read more >>>

Accommodation for the Melbourne Worlds Please find attached details of accomodation options for the event. If you are interested in taking advantage of the billet option you need to register your interest ASAP. More worlds info >>>

Accomodation Details >>>

Australian Musto Performance Skiff Championships The inaugural Musto Performance Skiff Australian Championships was held at Black Rock Yacht Club on Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay from the 6th to 11th of January. The event was an opportunity to test the race management, scheduling and weather conditions for the Musto
Performance Skiff World Championships, to be held at the same venue in exactly 12 months time. The event was supported by the International Musto Performance Skiff Association’s training fund.
Read the excellent full report >>>

Money for old rope ... well sails actually Musto are planning a Musto Skiff feature in their retail stores and are looking for a number of old sails to use as part of their displays. So, if you have an old sail that you no longer use why not trade it in with Musto for some of their kit? Musto are offering a £300 voucher for kit ordered at retail price. Sails just need to have no holes ... if you are interested then you need to contact Paul for more details, first come first served ...

What Musto Skiff Sailors do in the winter With our lakes frozen and snow drifts covering the roads, an MPS sailor needs to find other things to keep himself occupied. Andy Peake and his team mate, Michael Sugden, have been taking advantage of the cold weather to train for their April expedition to the North Pole. Read more >>>

2011 Worlds shipping and flight information The International committee has been working on container shipping and flight options fro the 2011 World championships at Black Rock Melbourne. Things you should know! If you would like to add your name and details to a master list of participants from Europe or North America who are intending to take part in Black Rock, please drop Paul a line at paul@mustoskiff.com who is maintaining a database, and is liaising with the container shipping companies and flight options. This will give us a much better idea of numbers for booking flights and containers at the best possible rates. Flight information At the moment, we cannot get confirmed flight details from any European carrier flying out of major European airports to Melbourne for our regatta dates, as this is currently too far in the future. We have contacted all major carriers, and have requested information on group bookings and best deals available. Please keep an eye on this area of the event webpage for updates. Container shipping As with the flights, the time period is too far in the future for the shipping companies to give us prices for containers from mainland Europe via Rotterdam or the UK via Southampton or Felixstowe. Again, please keep an eye on this area of the event webpage for updates. We do have provisional quotes, but they are only valid for 90 days. More details >>>

Advice on most likely mast failure modes and insurance claims The class association has been working with top UK dinghy insurance company Noble Marine Insurance to produce a guide that will help individuals in the unfortunate situation of having broken their mast. The majority of insurance companies covering dinghy classes will use a standard response to a broken carbon fibre mast of requesting a quote for a new mast and a repair. This is based on most classes have a one piece mast, which is going to be very expensive to replace. However, one of the original design criteria for our class was that the mast should come apart so it can be transported inside the length of the boat. More details >>>

Coaching weekend with Ian Turnbull Jon Simpson has arranged with top skiff sailor and coach, Ian Turnbull, to run a weekend of on and off the water performance and boat handling sessions. For those of you that don’t know Ian, he previously worked for Ovington Boats, and has sailed Int. 14, 18 footers and Musto Performance Skiffs at the highest levels (2nd at the Worlds), and is a nice bloke too! More information >>>

2009 Musto Skiff Survey, 7th Year Running - by Ovington Boats The 2009 MPS Survey is now closed and the results indicate that we have a great future ahead. This is the 7th year we have conducted the survey.
To review the summary and/or full results>>>

AUSTRALIAN MUSTO PERFORMANCE SKIFF WEEK
6th – 10thJanuary 2010 Black Rock Yacht Club Half Moon Bay, Black Rock, Victoria, Australia NOR >>

Training-racing event Palma de Mallorca, 3-6 April 2010 On behalf of the spanish class association I´m pleased to invite you all to the 2010 combined training racing event. The plan is to train between 3 and 5 april, then race on the last day. For those who didn´t come last year we offer: A great lauching area in the beach next to Cub Nautico S´Arenal, where the Princess Sofia Thropy takes place, and where lot of 49er crews spend their winter training. See attached ignore the year >>>

Flinders (AUS) Skiff Weekend Last weekend saw the Melbourne Musto fleet crack 10 boats for the first time at the annual Flinders skiff weekend. With the recent arrival of 3 new boats a couple of the guys were having their maiden voyage. Flinders is a beautiful holiday village at the heads of Westernport Bay, about an hour south of Melbourne. The I14s have been making this trip once a year for the last 20 years. Over the last few years the event has expanded to include Mustos, B14s and Formula 15 skiffs. More >>>

ISAF RRS changes for 2010 Following the recent ISAF annual conference, please take a look at the following link for amendments to the 2009 - 2012 Racing Rules of Sailing which will become effective from 1st January 2010. Taken from the recent Y&Y article "The International Sailing Federation announced today that, as a result of actions taken by the ISAF Racing Rules Committee and the ISAF Council during the ISAF Annual Conference, several changes in The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2009-2012 will take effect on 1 January 2010. More >>>

Goal Setting - The Professional Approach (with special offer for MPS sailors) Have you set any goals for the coming season? If you have, then well done – you are on the right track. Of all the things that full-time, professional sailors do that the rest of us weekend warriors do not do, structured goal setting is probably the most important. Fortunately it is also one of the less demanding activities (compared to, say, completing 10,000 perfect tacks). With the right approach it can be done quickly – and it can even be fun. Read more >>>

It's not all about the racing ... Mark Haine organised a Skiff Cruise from Prestwick to Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. That was 20 miles as the crow flies. The weather picked up a bit for the return journey and it was too rough for Kites – very exciting and totally exhausting. There were 3 Mustos & 2 cats – supported by 2 RIBs. It was great fun – fantastic to get to Lamlash and talk to the local sailors – they were amazed. Read more >>>

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