World Sailing Conference
report - Madrid 2008 I have
just returned from the World Sailing Conference in Madrid, and
following is my summary of the proceedings. Our class
entered itself for consideration for the Men's single
handed dinghy position. We were subsequently asked by
World Sailing to be considered for the Men's heavyweight position
as well. To be clear, the 2008 Olympic Sailing event
used the Laser for the Men's single handed dinghy position
and the Finn for the Men's heavyweight position. More
>>
Ovington
MUSTO Skiff UK Inlands 2008. Grafham Photos by
Tania Samus http://www.photoskiff.com/sailing/grafham08/
Despite a nasty forecast 29 MUSTO Skiffs arrived
Saturday morning to compete in the Ovington Inland Championships
at Grafham Water Sailing Club. The sailors arrived to
a brisk bitter breeze, blowing down the lake. With the
early start and the MUSTO’s being first to be released
off the start line, many sailors where dashing around
to launch for the first race of the championships. Report
>>>
Austria
2008 - One of the fastest growing fleets - End of Year
Report We are proud to present the results and
activities of the Season 2008 in Austria. Regatta and
Training Activities: In December 2007 / January 2008
we founded Austrian MUSTO Skiff Class Federation (AMSCA )
called “Österreichische MUSTO Skiff-Klassenvereinigung”.
At the end of the season 2007 we counted 4 active Musto Skiff
sailors in Austria. At the same Ovington Boats appointed
the Austrian Skiff Center / i3 Consulting as the local.
We took to take over some response to market the MUSTO Skiff in Austria. Read
the full report >>>
SPANISH
2007-2008 SEASON ROUND UP AND INVITATION TO VISIT SPAIN
IN 2009 5 races, first National championship
by Pablo Arandia Last season was a good one for spanish
sailors. New sailors came, some gone, but we achieved
some magic numbers as 5 races a year and or first true
national championship, with the approval of the Royal
Spanish Sailing Federation. Read
more >>>
2009 Europeans
The event build up has started. Last time we went we
had 86 boats from 13 nations; can we top 100 boats in
2009? Check out the pre-event page for more details
Pre-event
details >>>
Scottish Skiff
championships Thirty-two boats turned up at
Dalgety Bay SC on Saturday 11th October with competitors
travelling from the South coast and the Highlands to
compete in the event. With the wind blowing 20 knots
and some vicious gusts coming through PRO John Robertson
postponed racing for 45 minutes to allow the sea state
to flatten after the tide turned. Read
more >>>
Holt
Tide Ride 2008 - Hayling Island Inspite
of a forecast of very strong winds and heavy rain, 19
MUSTO Skiffs turned up to sail the Holt Tide Ride at
Hayling Island on the 4th/5th October. The Tide Ride
has a different format to most events, with multiple
races run over very short courses. To make the races
more interesting the race committee add another gate
or two on the downwind legs to force boats back into
the centre of the course. The races are normally 3 rounds
and only last around 20 minutes, which means it is very
good for practising your boat handling skills or showing
you where you need to improve them! More
>>>
We have cancelled
the MUSTO Skiff participation in the Northampton 9er
Meeting scheduled for 25/26 Oct. Indications
were that with the Grafham Inlands only a week later
the turnout was likely to be very low.
Just
deserts. MUSTO Skiffs in the USA by Paul Clements
The American MUSTO Skiff fleet is small but they know
how to have a good time! Their North American Championships
were being arranged for April in Florida. The planned
venue was the perfect sailing area of Fort Desoto State
Park in Clearwater Bay. I wanted to go but the cost
was prohibitive; or was it? Perhaps a work trip could
be massaged to fit the time scales. If so there was
only the cost of shipping a boat from Seattle to Florida!
Read
more >>>
Scottish Skiff Champs - Dalgety
Bay - 11/12 October I hope you are
all remembering that the Scottish Skiff Championships
are at Dalgety Bay on 11/12 October – which is just
over 2 weeks from now. The
NoR is here. If conditions allow the last race on
Saturday will be a long distance race up the Firth of
Forth to the West under both the Rail & Road Bridges
– which is an awesome experience – and also down to
Inchcolm Island to the East if there is enough wind
– so that will make the event extra special. Although
some people may be relieved to hear it is not as far
as around the Bass Rock at North Berwick. If anyone
would like to come and join me to sail at Dalgety Bay
in either of the 2 weekends before that, then let me
know – I hope (at long last) to get out for some practice
– if there is enough interest we could arrange for a
rib & borrow DBSC’s video camera and call it a skiff
training weekend. Visitors could leave their boats at
DB until after the Champs.
Following
the successes of the last two winter Stenhouse Elite
coaching sessions, Richard and Kit will again be running
this invaluable training camp. The dates are
22nd – 23rd, 29th – 30th November and 6th – 7th December.
All levels of ability are catered for in a relaxed and
friendly atmosphere. The club is very welcoming to our
fleet, and boats can be left at the dinghy park for
the duration. If you have any specific areas that you
want to improve upon, please feel free to discuss these.
Please
let us know if you plan to participate and what you'd
like to learn here >>>
Fraglia vela
Malcesine has confirmed the dates for the European Championships
2009. They will be 31st of August to 4th of September.
The World famous Centomiglia will be on 5th of September,
and one of the turning marks is directly in front of
the club.
Austrian
MUSTO Skiff Nationals On September
6 / 7th, 2008 the 1st. Austrian MUSTO SKiff Nationals
has been held at Lake Attersee and organized by the
Austrian MUSTO Skiff Class Federation www.mustoskiff.at
and Sailing club Attersee www.scatt.at
. Due to great effort and development work we had a
total of 12 Musto Skiff Sailors (8. Austrian. 3 German and 1
Slovenian) that join this event which twice that much
compared to the year 2007! Read
more >>>
Thorpe
Bay Open - 13th & 14th September 2008 14
sailors arrived at Thorpe bay yacht club for a shared
open with 29er/49er and b14 to be greeted with no wind.
after a 1 1/2hour postponement the race committee sent
the fleets afloat . Race 1 started in light and patchy
breeze Tim Chapman reach the windward mark first after
the right hand side came good he was later past by Dan
Henderson who built up a good lead only to throw it
away when he started an extra lap than posted letting
Richard Stenhouse take the win. Read
more >>>
LIMITED MUSTO
SKIFF EXPERIENCE, SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT ATTENDING
MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OR NOT? I bought my first
MUSTO Skiff on May 9th 2008 and have basically spent
much of my time swimming with my vessel. I have thoroughly
enjoyed my experiences so far and feel that I am slowly
but surely improving with each time we take to the water
together. I decided at the beginning of July to savour
the experience of sailing in the “World MUSTO Skiff
Championship” in Silvaplana, next to St Moritz in the
breath taking Swiss Alps. Well I have to tell you now
that is no surprise to anyone that I was not crowned
“World MUSTO Skiff Champion”, but nevertheless, I had
the most fantastic experience and have to say I was
made so welcome to the fleet, and cannot thank everyone
for the advice and ideas I was given to help me improve
my handling and performance in the Skiff. read
more >>>>
The
MUSTO Skiff Learning Curve First (It
was so good we have decided to re-run this)
There can be very few people who step in a MUSTO Skiff
, or any other singlehanded skiff, for the first time
and find it easy. High performance dinghies are designed
for speed and tend towards the unstable and overpowered
corner of the dinghy design envelope. They are not easy.
In order to race them or to even to really enjoy them
most people will have first have to learn how to sail
them. As long as new owners realise this and manage
their expectations accordingly then learning to sail
them will be a fantastically rewarding experience. Read
the full article >>>
AGM Minutes
All, the AGM was held during the world championships
and the minutes are available on the forum; please add
any comments you may have there. View/comment
on the minutes >>>
Ricoh
sponsored MUSTO Skiff World Championships
run by Segel Club St. Moritz
Key
facts ...
- 11 Nations
- 53 competitors
- Full race programme completed in 10
- 20 knots
- 4 different nations in the top 6
- Fantastic views
- Great organisation and hospitality
Free
beer in the dinghy park after sailing
- Good times had by all
- Next Worlds early 2010 in Melbourne
- Thank you to our class sponsors – MUSTO,
Ricoh, Selden, Hyde Sails, Harken and Marlow.
Full
report >>>
Notice of Race - Austrian Nationals
The Austrian MUSTO Skiff Class federation
and Sailing Club Attersee “Scatt” has just released
the Notice of Race and entry form for the 1st Austrian
Nationals dated September 6th and 7th, 2008.
NOR
>>
New Blood on the committee at
International & GBR level. As
a growing class we understand the value of new blood
in the management structure, so we work on a continuing
basis to recruit committee members that can add value
to our class. See
who has stepped up to help the class grow more >>>>
EUROSKIFF
TRAINING WEEK IN LA ROCHELLE
Eleven MUSTO Skiffs and three 29ers
turned up at the Societe des Regates Rochelaises in
La Rochelle for Euroskiff this year. Sailors had come
from Spain, France, Belgium, England and as far afield
as Scotland, but the lengthy journey was well worth
the effort for the hot sunny weather and excellent wind
conditions we were treated to. As most of us were inland
sailors, the Atlantic waves offered plenty of excitment,
though on some days the sea was flat as a pancake. There
really was something for everyone. Read
more >>>
SAIL SERVICE AT MAJOR MUSTO SKIFF EVENTS. Chris Henderson is
now working with Hyde Sails to provide a service to
the MUSTO Skiff class in respect to service
and repairs. Chris will be a most major evens; view
the list >>>
Lord Birkett Trophy 5th/6th July
2008 It was wet, the wind was gusty
and shifty, there were 213 boats of various shapes and
sizes on the start-line. But as the club commodore rightly
said in his closing words of the event "We all
loved it". On the first july weekend, 376 competitors
made their way to Ullswater to compete at the Lord Birkett
Trophy in the year of the clubs golden anniversary.
A very respectable turn-out, given the poor weather
forecast. As per usual, racing on both saturday and
sunday would be up and down the full length of the lake.
On saturday, at exactly 1pm the fleet was started on
the start line spanning from shore to shore. The very
shifty and gusty conditions were going to make it a
very physically challenging race, which was not apparent
at the very light wind start, many struggling to cross
the line in the wake of boats as big as mid-sized cruisers.
Read
more >>>
Technical specification change
to Hyde mainsail Following discussions
with Hyde Sails, all future battens for mainsails on
the MUSTO Skiff will be supplied with a
radius on the inboard end. This is to reduce the point
loading of the batten on the white plastic batten protectors.
It is hoped that this solution will reduce the number
of batten protectors which have failed. As this is a
manufacture supplied specification change, owners of
all existing sails may also remove their battens and
put a radius on them. Technical committee.
Ovington Boats World Championship
regatta support Ovington Boats will
be supporting the World championships’ in Silvaplana
with Paul Manning at the event for the duration. Paul
will be carrying a limited stock, but to help us plan,
we would be very grateful if customers wanting to order
sails and other spares let us know in good time. For
ALL orders required to be delivered to the World Championship
in Silvaplana, please contact Paul directly on paulsmanning01@gmail.com
We wish you an enjoyable and successful regatta
Worlds – top 10 things to remember
by Paul Manning Many sailors may
be attending this World Championships as their first
major international event, so I thought it might be
of assistance to note down a few points of things easily
forgotten or overlooked. Read
Paul's Top Tips >>>
Derwent
Open 21/22 of June 2008 Only 5 days
after the nationals, with many still suffering from
bruises and blisters, it came to a respectable 15 MUSTO
Skiffs at Derwent Reservoir at the "Midsummer Regatta
& Party". Nine of the boats were local and
indeed four of the helms shared the same surname! After
some sailors arrived on friday and enjoyed a beautiful
night in and around the clubhouse, saturday dawned not
looking quite so midsummer. At 12C, light rain was prevalent
such that some contesters might have regretted not to
have won a hot-water bottle at the preceding event.
Read
more >>>
Scottish skiffs at North Berwick
inc. the Scottish Musto Skiff Championships A
smaller than expected entry turned up for round 2 of
the Scottish skiff circuit at Elyc for the clubs 80th
anniversary regatta. A light sea fog on Saturday was
eventually burnt off to give a force 2-3 sea breeze
leading to close racing throughout the day. Race officer
Ted hill started promptly which caught out a few boats
for race one although several more were disqualified
for failing to go through the leeward gate properly.
After a close race John Reekie won from Ian Renilson
(both Mps) with Matty and James Lyons 3rd in there 49er.
More
>>>
Map
My Tracks UK Nationals 2008
With 65 entries the event was the biggest
UK Nationals to date but no doubt this record will be
broken next year. The event was title sponsoded by Map
My Tracks and this provided on-line GPS coverage of
the races. Day 1 of the Map my Tracks sponsored MUSTO Skiff UK Nationals was an over the handle
bars day... Below are quotes from individual sailors.
The maximum gust recorded was 47 mph at 10:42 on the
Sheppey Web Cam. Loads of wind, waves & even more
rain... Read
more >>>
Marlow Rope’s Performance Yachting
division supports the
MSCA with event prizes. The continued
growth of the International MUSTO Skiff
class has seen a new major event sponsor come onboard.
Marlow Ropes have recently launched their Excel Fusion
75 range of high performance sheets, and thanks to their
support will be providing prizes for the class at both
the UK National Championship’s at Whitstable 12th –
15th June, as well as the World Championship’s on Lake
Silvaplana, Switzerland 24th – 30th August. Read
more >>>
South Shields Open Seven
MUSTO Skiffs were amongst the twenty asymmetrics that
took part in the South Shields asymmetric open on 17th
-18th May. The wind was North Easterly all weekend so
the sea was very lumpy. For the first race the wind
was force 4 with a choppy confused sea. There was a
lot of capsizing as people found that their manoeuvres
that they had practiced on flat water did not work in
rough conditions (speaking personally). Ian Trotter
was the first MUSTO followed by John Events and Peter
Griffith. Read
more >>>
Felpham
Open 2008 There was no ice cream
or candyfloss to be seen anywhere around as the 22 competitors
arrived on this chilly Saturday morning, but just the
warm hospitality from the numerous helpers of this small,
friendly sailing club situated just east of Bognor Regis.
It was such that not even the rain showers driven by
a shifty and gusty breeze could detract from the hot
mugs of tea and bacon baps on offer inside. Read
more >>>
Velocitek
MUSTO Skiff North Americans in Florida 2008 First,
a word on class cooperation. Here in the US, the MUSTOs
and Swift Solos have been getting together for regattas
for quite a while. It started with Bram Daly and Ron
Radko getting together in Seattle, as they both were
sharing the same dock at the Corinthian Yacht Club,
and we were both the only boats in town. Now, as both
classes have grown, the first big benefit of joining
together came to pass. We had enough boats from the
Seattle area to enlist a truck to make the long drive
to Florida. This made it much easier for a bigger group
to participate! More
>>>
Notice of Race and Entry posted
for World Championships The event
management team for the 2008 World Championships at
Silvaplana, Switzerland has just released the Notice
of Race, and entry form for Augusts’ event. The Swiss
are putting together a superb event, with loads of great
prizes, hopefully including miniature glass cubes with
a MUSTO Skiff inside. I for one am really
looking forward to it… It looks like we may beat the
number of participating Nations set at Lake Garda last
year! Urs Scherrer is taking all entries, so please
take the time to check the information out, and complete
your entry at the dedicated World Championship website
http://www.mustoskiff.ch/regatta/2008/worlds/main.htm
Austrian
MUSTO Skiff Training 2008 On Saturday,
May 3rd we started our annually skiff training organized
by the class association at Lake Attersee, Sailing Club
Attersee. FIRST DAY: After a quick brief 10 Sailors,
including our special guest Andy Bunyan from Scotland,
head for the first session in the morning at light breeze
of 1-2 Bft from S/E and blue sky. In the morning we
split the training in two groups. The main focus was
explaining some of the maneuvers to our new sailors
such as Patrick Weihs. Read
more >>>
Billy No Mates Trophy
Stenhouse is still King Billy!!
Blue(ish) skies and a steady south easterly F4 greeted
the 41 competitors who travelled to Derbyshire for 2nd
Billy No Mates Trophy over the weekend of 26th &
27th April. The Billy No Mates Trophy was established
to pit a variety of single handed boats and their helms
against each other in handicap racing. Read
more >>>
Scottish Skiff Racing
Kielder Water Sailing Club located
in the Northumberland National Park hosted the 1st 2008
Scottish Skiff Grand Prix event on April 12th and 13th
. On Saturday morning 35 boats rigged in between showers
of sleet. Inside the club was a woodburning stove to
warm those hands frozen by touching ice cold trailers.
The skiff fleet included 10 MUSTOskiffs, 6 cherubs,
5 49ers, 2 foiling moths, 2 29ers, 2 59ers. read
more >>>
Ovington launch new web site with fully operational
On line shop Ovington Boats have
had on line ordering for some time although it has not
been fully operational because of shipping variables
and therefore final costs / payment. The new on line
system now calculates your shipping costs and allows
you to pay on the secure site. There will be some items
that you will need to contact us to arrange shipping.
It is a little difficult to post a Mast or Boat! Most
items now have pictures so you can see what you are
buying – helpful for those who are new to our boats
or whose first language is not English. Visit
www.ovingtonboats.com
Try a MUSTO Skiff this weekend!
Ovington Boats will be at the Datchet
Sailing Club ‘On the Water Boat Show’ this weekend (19th
& 20th April). If you would like the chance to test
sail a MUSTO Skiff come along to the Queen Mother Reservoir
and have a go. You can just turn up – entry is free.
Or better still call Dave Hall on 07719 594949 to book
a slot. Datchet Sailing Club is located just off J5
of the M4 and J12 of the M25.
Skiffs
descending on Florida! The 2008 MUSTO
Skiff / Swift Solo combined North Americans regatta
is taking place April 11th – 20th at Fort DeSoto State
Park near Saint Petersburg Florida. This event is set
to the largest gathering of single handed skiffs with
about 20 boats looking to make it to the event. MUSTO
sailors are coming from the UK, and all corners of North
America. Read
more >>>
MUSTO Training Day at Stokes
Bay 5/6 April A fresh Force 4 from
the NW greeted 8 sailors who had travelled to Stokes
Bay to receive Rick Perkins’s pearls of wisdom. After
a quick brief from Rick and videomeister Paul Manning
we hit the water. For some it was a bit too much and
respect is due to Nick Powell for taking his first ever
sail in a MUSTO in conditions best described as challenging
(even Andy Peake was capsizing). Therefore with a slightly
depleted fleet the morning session started and soon
the sailors warmed up as we started on the short line
and negotiated the tight windward-leeward course. Read
more >>>
The
MUSTO Skiff lass Association are delighted
to announce Map My Tracks are to title sponsor the UK
Nationals. The live GPS sports tracking
service 'Map My Tracks' is backing this summer's MUSTO
Skiff UK Nationals to launch its live events tracking
service. The event will be the first time that live
GPS tracking has been used in a non-Olympic dinghy event
and is yet another first for the innovative MUSTO Skiff
class. The event, to be held at Whitstable Yacht Club
from 12-15 June 2008, will be among the first to benefit
from Map My Tracks live event tracking. Map My Tracks
was launched in February 2008 and turns most mobile
phones into live sports tracking tools, providing map
and performance data in real-time to sailors, live tracking
on the internet and a range of website track analysis
and replay tools. Read
more, view NOR and Enter (please enter ASAP) >>>
World Championship transport
The sailing year is underway, and
I’m sure for a lot of you, the cobwebs of winter are
still being cleared away. I’d like to just remind you
all that the World Championships in Silvaplana is moving
steadily towards us, and for those who have not yet
decided, we would very much appreciate it if you would
contact Alex Storrar to ensure you don’t miss a trailer
slot. I appreciate that a lot of sailors are making
their own way this year, but Alex needs to plan well
in advance for his precious time. Find
out more/book >>>
Rutland MUSTO Skiff Open Meeting
15/16 March 2008. 23 boats turn out despite the forecast
....This event was a good lesson
in ‘How to win without winning’. None of the top three
managed to finish first in any of the four races which
were competed for in a variable and shifty F2. At this
wind strength a slight difference in pressure allows
the MUSTO helms to straighten their legs and the boatspeed
to significantly increase, nobody was able to show any
great consistency in predicting where and when this
would happen. The first race was led from the start
by Inland Champion Kit Stenhouse. Places changed behind
her but it was Endeavour Champion, Steve Tylecote who
edged out World Champion, Rich Stenhouse. Read
the full report >>>
Austrian
MUSTO Skiff Class Association The
Austrian MUSTO Skiff Fleet are delighted to announce
the foundation of the Austrian MUSTO Skiff Association
(AMSCA ) called “Österreichische MUSTO Skiff-Klassenvereinigung”
The AMSCA has been founded in December 2007. Elected
Chairman of the AMusto SkiffA is Martin Mayrhofer, Attersee.
Martin is well known in the Austrian sailing scene due
to his experience and success in skiff sailing. One
of his major success was a 24th place at the last Worlds
at Lake Garda or his latest win at the Attersee Cup
2007. He also sails with the Austrian 18 foot skiff
team “dirndl + bua”. Home of the Austrian MUSTO Skiff
Association is the sailing club “Segelclub Attersee”
www.scatt.at
the Lake Attersee, Oberösterreich. More
details >>>
New
Carbon Compass bracket available for the MUSTO Skiff
Ovington Boats have developed a custom
compass bracket for the MUSTO Skiff to take the Tacktic
Micro. A two piece carbon moulding makes for a smooth
clean fitting that sits neatly at the base of the mast.
Available now direct from Ovington at £79.99 Inc
VAT plus post. More
pics >>>
A big thank you from Ovington
Boats and the MUSTO Skiff class association Thanks
to Tim, Rick, Barry, Kit and Richard, who all gave up
all or part of their weekend to help on the Class stand
at the Dinghy Show. A big and special thanks to Chris,
Paul and Dan who did the complete weekend and also helped
set up and pack up not only the MUSTO Skiff stand but
the Ovi stand as well. The boat looked great of course
and the stand was extremely busy – especially on Saturday.
There was huge interest from many different people,
and we sold some boats!
Class Rules Q&A from the
International measurer and Technical committee If
you have not been for a sail in your skiff yet in 2008,
I’m sure it’s pretty high on your agenda’s. So having
worked closely with Dave Chivers the class has released
a revised set of rules for 2008. You will find the format
is similar to previous, and we have used Simon Reynolds
2007 rules as a basis, which has been a tremendous help.The
main differences are that the current World Sailing closed standard
class rules require us to re-format our existing rules,
whilst doing this Dave and myself have re-worded some
of the rules. We have highlighted on page 3 what is
probably the most important clarification, that is PLEASE
REMEMBER; IF THESE RULES DO NOT SAY YOU CAN – THEN YOU
CANNOT! read
more & see the latest rules >>>
The MUSTO Skiff Class Association are delighted
to announce the long-term event schedule to 2010 The
MUSTO Skiff Class Association (MSCA ) is
delighted to announce the long-term schedule for major
events for the class. At the recent World Sailing Conference
the MUSTO Skiff was granted World Sailing International
status; upgrading the class from the previous Recognized
Status. Following on from this International growth
has continued and through this announcement the class
is mapping out a series of events at high-quality international
venues to attract even more sailors into the class.
Read
more and see the events >>>
The
Dinghy Sailing Show 2008 will be
Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd March at Alexandra Palace
Organised by the RYA in association with Yachts and
Yachting and Suzuki all sailors are welcome, even if
you don’t yet own a skiff.
The MUSTO Skiff will be displayed on our
regular stand D1. More
>>>
Paul Mannings's report from the Tiger Trophy 2008
18 MUSTO Skiffs enter the 2008 Tiger Trophy
making us the biggest adult class. For those
who did not come to the Tiger Trophy, I'm pretty sure
it started off as the biggest Tiger to date. Big respect
for all those who sailed and it was good to see a couple
of 700 sailors joining in with the class on the après
sail front, as well as on the water. Along with a couple
of hundred spectators, Chris Henderson and I were greatly
entertained. The biggest source of interest was watching
a capsized RS300 drift past where we were standing with
nobody in it...and an International Canoe which slowly
sank 200m offshore. It was like watching Jaws, with
the bloke trying to keep out of the water… More
>>>
Holding
2 bits of string and a stick - The important
part is to have a system that works for you and practice
it so when you need to trim the sails you not thinking
which rope is which or how to hold them. I usually trim
the kite sheet in my front hand and hook the main sheet
over my thumb with a bit of slack so it doesn't affect
steering and I am ready to gybe More
>>>
Steve Nicholson
Memorial Trophy 26th January 2008 Five MUSTO
Skiff turned up Saturday morning to compete in the Steve
Nicholson Trophy at Northampton Sailing Club, with a
South East, 18knot breeze blowing from the club house.
The non asymmetric fleets launch for an 11' o clock
start with the asymmetric fleet scheduled for mid day.
With close examination of the single and double handed
fleets, the skiff sailors were getting prepared, determined
that they were going to demonstrate high-class sailing!
Blasting downwind towards the starting area, dodging
the single/double handed boats heading in for their
lunch. Read
more >>>
ExCel
Doc racing by Tom Wright Ovington London
Boat Show Grand Prix The MUSTO Skiff fleet
were the first to launch at the London Boat Show, for
their one hour sailing on the Victoria docks outside
the Excel exhibition centre. Three races, all to count.
The enthusiastic sailors all reached the start line
with plenty of time to spare. Trying to judge a pattern
and predict the wind was impossible. Any thing could
happen! When the first race set off the fleet soon split
up. Richard Stenhouse soon took control of the lead,
heading right into the stronger and more consistent
wind. Boats all over the place capsizing as the wind
instantly shifted and disappeared shadowed by the tall
buildings surrounding the dock lands. This was not just
a test to see which sailor was the quickest on their
feet but also their fitness and stamina. A
tough challenge after the Christmas break. Read
more and see video >>>
UK Sailors
wanting their boat taken to the worlds, A/many
multi-boat trailers will be picking up from various
UK locations and delivering your boats to the worlds.
Please
book ASAP >>>
North
American MUSTO Skiff Championship and training,
to be held in conjunction with the Swift Solo North
Americans at Fort Desoto State Park in St. Petersberg
Florida, April 12 – 20, 2008. The beautiful waters of
Tampa Bay will play host to the largest concentration
of single handed skiffs in North America to date. This
is a lovely venue, with a great white sand beach for
launching. Events include 4 days of training beforehand,
as well as the regatta, numerous bbqs and dinners, and
for the first time, we are featuring the match everyone
has been waiting for, determining once and for all who
is the fastest. Swift Solo and MUSTO Skiff sailors on
bicycles on the lay day! So far we have 7 confirmed
MUSTOs attending. Let’s try to make it 10! This will
be the largest gathering of singlehanded skiffs seen
to date in North America. I may have a (very) limited
number of charter boats available for people who cannot
bring their own. Contact
Ron for more info >>>
5
Weekends of Elite Skiff training at Rutland by Tom Wright
The musto skiff training has taken
place for the past five weekends. Each weekend brought
something different as we had wind conditions from 5knots
to 30knots. The training brought all different ability
skiff sailors. Over the past five weekends b14 and rs700
also attended.Each weekend involved different training
exercises that had been cleverly design with a lot of
time and thought by Richard and Kit. The exercise was
then discussed with the race officers and mark layers.
The exercises went from basic start routines with a
quick race and a hook finish, to a compacted course
with several gates to pass through up and down wind.
The exercises brought great training, as many techniques
were practices. There was all different types of starting
exercise which focused on one major skill like holding
station for 3 minutes, winning the flag, winning the
committee boat and improving boat acceleration. Another
greatly designed course was the river race. This practiced
tacking and gybing but also great tactics to attack
and defend against other boat. However most sailors
struggled to find the river on a lake! The best of all
was the downwind blast! More
>>>
Dont
miss the excellent top tips sheet from the event >>>
2008 Class
T Shirt Find
out more & have your say here >>>
MUSTO
Skiff DVD by World Champion - Richard Stenhouse - K16
taking control Olympian Richard Stenhouse presents
K16 taking control The MUSTO Skiff is a
single handed, high performance sailing boat, with trapeze,
main and kite, without the right techniques helming
can be a bit of a handful. Richard shows how to bring
the beast under control, so you don’t have to learn
the hard way. Featuring all the boat handling skills
he used to win the World Sailing MUSTO Skiff world championships.
Find Out More
>>>
Skiff Training
and Racing @ Rutland SC 16 skiffs arrived at
Rutland for the fist of 5 weekends of training organised
by Kit (Musto Skiff Inland Champion) and Richard (Musto Skiff World
Champion) Stenhouse. Open to all Skiff sailors, visitors
had travelled from as far as Lymington and Chester.
More
>>>
2007
MUSTO Skiff Survey - Supported by Ovington Boats
The 2007 Musto Skiff Survey is
now closed and the results indicate that we have a great
future ahead. Below are some key points from the survey,
with a link to the full results at the bottom;
- 57% of the people who took the survey
don't currently own a MUSTO Skiff
- 95 respondents who don't own a MUSTO Skiff plan to
join the fleet in the next 12 months
- 0 is the number of the current owners are planning
to leave the fleet
- The key events in 2008 (Worlds & UK Nationals)
look set to have great turnouts - estimate over 70 boats
- There are a good spread of ages in the fleet
- The 70 - 90kgs range represents 78% of owners
To find out more view the full
results >>>
MUSTO Skiff
is now an World Sailing International Class The
MSCA are delighted to announce that at the recent World Sailing
meeting in Portugal the MUSTO Skiff class has been upgraded
to a full International World Sailing class. Below is a snippet
from the World Sailing website. The Council approved
two new member nations, Kyrgyzstan and Oman, increasing
the number of World Sailing MNAs to 125. The number of World Sailing Classes
has also increased. The
MUSTO Skiff had its status upgraded from Recognized
to an World Sailing International Class. The
RS Tera, O’pen Bic Sport, Ultimate 20, Laser SB3 and
TP52 all become World Sailing Recognized Classes. More
>>>
2008
Worlds Website Up! With true Swiss efficacy the
information for the 2008 worlds is now available. The
worlds website is now up with lots of information for
you to start planning your championships. This is a
fantastic venue; don't miss this chance to sail in one
of the most sought after European venues.
Read
more >>>
Mast
Head Floats - A cheap aid to training I used
a mast top float for the first six months of sailing
a skiff. I moved into the skiff from an RS400 having
trapezed about 6 times before buying the boat. I had
visited menorca sailing before and seen the floats that
they used and felt that this may be a good idea to save
myself and the boat from too much damage. I made myself
a much smaller float than that used by the sailing schools.
I used the smallest buoyancy bag I could find and made
a webbing strap handle to attach it to the main halyard
shackle. This was still a bit bigger than necessary
but worked well. More
>>>
The
perfect Tactical xmas present for you Personally
signed by the author RYA Tactics by Mark Rushall sheds
a new light on the complexities of sailboat racing.
No other sport requires the combination of so many elements
– preparation, strategy, speed, tuning and most importantly
tactics. However, it’s good tactics which can so often
be that elusive missing skill. More
>>>
MUSTO
Skiff Inland Championships Although ‘windguru’
put off some, 20 boats turned up to contest the MUSTO
Skiff Inlands, including 2 current World Champions and
1 National Champion, none of whom could win a race.
Saturday’s racing started in a variable and patchy F2
breeze. Dan Vincent and Tim Chapman banged left, were
first around the mark and stretched away in a private
puff, although Chapman was later caught by the pack,
Vincent stayed out in front to record a win, in front
of Graeme Oliver. The Race Officer, Peter Saxton, did
an excellent job and quickly turned around the racing
for the MUSTOs, B14s, 49ers and Int 14s. Soon we were
lining up for a second start, but this time joined by
Nick Craig sailing his MUSTO for the very first time.
Ominously for the fleet, he achieved all his goals in
the first race by ... read
more >>>
The MUSTO
Skiff Learning Curve There can be very few people
who step in a MUSTO Skiff , or any other singlehanded
skiff, for the first time and find it easy. High performance
dinghies are designed for speed and tend towards the
unstable and overpowered corner of the dinghy design
envelope. They are not easy. In order to race them or
to even to really enjoy them most people will have first
have to learn how to sail them. As long as new owners
realise this and manage their expectations accordingly
then learning to sail them will be a fantastically rewarding
experience. Read
more >>>
Life
Member #3 Paul
Manning has been elected through a 100% vote by the
MSCA Committee as a Life Member of the MSCA in recognition
of his contribution to the class. Paul's day to day
involvement in the class/business has changed as a result
of the sale of the project by Victor Boats to Ovington
Boats and this seems a good time to recognise his contribution.
Paul has worked tirelessly for the class and it members
often going beyond the call of what many would think
as reasonable. Read
more >>>
MUSTO
Skiffers at the Endeavour Trophy “Legendary Firefly
sailor, Team racing star and MUSTO Skiff
owner Steve Tylecote has won the Endeavour Trophy at
the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club this weekend. Sailing
with Toby Lewis, Steve has, after a number of attempts,
won the UK’s most prestigious dinghy racing Trophy.
The Endeavour Trophy is the champion of champion’s regatta
awarded annually for the winner of a weekend event made
up of invited class National or World Champion’s from
the UK. It has been raced for 47 consecutive years,
and the first winner was a young Keith MUSTO representing
the Cadet class.Read
more >>>
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