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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