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. To this end, I am very pleased to announce that Andy Peake has agreed to take up the new post of International class Vice President. Andy has been sailing high performance dinghies for many years, and joined our class a couple of years ago. He can regularly be seen sailing at international and national events, and I am confident he will be in a position to help steer the international class into the future. The UK class association has also appointed Dan Vincent and John Evans as events organiser’s for the North and South. John has been with the class for some years now, and is regularly at the front of the Grand masters results at international events. Dan joined the class at a similar time to Andy, and along with the other two sailors brings a great deal of enthusiasm both for racing and the class in general.

Also joining as regional reps are Jonathan Cameron for London, Tom Offer for the South West and former MPSCA Chairman Graeme Oliver for the South East. These guys will provide a valuable point of contact to new owners and will work with Dan & john to get the training & opens sorted.

Welcome to you all… below is an outline of their background and thoughts on their roles.

Vice Chairman - Andy Peake

To introduce myself to those who don't know me:

Starsign: Taurus

Boats Sailed: Mirror, Laser, 49er, RS 600/700, 18 foot skiff and Musto 288 which I’ve been sailing for 18 months

Contact details: andrewp@vccp.com 07525 803545

In my role as Vice Chairman, I’m planning to support Simon as much as possible and help him continue the class’s development, particularly over the next few months. Along with the rest of the committee, I’ll be working to deliver a great calendar of events for 2009, including a Northern and Southern circuit and a schedule of training days. I’m also keen to help continue raising the profile of the Musto Skiff as the leading single handed trapeze boat in the UK. At a functional level, I’ll be arranging a committee get together in the next couple of months, so if there’s anything you’d like put on the agenda, just let me know.

Northern Circuit and Training - John Evans

Introducing myself...... My name is John Evans and I have been sailing the MPS since August 2005.

Previously I have competively sailed a number of boats including Mirrors, Hornets, Larks and Laser standard.

telephone 01670 510802
mobile 07711 612775 jevans@nodent.co.uk

I have been active on the Northern and Scottish open meeting circuits and feel that I can contribute in the organisation of both the fixtures for the circuit and the training for us Northern boys (and girls).
My aim is to strike a balance between getting a good spread of events through the year and the right number. Getting the right number of events is important as too many will tend to dilute the numbers.
Getting a well attended local circuit has to be good in this time of increased fuel costs when people are thinking twice about travelling long distances to attend open meetings.

Training...... I feel we need to increase the number of sessions in the year, to give better access by local sailors to experts, who would help out with boat setup and handling.

In the next couple of weeks I intend to have made contact with each club representative in the Northern Area to introduce myself.

Southern Circuit and Training: Dan Vincent

To introduce myself to those who don't know me:

Starsign: Virgo

Boats Sailed: Topper,Ent, Laser through to Laser 4000/5000 and RS 600/400 but recently Mirrors, Firefly and Musto Skiff 193 since 2006

Good Habits: Arriving on time, fixing things before they break

Bad Habits: Not throwing away old stuff/ fittings to the point that my rig bag now weighs more then my boat.

Contact details: 07773 485077 vinno71@hotmail.co.uk

That's probably all you need to know. I have taken on the role of Southern Circuit Guy through self-interest and the desire to create 'my ideal circuit.' Hopefully my ideal circuit will suit the rest of the Southern sailors too. My plan is to pull together a programme which looks spookily similar to this year, with 1 open meeting or championship per month from March through to November. This will be complemented by 2 or 3 training events aimed at various levels of ability. Hopefully we will be able to tie this into the events programme so training takes place on the weekend before or after an open meeting at a nearby venue

We have some great open meetings that are now established and we plan on going back to venues like Rutland, Stokes Bay, Felpham, Whitstable and Thorpe Bay. It would also be great to sneak a couple of new ones in places we have not been before, such as Castle Cove, Eastbourne and Queen Mary. The tricky thing with scheduling is to ensure there are enough open meetings to satisfy the obsessed, but not so many that the turnouts drop off.

Finally, I know this may not be the best time to go looking for sponsorship, given the current economic climate, etc, etc, but if anyone has any ideas it would enable us to run bigger and better training events and I am sure we could guarantee good coverage and return in the sailing media.

GBR South East Rep - Graeme Oliver

Name - Graeme Oliver

Star Sign - Virgo (obsessive compulsive)

Good Habits - Can gybe

Bad habits - Can't tack

Contact Details - Mob. 07877 257031 mustoskiff@hotmail.com

Boats sailed - Fireball, Laser, Osprey (not sure why so don't ask!), 14 (can't afford to anymore), 18 (even more expensive) Corby 25, 35 & 40, SB3 and MPS

Have been sailing the musto for what seems a lifetime and was one of the origional group into the class with GBR 082 which meant that I was one of the fateful bunch at Garda the first time who got press-ganged by Dave Hall onto the committee........I got Chairman......d'oh!

Only kidding, it was a great honor to be Chairman for 4 years. I'm now onto my 4th boat GBR 363 http://www.liftingsafety.co.uk after a 3 year "break" on the 18 Euro circuit on Gill / Wet & Wild Graphics I'm really happy to be back and competing in the most forward thinking dinghy class in the world.

GBR London Rep - Jonathan Cameron

Boats Sailed: Various dinghy’s and keel boats, more recently RS700 and Musto Skiff since 2007

Good Habits: Understanding wife.

Bad Habits: Buying boats I don’t need!

Contact details: 07713 502258 jonathan.cameron@jci.com

My focus is to support development of a Musto Skiff fleet in the London area and hopefully build on the strong fleet of about 20 boats that has developed at Queen Mary Sailing Club. QMSC is one of the premier inland dinghy racing clubs with water at about 50ft above surrounding countryside giving good unobstructed wind over some 700 acres. There is club racing every Sunday with a strong fast asymmetric fleet.

The fleet at QM are used to travelling to events and welcome the opportunity to support Dan Vincent and the Southern Circuit. Additionally, we hope to arrange open meetings, championships and training events at QM that complement the Southern events.

GBR South West Rep - Tom Offer

Based in Bristol I have been sailing Musto Skiffs for about a year having served my singlehanded asymmetric apprenticeship in the RS700. During the past year I have travelled to Lake Garda, Italy, Rutland Water, Felpham and Whitstable to compete in MPS events so I sincerely hope to bring events to the growing fleet of MPS sailors in the South West.

If you are based in the SW and are thinking of joining the revolution that has become the biggest and best one design racing circuit available for singlehanders in the world (is that overdoing it?) then please get in touch where I'll be very happy to help you get started. We have an excellent fleet of fast asymmetric racing at the beautiful Chew Valley Lake every Sunday and Wednesday evenings in the Summer which is a perfect base but we'll try and get you up to speed and racing on the open circuit with the rest of us in no time; I look forward to hearing from you...

Contact details: 07776 172810
mailto: Tom@Offer-Recruitment.com

Or if you want to find me on the water I am the idiot that bought an MPS with a pink kite, the other idiot is Alex Koukourakis but he's not ginger so you'll know it's not me...