Stokes Bay Musto
Skiff Open 2009
Second event this year; Second
+30 turnout.
On the weekend of the 18th and 19th of
April this years Stokes Bay Musto Skiff Open was held.
It was another event shared with the B14s, so apart
from the Musto Skiff competitors, there were many familiar
faces.
Despite a forecast for very light winds,
the fleet was 33 Musto Skiffs strong, even outnumbering
the very successfull 9er Open in Rutland earlier in
the year. Noteably, sailors from as far as the north
east were attracted, although the event was dominated
by the southern fleet.
 Throughout
the weekend, racing was extremely close, both at top
and bottom end of the fleet. Indeed one of the long
term members of the class even cursed Richard Stenhouses'
highly acclaimed K16 training DVD for giving the new
members of the fleet an "unfair advantage".
Once more, the friendliness of the class has paid its
dues to raise the overall level of competition: mutual
encouragement and openly sharing the best practices
in terms of boat trim, boat handling and of course "pimping"
is continuing to be the norm within the fleet.
On both Saturday and Sunday, the wind
was relatively light, patchy and shifty making for very
challenging racing conditions for all competitors. Light
winds coupled with tidal effects were further complicating
matters, particularly for those used to inland waters.
Racing on Saturday saw a North-Easterly breeze of 5-7
Knots and a small chop. By the end of the day, Dan Vincent
secured first, followed by Richard Stenhouse and Andy
Peake. Sunday racing was held in slightly windier conditions
with a North-Easterly 7-10 Knots. Up until the last
race, the top three positions were entirely open. Then,
Dan Henderson put in a third place, while both Richard
and Andy had their worst races of the series, securing
first place overall for Dan.
On Saturday evening a large number of
sailors enjoyed dinner in the sailing clubhouse while
watching the sunset over the solent. The grand view
over the water fuelled the vision of most, such that
conversations included potential record entries with
the "World Speed Sailing Association" and
detailing how to sail up the themes in a Musto Skiff.
On both days, there was great help on
the shore from club members, family members and friends
helping the competitors achieve one of the biggest challenges
of the day: towing the boat up the pebbly shore.
Great credit goes to Tania Samus for once
more taking spectecular as well as technical shots,
enlarging her ever-growing gallery of highly professional
Musto Skiff Photographs, now covering almost 20 Musto
Skiff events. It has become a gallery any other sailing
dighy fleet would be very envious of.
... and finally a big thanks to Ronstan
for the prizes.
Overall results:
1. Dan Henderson 25pts
2. Andy Peake 27pts
3. Richard Stenhouse 27pts
4. Dan Vincent 30pts
5. Richard Lovering 36pts
Full results:
http://www.stokesbay-sc.co.uk/result/open/musto.htm
Report writen by Iver Ahlmann
Photos by Tania Samus
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