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
For some added spice, this event similar to last year
came with a twist in that our start was to be shared
with the RS700s in what was termed a ‘shoot-out’. This
swelled the fleet to 21 and fuelled some intra-class
rivalry and good racing.
 The
patchy 5kt breeze for the first race ensured that things
were a little challenging, so much so the race officer
canned the race during the first lap when the wind backed
40 degrees. At least everyone had a practice start and
was able to fully appreciate the oscillations up the
beat.
With the course re-laid and the wind a touch more steady
the fleet were under way. Needless to say, with the
puffs short lived and isolated, coupled with the odd
hole thrown in for good measure, there was many a place
change throughout the race. By the end of the 3rd lap,
Jamie ‘can’t count laps’ Hilton sacrificed his lead
by heading up the beat for a fourth time taking Paul
Clements with him. The chief benefactor was Tom Offer
who gleefully converted his position into a 1st with
Dan Ward taking 2nd and Pete Perera following for 3rd
place.
The second and third were raced in building breeze,
5-9kts, and it was those who could find and stay in
the pressure longest were doing better. Dan Ward proved
most adept in this regard and led both races from start
to finish with Hilton and Offer enjoying some good battles
behind, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively in each race.
Once ashore there was a race to bar to watch the rugby
where two old rivals squared up to battle out a draw.
Would this draw any parallels with the ‘shoot-out’?
Sunday dawned with more fine weather and a stronger
breeze yet still with the regular 20-30 degree shifts.
The gusts were measuring 16kts+ at times but dropping
to around 8kts in places too. The constant need for
changing gears got the better of a most boats who found
themselves at times taking the odd dunk. Even overnight
leader Dan Ward was not immune to being caught unawares
leaving him to drop his lead in race 4 with Offer and
Hilton able to nick 1st and 2nd on the last run.
 There
were a number of retirals after race 4 with fatigue,
frustration and gear failure getting the better of a
few. Others were left to battle out races five and six
in a still building breeze. The runs were now becoming
a lot of fun with some meaty gusts on flat water giving
some fantastic speed. Dan Ward dominated in these conditions
with two bullets from Offer. Ian Collis-Smith showed
continued improvement throughout the event in a borrowed
boat to take 3rd in the fifth and 4th in the last. Nigel
Walbank enjoyed a good race in the last to take 3rd.
Overall standings saw Dan Ward take the win from Tom
Offer, then Jamie Hilton in 3rd. Great to see so many
newcomers to the fleet, all showing great enthusiasm
and promise so early in the season. Everyone left very
much looking forward to next weekend at Rutland.
Many thanks to Chew Valley Lake Sailing
Club for their hospitality, great food, cheap beer and
fine weather. Thanks too to the race team who had to
contend with many a wind shift.
Oh, the ‘shoot-out’…. Not much in it really with a Musto
Skiff taking first and last places. Many thanks to the
RS700s for some excellent racing.
1st Musto, 2nd RS700, 3rd Musto, 4th RS700, 5th Musto.
Well done Mr Ward !
Results
Shoot
Out
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