Gocycle® UK Musto Performance Skiff Nationals

Photos by Sergei & Tania Samus >>>

Podcast from Andy Rice & Justin Chisholm (episode 36) >>>

DAY 1

After the 2 day training camp prior to the nationals run by Ian Turnbull the 74 boat fleet was ready for action today and launched into a building 10 knot breeze.

After a bit of mucking around with black flags the fleet eventually sorted itself out and got racing in the early afternoon.

First to show the way was Bruce Keen with a solid race win followed home by Andrew Peake and Daniel Hendesen.

The racing was extremely close with boats finishing nose to tail for the next 15 minutes.

As the breeze continued to build to 17-18knots the fleet goat away, again under black flag, for some superb sailing in sun & wind in Hayling Bay.

Again Bruce Keen showed the fleet the way with his second win followed home by current champion Richard Stenhouse & Russ Clark.

The breeze, and sun, held for the 3rd race of the day which saw Andy Peake hit the front to take a comfortable win from Dave Poston & Graeme Oliver.

In the youth category Dan Hendersen leads, Master is lead by Richard Smith & Grand Masters is being lead by Ian Renilson.

Tonight the fleet will enjoy a BBQ hosted by HISC and Gocycle racing is on the cards; good job we won’t have to pedal as many of the competitors look a bit puffed out …

The MPSCA is very pleased to see such a strong fleet; many new faces; 15% are less than 21 years old and we have competitors from AUS, NZL, NED & ESP.

DAY 2

After a short delay the fleet launched into a light 7-8 knot breeze and were soon racing after a few general recalls under black flag.

The first race of the day was the lightest of the series so far giving the lightweights a crack at the front of the fleet. Class newcomer Wayne Barnicoat took a comfortable win followed by Rick Perkins and Mike Matthews on a shortened one lap course.

The sea breeze established a bit more for the second race requiring the course to be reset but the sea breeze never really settled giving opportunity for some big gains, and losses.Richard Stenhouse led the race and held on for the win in nail bighting conditions as the wind came & went. Second home was Bruce Keen followed by Russ Clark.

The final race of the day was held in full trapezing conditions as the sea breeze settled in fully to give some great downwind rides for the fleet. Stenhouse took his second win for the day with youth sailor Tom Wright second from Graeme Oliver in third.

At the half way point the scorecard is taking shape with Bruce Keen leading from RichardStenhouse & Daniel Hendersen.

The silver fleet is being lead by Tom Wright from Pablo Arandia & Dan Parsons. Bronze fleet is headed by Brenden Jenner from Gavin Brewer & James Lewis.

Youth is headed by Dan Hendersen; Master by Richard Smith & Grandmaster Ian Renilson.

DAY 3

Day 3 of the championships was delayed through the unscheduled arrival of fog.

By 12:45 the fog had cleared and the fleet launched for another 3 races in sun and a steady(ish) force 3.

Stenhouse continued his winning streak to take another bullet followed by dan hendersen and Ian Renilson.

Race 8 followed quickly after and Graeme Oliver broke the Stenhouse winning run and was followed home by Bruce keen and dan ward.

The last race of the day again got off without a general recall.

The final race of the day was won by Andrew Peake followed by Stenhouse and keen.

With 3 races to go Stenhouse holds a 6 point buffer over keen who is 10 points ahead of Russ Clark in 3rd.

Once again Stenhouse is in the hot set but is not past the finish post yet.

Silver fleet is lead by Tom wright and bronze by Brendan Jenner.

Youth is lead by dan hendersen, master by Richard Smith and grand master by Ian Renilson.

DAY 4

Day 4 dawned with it all to play for; Stenhouse had a 6 point buffer but he was hotly pursued by the chasing pack who were each separated by a point in turn.

With 3 races remaining it was going to be a real nail biter.

The fleet launched on time and sailed out against the tide flooding into the harbour via the inner channel to the race area for the scheduled 11am start.

The first race of the day was won by Andy Peake followed by Russ Clark and Richard Pelly putting in his best result of the week. Stenhouse scored 10th & Bruce Keen 9th meaning that the overall position had already closed up.

The second race (race 11) was sailed in the building sea breeze which still had some holes and shifts making racing very tricky, that combined with the weed meant there was much place changing. Bruce Keen bounced back to win followed home by Russ Clark and Andy Peake.

At this point the maths was getting a bit tricky but Keen went into the final race in the lead but certainly couldn't afford anything but a top result to win the title.

As it was Stenhouse won the pin off the start and went on to win the race but with Keen second and Peake 3rd it was not enough and the title went to Keen with Stenhouse second and Andy Peake in 3rd.

Just 6 points over a 12 race series separated the top 3 ...no doubt both Stenhouse and Peake can look back at the 12 race series at the many opportunities to save just half a point per race but in the end it was the consistency of Keen that took the honours; he scored just one race outside the top 10 in the 74 boat fleet - impressive.

In the Silver fleet Tom Wright took the win and in the bronze fleet it was Brendan Jenner.

First youth (under 21) was Daniel Hendersen, first Master (over 45) was Richard Smith & first Grand Master (Over 50) was Ian Renilson.

Also at the prize giving Gocycle rep and Musto Skiff racer Dan Parsons hosted a draw of tally numbers for the Gocycle which was won by Mark Wild from Blackwater sailing Club. He was pondering how to tow his MPS home with the Gocycle but in the end decided to pop it in the back of the car.

A big thank you from the class to the event sponsor Gocycle who provided Gocycle bags and lights as prizes as well as the bike for the tally draw.
The demo Gocycles had a lot of use by the competitors and club members during the championships and no doubt there will be Gocycles whizzing around Hayling Island in the future.

The class would also like to thank the ongoing class sponsors; Ovington Boats, Harken, Hyde, Selden and of course Musto.

Final thanks must go to the members and staff of HISC would hosted a excellent championship; the on the water side ran without a hitch; the team was lead by PRO Nick Rawlins with his army of volunteer members who laid on excellent courses for 12 races over the 4 days. On the shore side the food and accommodation offered by the staff was excellent and all these elements combined for a very memorable championships for all of the 74 competitors.

The next major event for the Musto Skiffs is the World Championships to be held in Melbourne Australia early in the new year followed by the UK National Championships to be held at Mounts Bay in Cornwall.

The MPSCA overlooked the buddy prize award at the prize giving but this will be followed up in due course; watch this space :-)

Full results are available here >>>

Overall:

1st GBR441 Bruce Keen (shown right)
2nd GBR442 Richard Stenhouse
3rd GBR419 Andrew Peake
4th GBR414 Russell Clark
5th GBR251 Neil Upton-Brown
6th GBR409 Daniel Henderson
7th GBR363 Graeme Oliver
8th GBR334 Ian Renilson
9th GBR432 Tom Wright
10th GBR193 Dan Vincent

Youth

1st GBR409 Daniel Henderson
2nd GBR432 Tom Wright
3rd GBR356 Matt Hollis

Master

1st GBR260 Richard Smith
2nd NED367 Hans Zuurendonk
3rd GBR284 Sergei Samus

Grand master

1st GBR334 Ian Renilson
2nd GBR211 John Evans
3rd GBR394 Nigel Walbank

Silver Fleet

1st GBR432 Tom Wright
2nd ESP430 Pablo Arandia
3rd GBR260 Richard Smith

Bronze Fleet

1st GBR376 Brenden Jenner N/A
2nd GBR227 Dan Dixon Blackwater SC
3rd GBR097 Gavin Brewer Stokes Bay SC

Tally Raffle Winner (shown right) with his new Gocycle

Mark Wild

Buddy Prize ...

Richard Pelley improved Brendan Jenner from 51st to 24th …

Brendan started the first day with 51st, , DNF, 23rd

Full photo gallery by Sergei & Tania Samus >>>

Podcast from Andy Rice & Justin Chisholm (Episode 36) >>>

SPONSOR ANNOUNCEMENT

High-performance commuting comes to the Musto Performance Skiff, with the generous sponsorship of the UK National Championships by Karbon Kinetics Ltd. (KKL), producer of the award-winning electric two-wheeler Gocycle®.

The UK MPSCA are pleased to announce that KKL and Gocycle will be supporting the Whitstable Open Meeting and will be title sponsors of UK Musto Skiff National Championships, to be held in Hayling Island in July.

Paul Manning, international class secretary, said, “The simple, stylish, yet functional design of the Gocycle fits perfectly with the design ethos of the Musto Performance Skiff. We are very grateful for KKL’s generous support and look forward to working with them over the season.”

Richard Thorpe, KKL founder and designer of the Gocycle, commented, “We are excited to support the Musto Performance Skiff (MPS) class in 2010 and especially pleased to sponsor the UK National Championships on the class’s tenth birthday. The Musto Skiff is one of the fastest, most lightweight and highest performance sailboats on the water. Gocycle is the lightest production electric two-wheeler in the world and probably the fastest way to get from point A to B in a city,”

Thorpe continued, “Gocycle’s on-demand electric power makes commuting to work fun and fast. The space-efficient design also allows it to be packed down for easy storage.”

Dan Parsons, KKL’s technical representative and Musto Performance Skiff sailor, commented, “Gocycle and the MPS share the same passion for performance and appreciation for lightweight materials. With Gocycle, the fun and performance of a sailing weekend can continue on a Monday morning. In the city, nothing beats a Gocycle for a fast and fun commute.”

To see a Gocycle, come to the Ovington stand (C92) at the RYA Volvo Dinghy Show where it will be on display all weekend.

About Gocycle® and Karbon Kinetics Limited

Developed and manufactured in the United Kingdom by Karbon Kinetics Limited (KKL), Gocycle is an electric bicycle specifically designed for the city environment offering performance commuting at a lower cost than public transport.

Gocycle is an internationally award-winning product, receiving the GOLD Award at the 2009 EUROBIKE show in the electric bicycle category, the Bicycle Innovation Award at FietsVAK 2009 in Amsterdam and the awards for Best Complete Bicycle and Best Innovation at the 2008 Taipei International Cycle Show.

Based in London, KKL was founded in 2002 by former McLaren Cars design engineer Richard Thorpe with the aim of developing and commercialising light electric vehicles, starting with the Gocycle. Gocycle meets EN 14764, BS 6102 North American Bicycle Standards and has CE certification on its electric components.
Gocycle® is a registered trademark of Karbon Kinetics Limited.

Gocycle is available for purchase through a Gocycle Certified Dealer or directly online at www.gocycle.com, with delivery throughout the European Union. MSRP £1,495.

http://www.gocycle.com/