Musto Skiffs at
ELYC
15 Musto Skiff's descended on ELYC (North
Berwick) along with 100+ boats in other classes to enjoy
the best way to celebrate the Queen's jubilee: A foam
up in 20 knots and big seas. There were a number of
relatively new owners in the fleet who get a big commendation
for venturing out at all.
Day 1 was hard on the body (but as it
turned out was just a warm up for big Sunday). Fast
out of the blocks in Race 1 were Jamie Hilton, Jono
Shelley and Ian Pittendreigh with Alistair Conn making
up significant ground from a slow start as the race
continued. Some confusion at the end of the second lap
meant that the lion's share of the fleet believed that
they had finished with only 2 boats rightly continuing
for a third lap. Jamie took the bullet followed by Ali
Kerr.
The wind built further across races 2
and 3 and some sort of a pattern emerged at the front
of the fleet with Ali Conn hitting form and taking two
bullets followed by Jamie in race 2 and Jono in race
3. Close behind were Jon Modral, Jethro Gebbard, Ali
Kerr and Ian Pittendreigh all showing good pace and
contributing to the very tight racing. Race 4 was the
Bass Rock race - about a 10 mile round trip to an 'elegant'
volcanic plug populated by thousands of Gannett's -
it's not every day you do that in a Musto! After three
hard races and with an increasing breeze, cramp was
a major factor and lead to some serious attrition within
the fleet. Jamie was first to the rock followed by Jono,
Ali Conn, Jethro and Jon - a worthwhile upwind slog
that T'd up a 5 mile downwind sleigh ride to the finish
in big waves and big breeze. Capsizes took there toll
on some of the fleet and it was Jamie who came out victorious
followed by Ali Conn and Jethro.
Sunday dawned sunny but windier and with
a steeper North sea swell. After a short hold ashore
the (brave members of) the fleet were released to play
in epic conditions. Everyone took a bath at some point
across the days 3 races. Jamie and Ali Conn showed their
pedigree and shared the bullets in the first two races
to line up a last race show down. Ian P had an excellent
first race finishing 3rd and Mark Goalen took third
in the second of the day. Ali Conn showed more incredible
downwind pace in the last race to secure overall victory
from Jamie in second, Jono in 3rd and Ali Kerr 4th.
A big thanks go to the ELYC race committee
and rescue cover for a superb event in challenging conditions.
The next event on the Scottish Skiff circuit is Largo
Bay on 23 & 24 June.
Overall Results
1st Ali Conn (Derwent Reservoir)
2nd Jamie Hilton (Datchet)
3rd Jono Shelley (Aberdeen & Stonehaven)
4th Alistair Kerr (Aberdeen & Stonehaven)
5th Jethro Gebbard (Derwent Reservoir)
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