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2014 MUSTO Skiff Survey, 12th Year Running
The 2014 Musto Skiff Survey is now closed and the results indicate that we have a great future ahead. Thank you to all those who took the time to complete the survey. This is the 12th year we have conducted the survey. Below are some key points from the survey, with a link to the full results at the bottom; Read the details >>>

Class Rules Following feedback from the 2014 class survey, the class committee in conjunction with World Sailing have amended, approved and published the 2015 class rules.These are now available from the World Sailing website If you have any questions, please post on this forum

Musto Skiff page on the World Sailing website >>>

2014 MUSTO Skiff Survey, 12th Year Running With the completion deadline of 1/12/14 looming we have had a great response but welcome more participation. Below is a summary of the geographic spread of participation so far ... See the geographical spread so far and take the survey >>>

CHARTER BOAT AVAILABILITY With the proximity of the racing venue to the city / club, large open space, perfect summer weather and fast flat water sailing it’s no wonder that the containers coming from overseas / interstate are packed to the brim. For those of you who are undecided or ‘missed the boat’ so to speak with shipping we have some pleasing news. Read more >>>

2014 MUSTO Skiff Survey, 12th Year Running The MSCA Class survey is now entering its 12th consecutive year. The class uses the survey to understand the opinions of the members and prospective owners. So .. regardless of whether you own a MUSTO Skiff or not please take a bit of time to share with us your opinions. The results will be published in December for all to review. Take the survey >>>

MUSTO Skiffs at the Ovington Boats Inland Championships 2014 - GBR The fleet launched in an offshore breeze which quickly built to 25knots gusting 28knots, which provided some entertainment both for the competitors and spectators ashore. Tom Wright went left and rounded in the lead from Ian Trotter who took the opposite side of the course with Richard Stenhouse 3rd, Richard Pelley 4th and Dave Poston 5th. Both Wright and Trotter capsized at the leeward drop allowing Stenhouse to pull through into the lead and take the win from Trotter and Pelley. Read more >>>

Report from Day 1 & 2 at Chanonry, pretty awesome conditions but the boys coped well - GBR I couldn’t refuse Kevin Holliday’s kind offer at the Nationals to return to the homeland for a weekend of coaching with the North of Scotland fleet. Chanonry Sailing Club now has the largest fleet of MUSTO’s in Scotland with 5 boats and it really is a fantastic stretch of water on the Moray Firth just North of Inverness. After a short flight up from Gatwick I was collected by Kevin and driven back over the impressive Kessock bridge to the Black Isle and onto Fortrose. Read more >>>

Sneak Preview of the new 2015 MUSTO Dinghy Range Recently the MUSTO Skiff class assisted class sponsor MUSTO with a photoshoot of the new dinghy range to be launched in 2015. This represents a great deal of investment by MUSTO in the dinghy market following on from their sponsorship of the GBR Sailing Team in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics at Weymouth.
See the photo shoot >>>

European MUSTO Skiff's are off to Perth, Western Australia :: (AUS) The 2015 ACO MUSTO Skiff World Championships starts on 2nd January at Mounts Bay Sailing Club in Perth, Western Australia. Two containers are now loaded and on their way representing Swiss, Dutch and UK sailors. In order for this to happen there needs to be quite a bit of logistics planning and management and the class are very grateful to project coordinator Kyran Young from Central Oceans for his valuable support in the logistics planning. Central Oceans have also signed up as logistics sponsor for which the class is very grateful. Read more >>>

Minorca Sailing, MUSTO Skiff Training Week (ESP) Minorca Sailing Holidays are running as MUSTO Skiff Training Week hosted by Ben Scholing from the 1st to the 8th May 2015 read more >>>

Eight events in the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series 2014/15 - GBR Now in its sixth season, this winter dinghy handicap championship will test sailing skill and sheer persistence across eight of the biggest events of the chilly season. Enter now before entries fill up... Read more >>>

Largs Scottish Skiff Training Event, 18-19th of October 2014- GBR The sailors arrived early for what was going to be an intense session. With wind forecast in the 20-30+ mph range all weekend. We had 6 MUSTO’s plus the demo boat and a lone RS600 joining the party. With a course set off the marina to reduce the wave height as much as possible the sailors went out to battle the elements. Jonno Shelley was taking ownership of his new MUSTO Skiff so elected to take the demo boat out for the beginners so that they could have a shot in challenging conditions for the sailors and help me in the RIB in the morning with Andrew Hooton assisting in the afternoon albeit due to his own poor boat maintenance schedule. Read more >>>

Noble Marine sponsored MUSTO Skiff Class Coaching at Castle Cove - GBR In the run up to the weekend's training at Castle Cove it was looking like the MUSTO Skiffs were going to be lucky to get on the water at any point of the weekend. But the weather gods were smiling down upon us and to most people's surprise we got out on the water both days. Read more >>>

2014 EuroCup overall The EuroCup series has broken all records this year with 125 entries from all across Europe meeting old friends and making new from Norway to Spain. Another record this year is that for the first time ever a UK sailor has won! Ben Schooling from Datchet Water competed at Lake du Der in France, Kieler Woche in Germany as well as the UK National Championships at Stokes Bay in the south of England and a great season ending regatta at Derwent in the north of England. See the overall results and event reports >>>

MUSTO Skiff Season Final - ACO German Open Ammersee 2014 - GER The sailing season 2014 is ending and the German MUSTOSkiff Class Association hosted the ACO German Open 2014 in Utting on the Ammersee one. An international starting field from Germany, England, Switzerland and Austria with 27 participants sailed in four days to find the new German Open winner. Read more >>>

GoSAILING Musto Skiff regatta The team at GoSAILING in Slovenia invite MUSTO Skiff sailors to take part in Slovenia along with the Fireball,and Flying Junior National Championships. If you would like to take part, please use the contact details in the Notice of Race. NOR >>>

End of season Noble Marine sponsored Coaching – 4 venues:
- 5th October Training Day at Rutland with Richard & Kit Stenhouse - sten3@aol.com Meet at 10am at Sten's boat.
- 18/19th October – Coaching weekend at Castle Cove with Ian Turnbull - ianturnbullmarine@googlemail.com
- 18/19th October – Coaching weekend at Largs Sailing Club with John Reekie - johnreekie80@gmail.com
- 1/2nd November – Coaching weekend at Chanonry SC with Ben Schooling – ben.schooling@whistl.co.uk

These weekends are planned to run some boat prep and tuning prior to going afloat to spend time concentrating on boat handling and technique. Coaching will start at the club with boats rigged and sailors ready to go on the water for 10:00 on both days. Weekend rate will be £30 per person with a minimum entry of 5 and maximum entry of 10.

Noble Marine sponsored Castle Cove Class Coaching Castle Cove Sailing Club will be hosting the Noble Marine sponsored coaching weekend 18th - 19th October with top skiff coach Ian Turnbull. The weekend is planned to run some boat prep and tuning prior to going afloat to spend time concentrating on boat handling and technique. Coaching will start at the club with boats rigged and sailors ready to go on the water for 10:00 on both days. Weekend rate will be £30 per person with a minimum entry of 5 and maximum entry of 10.If you would like to take part, please contact Ian directly on ianturnbullmarine@googlemail.com

One round to go and it’s as close as ever! It seems that as quickly as I can put the results together and write an introductory, another regatta comes along and I’m starting again, it’s great this EuroCup racing!!!
The results now include a very successful Dutch round from Bruinisse and by the look of the photos, everyone had a great time! And we are now up to 125 participants too… Who fancies the Falling Leaves Regatta season finale? More information here http://skiffbenelux.com/ See the results >>>

2014 EuroCup Standings after round 10 (Derwent Reservoir) This seasons record entry continues to grow with 121 competitors to date. With the results eagerly awaited from Dutch GP in Bruinisse and just one regatta to go, the annual season ending Falling Leaves regatta, recently appointed UK class chairman, Ben Schooling, has just taken the lead from class international vice chairman Nicolas Duchoud from Switzerland. At this time of year, I’m always wondering who will be taking a holiday to compete in the Falling Leaves regatta… It is also great to see new members travelling to events, in this case Marco and Stefano Anessi from Italy, who joined the Austrians at Attersee, with Marco coming out on the top of the results, congratulations! See the Results >>>

GBR EuroCup Leg 2 - Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club - 20 - 21 September 2014 The Northern British Eurocup event was held at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club on the 20th and 21st September. Thirteen visitors joined seven local boats for six highly competitive races over the weekend. The wind on Saturday was light and northerly; not the ideal direction for Derwent Reservoir as it produces shifty conditions with large holes in the pressure. The first race got underway with the wind shifting so that the pin end of the start lay almost on the port layline for the windward mark. Those lucky enough to have got a clean start near the pin end capitalised on this and there was little that those with poorer starts could do to find a way back. John Reekie showed excellent light wind boat speed and judgment of the difficult conditions to take first place followed by Ian Trotter in second and Ben Schooling in third. Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiff class announce Central Oceans as the official logistics sponsor for the 2015 Perth World Championships. Central Oceans specialise in providing a highly efficient custom service for discerning customers, specialising in the transport of capital equipment, steel products and abnormal loads, as well as a complete range of tailored services, operating throughout the Far East, Southeast Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Australasia, Europe and the Americas. Kyran Young from Central Oceans said ‘We are delighted to offer our service to this dynamic international class by supporting their World Championships.’ Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiff Datchet Water SC Open Meeting; 6-7 September 2014 - GBR A fleet of 16 MUSTO’s along with the B14 fleet gathered at Datchet for what looked to be A promising weekend of racing with boats from Derwent , Branbury, Switzerland and Thorpe bay joining the ever increasing group based on the reservoir. Unfortunately that was not to be as the wind forecast was to play a key part in the weekend’s events. read more >>>

Update to UK Series Qualification Criteria: It has now been confirmed that the loading date for the containers for the Perth Worlds will be before the Ovington Inlands at Grafham which is an unfortunate but unavoidable clash. The qualifying criteria for the current UK series includes the Inlands as a non discardable event but the Committee has decided to amend this in light of the above so those going aren’t penalised. The qualification will now be the Nationals as a mandatory counter plus 3 other events. There are currently 75 competitors on the UK circuit (79 including our European guests) of which nearly 40 can still qualify for the series. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Derwent in a fortnight and/or the Inlands in November.

GBR EuroCup Leg 2 2014 - Derwent Res. SC NOR & Promo Flyer Now Available >>>

NOR EuroCup Leg For the weekend of August 23rd/24th, the CSF sailing club in Kristiansand played host to the Norwegian leg of the MUSTO Skiff Eurocup. There are currently five MUSTO Skiffs in Norway and all were present to enjoy skiff racing in the most stunning of locations on the pristine waters of the Kristiansand Archipelago. Four hugely enthusiastic local sailors, Geir Odmar Heldal, Gunner Amtedal, Rolf Nossum and Bjarte Olsen were joined by exiled brit Jamie Hilton to enjoy 9 races over the weekend in perfect skiff conditions.Read more >>>

Reekie’s Travels, Large Regatta Week, Cumbrae’s Weekend Every year with a couple of exceptions, mainly for childbirth the Reekie’s make the pilgrimage back to the place where we as a family learnt to sail at Largs Sailing Club for the annual event that is Cumbrae’s weekend. This is a mixed event with racing for both keelboats and dinghies with the twist that Sunday is a race around Cumbrae weather permitting. Read more >>>

2014 EuroCup standings after round 6 (UK National Championships) This years EuroCup is heading towards being the biggest ever! With 111 competitors entered so far and 5 more of the 11 event (3 race to count) series to go, the EuroCup series continues to be the place to race across Europe. Currently, Nicolas Duchoud, Alexander Greil and John Archer have competed in 4 events, clocking up some pretty good mileage (or km’s) and no doubt making lots of new friends…Newly appointed UK class chairman Ben Schooling is only 2 points behind overall leader Duchoud with a strong German and Swiss contingent close behind.The Norwegian round is this coming weekend at beautiful Kristiansand, so if you are going, I’m sure Geir Odmar and the local fleet will look after you in style. See the score >>>

After the Nationals the 2014 UK Musto Skiff circuit is close at the top with Ben Schooling just leading from fellow Team Datchet member Big Dave Poston and Ian Trotter in 3rd. The scoring format is the best 4 events to count including the Nationals and Inlands using the weighted average template devised for the Eurocup. The attendance is the highest it’s been for the past 4 years with 74 entrants to date and still with 3 events still left to run this season. This is partly boosted by our European guests at the recent Nationals but it demonstrates the strength of the UK competition that people are willing to travel that far to race. I look forward to seeing you at Datchet in September and Derwent after that. See the score >>>

Harken UK MUSTO Skiff National Championships Event Report
With hurricane Bertha safely out the way, 58 boats descended on Stokes Bay for the 2014 Harken National Championships with sailors travelling from as far away as Switzerland and Germany. The forecast predicted 10-12kts SW, however race 1 started in 16kts and built throughout the day. The skiffs were reveling in these conditions and it was current European Champion Frithjof Schwerdt who headed left up the first beat and led round the windward mark from current World Champ Bruce Keen. The top two held their positions to the finish and spearheading the chasing pack was Richard Pelley to take 3rd. read more >>>

The MUSTOSkiff Season Final - ACO German Open 2014 - GER The skiff sailing season 2014 is at its best. The MUSTOSkiff class Germany is racing numerous events in the south, the north, the west and the east. There are intense battles at the starting lines, close roundings of the marks and quick spinnaker hoists. The overall level of performance is extremely high, with 36 boats in the German ranking after half a season. Our European Champion and winner of Kieler Woche, Frithjof Schwerth, is leading, followed by Iver Ahlmann, second of Kieler Woche. Read more >>>

Russ Clark Noble Marine Insurance Performance Coaching Sponsored by Noble Marine Insurance and hosted by Stokes Bay Sailing Club, class members are welcome to participate in the pre-National Championship coaching this Saturday with top coach Russ Clark.
Support from Noble Marine Insurance provides class members with training at a bargain of £10 per boat. Russ is a highly experienced international coach with a relaxed friendly style and having sailed the class for a number of years will provide insight not only on how to make your skiff go faster but local tactical knowledge on how to make the best of your time at Stokes Bay. Temporary membership is also available from Sat 9 August to the start of the event including full use of the club's facilities and the opportunity to join in club racing for £10. If you have a MUSTO Skiff there is only one place to be in mid-August - see you at Stokes Bay and come and take on the World's best. Agenda for the day -Please be rigged but not changed for a prompt start at 10:00 at the club The focus for the day will be starting and short course racing. Russ will add a bit of local knowledge too :-) Planned to be off the water for 16:00 for a debrief ready for home at 17:00.

GBR North Euro Cup on Derwent Reservoir 20-21 September 2014 Read more >>>

Swiss National Championships- SUI Alexander Greils wins the swiss nationals in front of Dominique Wälchli and Nathalie Keller. Wind was very shifty and light for the weekend, lucky to get two races. Every year this event in Thun is well organized and very attractive for sailors with a big saturday party at the club. See you next year. Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiffs at Chanonry Club Regatta 2/3 August. - GBR High up in the northern latitudes lies a sheltered inshore estuary with fantastic waters to sail skiffs. Five of the growing Musto Skiff fleet of Chanonry SC were joined by Jono Shelley who had come across form Aberdeen. Jono showed us how it was done dominating the regatta and excelling in the conditions. Saturday provided flat water sheltered in an easterly, but 15- 20 knots. Sunday dawned lighter and warmer, with six races in total. Ian Morton, founder of the class at the club and persistently active recruiter chased Jono. Good boat handling was rewarded on the tight windward leeward courses. Read more >>>

Harken UK National Championship entry reminder The UK national championships is fast approaching 14th - 17th August and we would like to draw to your attention the deadline for early entries which expires on the 1st August. After which entries increase by to £145. Please help the organising team by getting your entry in to help them with planning. The UK class association and Stokes Bay Sailing Club look forward to seeing you all and wish every competitor the best of luck. Read more >>>

Count Down – 163 days until the Next Worlds in Perth. Although it is early days we are excited to see entries starting to come through, including the first 2 from the UK. Quote from Ex Pat James Lewis now living in Perth “This Worlds will be an epic event. You don't get a better place to sail than Perth. The water temp is 21 deg C in Jan. I have never sailed in a better place, this is not a Black Rock! you will defo get wind." Read more >>>

Stokes Bay Sailing Club is gearing up for the Harken UK MUSTO Skiff National Championships and the Noble Marine Insurance pre-championship coaching. SBSC will host the MUSTO Skiff 2014 National Championships (14-17 Aug) with sailors attending from all over the UK and Europe due to compete. Situated in the Eastern Solent Stokes Bay SC is home to champions from many classes including the current MUSTO Skiff National and World Champion, Bruce Keen. Read more >>>

5th World Championships in 2015 :: Perth (AUS) CONTAINER PLANNING - DEADLINE 31/08/2014 It is time to get booked onto the containers for Perth 2015. We will develop this area as things become more apparent, but we want to start by getting a list together of sailors who plan to attend the ACO World championships in Perth and another list of sailors who have paid their non refundable deposit to attend the regatta. We have had a number of shipping quotes but in summary: Book your slot >>>

Scottish Skiffs Act 4 : Royal Findhorn Yacht Club - GBR
Royal Findhorn Yacht Club on the beautiful Moray Firth hosted the 4th Scottish Skiff event of 2014 following earlier events at Oban, North Berwick and Preswick. Held as part of the Findhorn annual regatta, and the furthest North that the boats will visit, an impressive 60+ boats took to the water across a number of fleets. Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiffs (and ex-owners) at The Lord Birkett Trophy 5 th & 6 th July 2014: - GBR 2 long distance windward leeward races, the length of Lake Ullswater , with an island for the windward mark. After Saturday's race the shore chat was about the close interclass battles, on Sunday it changed to "Who's won?" This year attracted a bumper entry of 210 boats, Ullswater Yacht Club hosted this popular summer sailing event, testing endurance , boat speed across fluctuating wind speeds and directions, large fleet starting skills and boat on boat skills. Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiff Open Meeting at King George Sailing Club - GBR In cold winter days some of us take it easy and enjoy a nice break from sailing, others carry on no matter what, but we all dream about summer when sailing becomes what it is loved for - sheer enjoyment and fun. However, this theory didn't seem to work last weekend. In spite of a universal forecast that should give a little hope for every sailor - windy Saturday, and not windy Sunday, two King George locals - Mick Keates and Luke Draper had a chance to shake hands to only 3 more guests: Benjo (Ben Schooling) and Serega Samus from Datchet and Matt Holden from Locks SC Well 5 boats is already a fleet. And with lots of advantages: less crowded start line, no queue for showers, a podium place for a mid-fleet result. To the embarrassment of the Musto Skiff fleet we were beaten in numbers by 505 folks who happened to share their own Open Meeting with us. They turned up in a staggering 6 boats lot! Read more >>>

Kiele Woche Report – 26-29th June 2014 36 boats from 7 Nations entered the German leg of the Eurocup series which was incorporated as part of the World renowned Kiele Woche. This is an amazing event with over 800 dinghies competing and a similar number of Sportsboats and Yachts over 3 weeks. The event organisation was superb with one of the title sponsors Audi running a shuttle service to the trailer park - just one example of German efficiency at its best! read the full report >>>

EuroCup after Kieler Woche Following a very close EuroCup which went down to the last race, the EuroCup series now has 67 competitors from 10 nations and 4 different winners of each round to date. The next legs will be at Stokes Bay Sailing Club for the UK National Championships, followed by the Norwegian EuroCup in Kristiansand. See the full results >>>

Carnac - host venue for 7th World Championships in 2016 The standard of the bid documents from the national class associations and host clubs has been exceptionally high and we would like to thank all the teams for taking part in this process of applying to host our classes World Championships. We are very pleased to announce Carnac on the west coast of Brittany in France as the host venue for our 7th World Championships. Read more and view the bid presentation >>>

EuroCup 2014 overall standings after 4 regattas With 37 boats entered the 4 events held to date, we have 4 different winners from 3 different countries and Kiel is just around the corner! France, Spain, Switzerland and Italy have all held their events and we have 7 more events to go for the season. With over 40 entered from all over Europe and Australia for Kieler Woche, the EuroCup continues to be a very successful series. If you’d like to take part in one of the events, just drop the event contact a line or paulsmanning01@gmail.com and Paul will put you in touch. Hope to catch up with as many sailors as possible in Kiel, as well as class designer Joachim Harpprecht! See the results >>>

Highcliffe Sailing Club – June 14th & 15th 2014 - GBR 13 MUSTO Skiffs arrived at Highcliffe SC to be greeted by 12 knots and baking sun. Although by the time we had launched the wind had was beginning to die and by the time the race was meant to start it had gone a long way left and caused a delay to first race. Read more >>>

It is my pleasure to invite you to the SAP Sailors Debrief on Friday, June 27th, held at the SAP Sailors Lounge in Kiel Schilksee. Since first partnering with Kieler Woche in 2010, SAP has continued to deliver innovative solutions that provide sailors with tools to gain greater insight, enhance the spectator experience, and help the regatta run like never before. Read more >>>

MUSTO SKIFF ITA EUROCUP 2014 Sunny day before the weekend attracted some sailors to practice the days before the race. Four boats on Thursday and eight on Friday had typical thermal wind from 8 to 14 knots and fun to sail! Saturday, race 1 (8-10kn): First start at 14:00 in early thermal wind. The Moths started first, heading left for the landmark and corresponding shift to tack for the mark. Same did the 15 boat MUSTO fleet. At the top mark it was Alex in front following closely by John, Roger, me and Dieter. Downwind exactly the same way as upwind, going for the rocky landmark and tack. After two laps still Alex in lead and John in front of Roger, bravo! Read more >>>

5th World Championships in 2015 Social Side of the Program:: Perth (AUS)The Perth team is busy planning details for the next worlds. For the sailors we know the racing will be great in Perth: Good breeze, flat water, tonnes of rigging space, easy launching, close to race area and an experienced skiff friendly race organising team. When you’re not on the water, Perth offers many leisurely activities and exotic locations to explore. From the long, sandy white beaches to the gourmet cuisine, there’s something for everyone to enjoy while here. Perth in summer is a relaxed, sunny place to spend golden afternoons and warm nights. Read more >>>

Stokes Bay Sailing Club Harken UK National Championships 2014 - NoR & Entry Forms Mike Rayden event PRO and the club event organising team in conjunction with the UK Class Association have released the Notice of Race and entry form for this summers UK national championships which will be 14th - 17th August. Please note that the entry fee is £120 up to the 1st August and £145 after 1st August. Coaching with top Coach Russ Clark and supported by Noble Marine Insurance is booked for Saturday 9th and your boats can be kept at the club between that date and the nationals. Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiffs at East Lothian Yacht Club 7/8 June
Ed's Note: We have two reports of this event; the first from Ian Trotter the second from Kevin Holliday.
Trotter wins Scottish Skiff Championships p.s. Dan
The fleet arrived and rigged and talked and waited and didn’t sail. The wind and chop were deemed to be too much. In fairness John Reekie, Ben and Jamie sailed, came in and said it was enjoyable but too much to have raced in. Good call by the race officer. When the rain arrived at 3:30 Tom Conway suggested coffee, I foolishly said the yellow kind they serve in the pub! Many coffees later and a fantastic Indian (Tiger Coast for future ref) the fleet went to bed. Both reports here >>>

MUSTO Skiff Germany EuroCup Leg - Kiele Woche 2014 :: Event Preview The MUSTO Skiff fleet participates for the third time at the 2014 Kieler Woche; there are currently 43 boats entered …"We are proud to have this year the six - time World Champion Richard Stenhouse, 49er Medal winner Hannes Peckolt and reigning European champion MUSTO Skiff Frithjof Schwerdt interrupts his 49er Olympic campaign for this special event . " says Iver Ahlmann , International Class Chairman of the MUSTO Skiff. It is particularly pleasing to see such high participation; certainly MUSTO Skiff designer Joachim Harprecht (GER) is happy to see such a large fleet on his home turf . Read more >>>

2014 class rules on World Sailing website Following the annual review of the class rules by the technical committee, World Sailing have now approved and published this here .
There are a few minor rewordings and tidying up, as well as bringing the rules into line with the 2013 – 2016 World Sailing standard format class rules, which is something we do on a 4 yearly basis. read more >>>

MUSTO SKIFF NOR EUROCUP 2014

Notice of Race now available for the Norway Euro Cup event.

Notice of Race >>>

SUI EUROCUP RVB (Regatta Verein Brunnen) 2014
Friday, race 1 (14-8kn): Because of bad weather the thremal winds in Brunnen was cancelled for the day. Lucky we get some wind because of a rain cloud. The race management did a nice job getting us out, setting the race course very quick. As always, the windshifts were very hard to predict and it was master Roger who did the best job getting around the course.
Read the full report>>>

Travelling to a regatta in Europe - Top 10 things to remember by Paul Manning Many sailors may be attending this Championship as their first major international event, so I thought it might be of assistance to note down a few points of things easily forgotten or overlooked. 1. This really only applies to UK sailors, but please don’t forget to bring your boats insurance details. UK events typically don’t require inspection of insurance policies as proof of insurance. The UK is unusual in this respect (I believe it is a legal matter to do with onus of proof) Please bring your policy, otherwise you may spend the first day you arrive trying to e-mail Noble Marine requesting a copy certificate. Read the other 9 >>>

Stokes Bay Sailing Club Harken UK National Championships 2014 As a preview to the work Russ Clark and the UK class association have been busy planning this summers national championships which will be 14th - 17th August. Coaching with top Coach Russ Clark and supported by Noble Marine Insurance is booked for Saturday 9th and your boats can be kept at the club between that date and the nationals. Read more >>>

Musto Skiff Kieler Woche - 5 additional free beds made available by ACO / Early entry deadline 31st of May

The demand for the recent accommodation offer has been so high that all original 16 beds were filled very quickly. However, ACO has been able to make an additional 5 beds available again on first come first serve basis. Read more >>>

Perth (Hosts for the 5th Worlds in January 2015) Update - AUS With the national titles done and dusted over in Victoria the WA fleet were left to reflect on what has been a busy 12 months since hosting the nationals at MBSC in 2013. With the 2nd half of the local summer sailing season, winter series and then kicking off later in the year with the 2014/15 Summer sailing season there is still plenty of time for improvement on the water. Writing this report now shows that the last of the 2013/14 summer season is long gone and we are into the Winter season with the warmer thicker wetsuits already having been worn a number of times. Local Ex-Pat, James Lewis will no doubt remind us all of what it is like to sail a MUSTO with a Dry Suit – something which is not readily available here in Australia. ‘Special Order’ I think the term is! Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiffs at Stone Sailing Club, May 24/25th 2014- GBR 15 MUSTO's gathered at Stone SC on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex. Most of them travelled through torrential rain. Fortunately as forecast this stopped and the 15 knot breeze anticipated from the south was correct. A few of the regular protagonists were missing - mostly members of the Datchet Massive, (apparently racing Paul Molesworth's new yacht from Hamble). Read more >>>>

BERLIN CALLING With 16 boats from 3 countries registered to date, a two-day, pre-race training with current European champion, Frithjof Schwerdt, plenty of beer, BBQ and a live band on Saturday what better excuse could you want to visit Berlin and perhaps sample a bit of its infamous night life? Find out more >>>

Musto Skiff Focus Day – Rutland Water SC – 18th May 2014. - GBR Glorious sunshine and a variable breeze greeted a small but select group of sailors for the latest Musto Skiff focus day at Rutland Sailing Club. The coaching was again expertly led by Richard and Kit Stenhouse. The focus of the morning was starting combined with boat handling. A start line and a very short windward/leeward course were set close to the clubhouse and the exercises started. Young Oliver Stenhouse acted as Race Officer (or at least was firmly in charge of the whistle!). read more and see the photos>>

GBR 2014 Series The 2014 UK series results have been added and after 3 events Ian Trotter is showing that after a Winter of training he’s back on form and leading the way. The results this year are being calculated using the same template as the Eurocup series. This is hopefully fairer way of scoring as it weights the results to the number of competitors at each event. To qualify the same criteria applies as last year – best 4 events to count with the Nationals and Inlands being non-discardable. Next event in the series this weekend at Stone SC, good luck to all those competing See the results >>>

Scottish Skiffs - Round 1 - Oban 10-11 May 2014. - GBR Round 1 of the Scottish Skiff series kicked off last weekend in stunning Oban surrounded by a number of super yachts who had clearly heard that 10 skiffs were in town and had turned up for the spectacle and the party. The forecast was for light and variable winds so it was likely to be a snakes and ladders type weekend (for most) however John Reekie casually turned up last, rigged up in a relaxed manner and then promptly went out and bulleted in every race!! Read more >>>

Minorca Sailing Promo May 2014-05-03 - ESP Minorca Sailing Holidays is the premier sailing holiday venue with the very best equipment and instructor training. The bay of Fornells is a superb area for sailing, equivalent to Rutland Water in terms of size and wave height – essentially flat water. The company is a first class sailing centre and prides itself on the standard of equipment and tuition which is their USP over the likes of Sunsail and Neilson. Although more expensive, as a customer you really do receive first class customer service - boats are rigged, launched and recovered on request by polite staff which really adds to the enjoyment of the holiday. read more >>>

Swisscup Morges 3/4 May 2014 - SUI The first MUSTO Skiff regatta of the season and the first ever in Swiss Romand attracted 9 entries including 4 sailors from Lac Leman. Nic and Alex took advantage of the labour day bridge to come early and offer training on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate 100%, there was only wind on Friday evening marking the arrival of the Bise that continued through the weekend. On Saturday the committee laid a short windward leeward course of 2 laps. 6 sailors attempted the conditions but 3 retirements left the podium as first Alex then Dominic and Nic. 3 again for the second race with John in place of Nic, the front runners were again Alex followed by Dominic.
In the third race it was just the heavy-weather professionals left with Dominic taking the win. Read more >>>

“Survivor Trophies” at this year’s National Championships in August. - GBR Nautical publishers Fernhurst Books are proudly sponsoring the “Survivor Trophies” at this year’s National Championships in August. The boats with the most points, that complete all the races, will be awarded with the fantastic Asymmetric Sailing by Andy Rice
read more details >>>

RIP Paul Clements - Obituary

Paul Clements was an early exponent of the Musto Skiff and introduced many to the class though his infectious and boundless enthusiasm. Unfortunately Paul died in a car crash just over a week ago.

Here is Paul's obituary ably penned by his good mate, Paul's current Cherub crew, Rich Hole. The piece is testament to the exceptional folk who inhabit the Musto Skiff class.

Paul Clements – Obituary

Paul Clements was a sailor of exemplary skill gained from a lifetime of yacht and dinghy racing which he undertook with boundless energy and passion. His enthusiasm was infectious, and combined with his generous “she’s rigged so you may was well take her out” approach meant that he was regarded as a mentor by many, so lengthy debriefs in the bar and by email would follow any sailing outing. Read the full obituary >>>

MUSTO Skiff's at Ullswater Yacht Club 26-27 April 2014 - GBR A high quality fleet of 11 MUSTO Skiff's joined the Skiff Open Event at the beautiful Ullswater Yacht Club over the weekend of 26/27 April. The MUSTO fleet had its own fleet start and John Robson (PRO) and his team put on 8 races across the two days in a wide range of conditions with boats from Aberdeen, Bassenthwaite, Datchet, Derwent and Rutland joining some local boats. Saturday's 4 races were sailed in a shifty and gusty force 2- 4 (5...6...?!) blowing off the hills from the East. In race 1 Jono Shelley was first to show from the pin end of the line but was overhauled on the first downwind leg by Ian Trotter who went on to take a comfortable victory. There was very close racing for 2nd between Jono, Alistair Conn and Graham Priestley with the result finally decided in Shelley's favour at the finish mark as a gust ripped down the course leading to emergency spinnaker drops. Read more >>>

MUSTO Skiff EuroCup at Lac du Der 19-21 April 2014 - FRA The coaching went well, we had 15 boats on the Thursday and 27 on Friday with more arriving throughout the day and on the Saturday morning. It’s a great set up to give many people the chance to have a few days sailing before the event and for many of the French sailors it’s their first time on the water in the year. Andre and the organising team put a lot of effort into running the event. MUSTO Skiff racing from Nicolas Duchoud (inputs from Ben Schooling): read more >>>

5th World Championships in 2015 : Notice of Race and Entry Forms: The Notice of Race is available and Entry Form open for the upcoming Worlds in Perth. Please visit the Worlds Web Site Official Notices page. http://www.mustoskiff.com.au/competitor/official-notices/

MUSTO Skiff Focus Day, at Rutland Sailing Club, April 6 th 2014- "a good days sailing with lots of good advice" The conditions were blustery, there was a gust of 30 knots in the morning session. We decided do some 3 boat upwind training, and long downwind blasts . Richard Stenhouse, Tim Olin and Pete Hayward were in the rib. Read more >>>

Stokes Bay Sailing Club – April 12th/13th 2014 - GBR A week ago today, in avid anticipation, I punched in a search for the weekend forecast at Stokes Bay. The prediction read something along the lines of 4knts from the SW veering to the NE as Saturday progressed, and for the Sunday, a big fat zero stared right back at me. Ouch! Still, the boats were loaded on the double stacker, travels plans made; I was committed. Saturday arrived and the journey was made. On approach to the club, driving along Hampshire’s equivalent of Malibu Beach, our eyes were wandering over the Solent looking for reasons to be cheerful. The sun was shining, and quite brightly too; but there was, as predicted, little wind. First decision of note was to order myself up a bacon/egg sandwich, more out of necessity than desire. Out in the boat park, boats were arriving, 18 in all, bolstered with the presence of the RS800s and B14s. I sensed early season optimism, even over hearing a discussion of sea breeze. Read more >>>

Spanish EuroCup date change Due to a couple of unforeseen problems, the Spanish round of the 2014 EuroCup dates have been changed to 30th May - 1st June. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Ammersee-Cup will take place on May 17th and 18th - GER this year the Ammersee-Cup will take place on May 17th and18th. Together with Torsten Bendig from the German MUSTO Skiff Class Association we tried to find a date that would not be in conflict with other races and the Kieler Woche. As last year you will be able to meet lots of sailors of other fast boat classes. You will sail on one of the most beautiful lakes in Bavaria enjoying a fascinating view onto the Alps. See more information >>>

BERLIN SKIFF BASH '14 29th May-1st June 2014, Lake Muegglesee, Berlin - GER

IT'S BIGGER!
IT'S BETTER!
IT'S SOMETHING ELSE ...
…, what exactly ‘something else’ is, escapes me for the moment.

What is certain though, is that the BERLINSKIFFBASH this year will be even bigger and better than ever before. Why, I hear you say? Well, read on my fellow sailors to find out! Find out more >>>

Greg Barrington - Australian class measurer As the class continues to expand in Australia, Greg has kindly agreed to become the class measurer in Australia and will be the class measurer at the upcoming Perth World Championships. As an introduction, Greg has kindly written a brief bio of his sailing career. Strange how small the World is, as he sailed Cadet dinghies at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham on Crouch, where the MUSTO Skiff prototype and initial trials were carried out and where class secretary Paul Manning also sailed Cadets! Greg crewed in a Cadet for a couple of years in the early ‘70s on the Thames and competed at the class national championships which was annually held at RCYC Burnham. He then windsurfed for a couple of years during the mid ‘80s on Grafham Water, sailed Lasers and Fireballs during the mid ‘90s on Lake Naivasha in Kenya and has been sailing Contenders since the turn of the century in Western Australia. On the technical/measurement front, Greg has been on the Contender class technical committee since 2006, becoming a national measurer in 2008 and international measurer in 2011. Greg's will be joining the class technical committee and we look forward to having another experienced individual on the team.

MUSTO Skiff Rutland Open Meeting 22-23 March 2014 - GBR After the last few weeks of spring conditions, the winds returned for the first MUSTO Skiff Open of the year at Rutland Sailing Club, held along with the B14 and Cherub fleets. The fleet of 18 MUSTOs launched into what looked like great conditions, hoisted the kites and set off downwind to the bottom of the lake. When there and looking back upwind to the shore it was a different picture, although as said before the launch if the boats weren't built for this then they would have put smaller sails on! So onto the racing, and a test to see who had been training over the winter. Read more >>>

Harken announce sponsorship of the MUSTO Skiff Nationals 2014! - GBR Harken UK are delighted to announce their support for the MUSTO Skiff 2014 National Championships due to be held at Stokes Bay Sailing Club from the 14-17th August. Harken will be providing a range of participant packs and highly sought after prizes during this competitive four day event! The MUSTO Skiff Class, built by Ovington Boats Ltd. and fitted with Harken deck hardware, is designed for high performance competitive racing. read more >>>

Port Melbourne Yacht Club hosted the 2014 MUSTO Skiff Championships over the 10th, 11th and 12th of March - AUS Port Melbourne Yacht Club hosted the 2014 MUSTO Skiff Championships over the 10th, 11th and 12th of March in balmy weather and bright sunshine. A small, but highly competitive fleet welcomed back Jono Neate, fresh from his agonisingly close 2nd place at the International Contender World Championships, and Olympic coach and two time International Contender World Championship, Arthur Brett from Perth, who's purchased a second boat to sail on his visits to Melbourne. read more >>>

BERLIN SKIFF BASH '14 29th May-1st June 2014, Lake Muegglesee, Berlin - GER Berlin Skiff Bash '14 - preparations are afoot to welcome the northern European Musto Skiff class to Berlin for a 4 days of training and regatta on lake Muegglesee on the eastern fringes of the German capital. Frithjof Schwerdt is lined up to lead two days of training (29-30th May) followed by two days of racing. This is the perfect opportunity to get the season off to a great start with the bonus of a day or two seeing what Berlin has on offer! Find out more >>>

2014 GBR Musto Skiff Circuit Promo So the 2014 season is now upon us with Rutland just round the corner so it’s time to start booking the sailing weekends in the calendar! Early signs are looking good for the season ahead with 12 boats out at Datchet and 7 at Rutland last Sunday. There were 59 individual competitors on the UK circuit last year, with 73 in 2012 and 69 in 2011 so it would be great to push numbers up again. Speaking of which there are some new comers and old hats returning to the fleet. Griff Tanner has joined Datchet and there is another recent Laser convert David Ayre. Ben Clegg has imported a boat from UAE and Christian Reynolds and John Reekie have both bought new boats. Duncan Hepplewhite of Ovington informs me that numbers will hit 520 very soon. Read more >>>

Kieler Woche MUSTO Skiff - free accommodation provided by ACO Kieler Woche is approaching and to help your planning our class sponsor ACO has put together a great accomodation offer. There is free accommodation available for all sailors on a first come/first serve basis. There is a total of 12 rooms available (5 of which double). Please get in contact with Iver Ahlmann for booking

Find out more >>>

MUSTO Skiff Training Focus Day at Rutland SC- GBR The Focus day at Rutland was a big success with the help of the Rutland team helping making the day go smoothly. With five people on the start line for the first club race, Kit asked if we wanted some quick fire short w/l course and start practice instead, this was a better option for us so the club racing was left to later in the day and Kit went into multitasking mode, she is now starting to master putting a whistle in her mouth as part of her starting procedure as well as getting good starts herself. More >>>

MUSTO Skiff at the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show 2014 - GBR The big talking point for the class and for other onlookers was the announcement that ACO Water Management has agreed to continue to sponsor the classes major international championships for the next three World Championships starting at Perth (Western Australia) in January 2015. Closer to home, the UK fleet are busy preparing for their National Championships hosted by Stokes Bay Sailing Club on 14th – 17th August and sponsored by Harken. As well as their nation wide coaching and training programme sponsored by Noble Marine Insurance. Read more >>>

Noble Marine Insurance class coaching and focus days - GBR GBR class association - improving your skills in 2014. Nobody is going to say our class is an easy boat to sail; in fact, many sailors join the class for a challenge. The class has always recognised this and in 2014 the GBR fleet has again arranged a number of professional coaching as well as sailor led 'focus' dates around the UK. All the dates will appear on the calendar, but a summary of the dates and venues are as follows: Read more >>>

ACO to sponsor the next three MUSTO Skiff World Championships

The next three World Championships are to be held at Perth (Australia), Lake Garda (Italy) and a European Venue to be selected. ACO is working with the MSCA to develop the best series of world championships ever held for singled-handed asymmetric trapeze dinghies. The support from ACO will enable fantastic event programmes for the competitors, both on and off the water. Following a hugely successful World Championships at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy UK in 2012, attracting 105 entries and an equally successful European Championships at Attersee in Austria, ACO have agreed to a longer term relationship with the only World Sailing international high performance trapeze skiff class. Read more >>>

5th World Championships in 2015 :: Perth (AUS) Lots of behind the scene work is happening to make the Worlds a success and great experience for our overseas guests. This website is where everything to do with the Perth Worlds is posted www.mustoskiff.com.au. We will also update key items on the International site.
Read more >>>

3 piece mast Following last years class survey feedback, Ovington Boats has worked with Selden to produce a 3 piece mast. The bottom section remains identical to the previous specification but the top section can now be removed at the hounds (forestay and shroud) step down join. This means that a broken taper can be replaced without the need to replace the parallel section from the hound join to the spreaders. Clearly it is essential that the bend characteristics remain the same and to this end, the product has undergone a successful testing period. For more information, please contact Ovington Boats or your local dealer.

10 reasons to come to the French Open Skiff event at Lac du Der over Easter

1. 2 days coaching (Ben Schooling / Ian Martin) and 3 days racing
2. 30 boat fleet in 2013 (including RS700’s) – 80+ boats overall.
3. Great early season training
4. Large open expanse of water with easy launching
5. Accommodation and meals all on site
6. No days holiday required from work
7. Easy 4hr drive from Tunnel
8. Friendly environment, relaxed atmosphere
9. Fun socials with a Trans-European vibe
10. Great cycling round the lake after sailing