Event: Skiff Open 2024, Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), 11/12 May 2024
Report by Eddie Bridle
On the sunniest weekend of the year so far, 25 Musto Skiff’s arrived at WPNSA for the open meeting at the venue, which will also be the host for the 2024 World Championships this July.
The first race finally got away in an 8–10 knot south-easterly breeze after the over-keen fleet was recalled for their first attempt to get away. It quickly became clear to the fleet that going left upwind was the way to go, with Rob Richardson capitalising on this to take the first race win of the weekend. Rob was followed by local sailors, Sam Pascoe and Sam Barker to complete the Race 1 podium.
Race 2 saw slightly more breeze towards the end, with daggerboards being raised and some people in the footloops downwind. Pascoe established the lead, which he held onto for first place, followed by Richardson and Jamie Hilton in third.
Race 3 provided much of the same conditions for the fleet, which got away with Brennan Robinson managing to score the only OCS of the whole weekend. Richardson, again, took the top spot, followed by Eddie Bridle and Fred Cudmore in third.
Race 4 slightly softened, returning to the conditions of Race 1, with the same theory applying to go left. Pascoe won Race 4, followed by Sam Barker and another third place for Fred Cudmore.
The sailors all returned to shore to enjoy some beer in the sunshine before a well-deserved curry for the fleets. An expert panel was also questioned by the fleet to share tips and tricks from the winners of the day.
Day two provided breeze from a similar direction, but with slightly more strength than what was expected.
Race 5, again, appeared to favour the boats going left off the line, with Rob Richardson showing great boat speed off the line to establish a lead, which gave him his third race win. Richardson was followed by Pascoe and Jamie Hilton in third.
Race 6 saw some boats starting to try it out on the right and not suffering as they would have done in previous races. Dan Vincent found a turn of pace to take a healthy lead over the fleet and take the race win, followed by Pascoe, and Richardson in third place.
Race 7 saw the fleet splitting off the start line, with many boats going right to find decent breeze up to the top mark. By the second lap of Race 7, the majority of the fleet headed right on the beat, with it appearing to pay well by this point. Richardson managed his fourth race win of the week, with Bridle in second and Pascoe in third. This put Richardson two points clear of Pascoe going into the final race of the weekend.
The breeze was swinging right all day, which forced the race officer to move the racecourse for the final race of the weekend. Race 8 got underway in significantly less wind, with sailors trapezing from the gunnels. Sam Barker and Eddie Bridle fought out the whole way round, with Bridle taking the race win to secure a third place overall. Pascoe finished the race in fourth, with Richardson in seventh. Counting a seventh meant that Richardson finished in second place overall, with Pascoe taking the top spot for the event.
On behalf of the Musto Skiff fleet, thanks to WPNSA for hosting us and for putting on some great racing in varied conditions. We are all now looking forward to returning for the 2024 World Championships in a couple of months’ time.
Overall Results
Full results (Musto Skiff Class and all classes): https://www.sailwave.com/results/WPNSA/2024_SkiffOpen/2024_SkiffOpen_Results.htm#summarymusto_skiff
Event photo gallery by Tim Olin: https://www.flickr.com/photos/141388522@N05/albums/72177720316875811/with/53718582982
Feature photo: © Tim Olin, 2024
