Article by Edgar Stalleicken
Disclaimer: Thanks to Google Translate, we have translated the following article into English so more of you around the globe can read this great article by Edgar Stalleicken. However, Google Translate is not always 100% correct, so the words may not be translated exactly as intended by the author. The original article can be found on the German Class Association website.
Our youth sailor, Edgar, shares a few impressions of the World Championship on the south coast of England from his point of view:
The Musto Skiff 2024 Worlds took place in Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, the Olympic training centre for the 2012 Games held in England.
Pre-Worlds on Sunday – To kick off the World Championships, we sailed two Pre-World races in light winds of 7-10 knots and bright sunshine in Portland Harbor. The three exciting races with mixed results promised an excellent and exciting championship for the coming days. After trimming the boat with the new sail and finding my way into the large fleet of 73 registered participants, 55 of whom were starting in the Pre-Worlds, I was able to finish the day in 15th place overall. The new sail design seemed to shake up the rankings of the last few years somewhat.
British summer weather on Monday – The day began with foggy grey skies, rain and 17-20 knots for the first three official races of the Worlds 2024. Hendrik Schürkötter, another German participant in the World Championship, clearly took the better places in the strong wind and consistently brought all races home safely. Unfortunately, after a crash at Leegate with a British boat in the first race, I had to give up two of the races and ended the sailing day early with the aim of making up for the lost places in the overall ranking in the next few days.
Lots of wind and BBQ on Tuesday – Due to gusts of up to 37 knots, we only set off after a delay of around 60 minutes and started at 22 knots, which later dropped to just 13 knots. In the end, I came back in with three satisfactory races and almost 30 places better, and we rounded off the day with a BBQ with all the participants. As always, the Worlds were characterised by the evening social events and this year in England it was once again the perfect complement to the competition on the water.
Wednesday, lay-day – I spent this in sunshine, little wind and 25°C with minor repairs on the boat and a trip to the town of Weymouth.
Thursday, light wind in the bay, a little closer to the ‘ball’ – Aafter the rest day, I was able to sail my best placings to date in very advantageous and difficult conditions for me. For the first time, we sailed in two of three races in Weymouth Bay, which can only be reached after about 45 minutes – 1 hour of sailing, in 5-10 knots, sunshine and small, short waves. The tide caused slight changes to the advantageous sides, which apparently also shook up the field a little. The last race had to be moved to the harbour because the sea breeze was more constant there. So, I was able to fight for two places in the top 15 and a fourth place that day, and thus climb a few more places in the rankings. After that day, a podium place in the youth rankings was within reach for the first time.
Youth ranking and gala dinner on Friday – We started again in 8-13 knots in Weymouth Bay. After an eighth place in the first race, I was unfortunately unable to place myself in the top 10 again in the following races, but I managed to get two solid places in the upper midfield. This put me in second place in the youth ranking behind Rob Richardson (GBR) and just ahead of Ollie Bull (GBR). The day was rounded off nicely by the gala dinner with all the other sailors, their companions, and our sponsor ACO, of course Musto, and the organisers.
Last day: good finish with moderate winds – On Saturday we started the last two races of the Musto Skiff 2024 Worlds with 10-18 knots and very gusty winds. The weather in Portland Harbor was very changeable, it was foggy and increasingly wet. I was still able to finish the first race in 14th place and returned to land satisfied after the second race with a midfield placement. The event came to an end on Saturday afternoon as everyone dismantled the sailboats in pouring rain. Since I had to catch the ferry that same evening, I unfortunately missed the award ceremony and thus the chance to give everyone their well-deserved congratulations. I am going home very satisfied with second place in the Youth ranking and 25th place in the overall ranking. I would like to thank everyone involved in organising everything, especially the class sponsor ACO, and I am already looking forward to the next event with the Musto class.
Greetings from Eddie
About the ACO 13th Musto Skiff World Championship 2024
The Musto Skiff World Championship is an annual regatta with sailors from international fleets invited to participate in five days of racing to determine the World Champion. The 2024 regatta was sponsored by long-term Worlds Event Title Sponsor ACO Group and took place over 14th to 20th July at WPNSA in the UK. the event was also supported by long-term class partner, Musto, and the class boat builder, Ovington Boats Ltd. This year, over 70 Musto Skiffs sailors representing several nations, including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Armenia, South Africa, and Australia took part.
View all the event reports, photo galleries, daily videos and the overall results here >>
Feature photo: Edgar Stalleicken – ACO 13th Musto Skiff World Championship 2024 (© Michael Oliver)
