Making my first visit to Largs in quite some time I was very much looking forward to seeing for myself what this venue, the host of the 2019 UK Nationals, would have to offer. Quite a lot as it turns out.
On an unusually foggy and windless Saturday on the south coast, eight MUSTO Skiff sailors gathered for a day’s training at Stokes Bay Sailing Club. The session was deliberately aimed at those new into the class and those looking to improve their boat knowledge to move them up the fleet.
The Stokes Bay Open saw a record entry of 48 MUSTO Skiffs, which is the biggest open meeting for the class to date. With a large local fleet from Stokes Bay (20 boats), the entry numbers have been Climbing rapidly over the last few years at this popular open meeting.
A strong fleet of 12 MUSTO Skiffs gathered at Ullswater Yacht Club for Round 1 of the Scottish Skiff Series. The fleet included Tom Gillard multiple class champion, Ian Trotter regular MUSTO Skiff winner and Jamie Hilton fresh from a podium place at the recent MUSTO Skiff worlds in Australia.
Yorkshire Dales was the venue for the MUSTO Skiff fleet training on Easter Friday. Ian Turnbull was invited to take on the roll of coaching the fastest growing fleet in the north, who now have 8 regularly sailed boats.
Having just held a World Championships in Australia, 2 containers full of MUSTOs were delayed and still in transit, so on the 24th of March a reduced fleet of 16 eager MUSTO skiff sailors met at Rutland sailing club, full of optimism and enthusiasm for the first event of the year.
The Irish ‘skiff scene’ has always been something of a misnomer. No club in the country could claim to have anything resembling a skiff fleet. Although they can sometimes be seen honing their skills on local waters, for the most part, the Irish 49er squaddies ply their trade in the Olympic sphere. As a result, there has been no ‘trickle-down’ effect to weekend-warrior level.
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.
