Ovington Boats, builder of the MUSTO Skiff, are working on a new class of dinghy currently under the title of Project XS.
The new XS dinghy is based on the MUSTO Skiff platform with smaller sails; this new dinghy class is targeted at women and youth sailors; and those looking for an easier stepping stone into the MUSTO Skiff class.
The dinghy is also under development with an eye on the new Olympic event, the mixed-singlehanded event and was the reason behind submission to World Sailing referenced here: https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/211727/World-Sailing-Annual-Conference-30-31-Oct-Recap
Development is currently under way with the new rig being tested by Olympic coach Penny Clark. Shown below is the first test mainsail. This is 9m2 compared to the MUSTO Skiff main which is 11m2.
A range of spinnaker sizes are under test.
Chris Turner, MD of Ovington Boats said: “Over the years we have tested a number of smaller training sails for the MUSTO Skiff and we have received great feedback. With the greater interest for performance sailing for women and youth sailors, now seemed like the perfect time to pull this experience together to develop the XS. The Olympic events are currently under discussion and we have an eye on that process with the thought that the XS may make a good choice for womens equipment should an opportunity arise”.
UPDATE 05/11/2018
Following the announcement by WS that the mixed single-handed event has now been dropped in favour of an offshore event any Olympic opportunity has now passed. However, we still see great merit in the XS concept so the development project is still ongoing.
Follow this link for a report on the WS announcement: https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/211845/Mixed-Offshore-Event-added-to-Paris-2024
