Event: ACO 11th Musto Skiff World Championship 2022 – Pre-Worlds Races / 21.06.22
Event sponsored by ACO Group
Photography by © Bernardí Bibiloni / www.bernardibibiloni.com
Report by Rick Peacock
Pre-Worlds racing took place on 21st June to kick off the ACO 11th Musto Skiff World Championship 2022. Racing was initially postponed, but eventually took place in unusually warm sunshine for Kiel – or so the locals told us. However, a very challenging course close to shore made for a rather challenging day for all, as reported by GBR’s Rick Peacock.
2022 Pre-Worlds Race 1
It’s Musto tradition that whoever finishes 3rd takes responsibility to do the write up. However, as we didn’t have any results from our days racing, I feel slightly hard done by!
Having thunderstorms yesterday, we were very grateful to get full sun and moderate winds for the Pre-Worlds. The sun almost overrides the crazy 40 degree shifts that was the challenge today in the 2 races. Snakes and ladders were an understatement. Being on the closest course to the shoreline with a marina upwind created many challenges.
I managed to win the 1st race and had challenges from Andy Tarboton and Jono Shelley, with Pete Greenhalgh taking 2nd place at the finish after a cracking last beat.
2022 Pre-Worlds Race 2
The 2nd race had similar crazy offshore conditions. Karsten from the Netherlands overcame the excitable youth to win a great pin start, working the left really well, and leading to the 1st mark. Pete Greenhalgh, Tom Conway, and I were battling it out with two 40′ yachts up the beat, which was amusing.
Young sailor Rob Richardson, in his prime at 21, won the race after a hectic last downwind. Iver Ahlmann overtook Rob on the last downwind escaping many holes in the wind. As the host of the event, he did the honourable thing and decided to promptly capsize very close to the finish, letting the young gun through with a photo finish with Ian Trotter. A wet Iver recovering to finish 3rd.
In the absence of ‘official results’, podium places were up for debate, heavily influenced by our social venue sponsor for the evening, Heineken, as we worked out between us who finished up where. After some debate, it was concluded that the top 3 places overall were Rob Richardson in 1st place, followed by Peter Greenhalgh in 2nd, and me in 3rd.
GPS tracking tomorrow for the 1st day of the 2022 Worlds, so usual bar speculation can be replaced by facts. Official results to follow…..
View more photos in the 2022 Pre-Worlds Photo Gallery >> HERE
