Report: 2023 Australian Musto Skiff National Championships – 4/5 Feb

Over the past weekend, the Australian Musto Skiffs held their Nationals at Royal Geelong Yacht Club alongside the Flying Dutchmans and Fireballs sailors. With only a two-day regatta planned, we were unlucky as the weather was not in our favour on the first day, as the breeze was constantly above 22kn gusting above 30kn.

On the second day, we were lucky to get on the water to sail four races and complete three, with a host of different conditions that favoured everyone in the fleet at some stage.

Race one was started in 6kn of breeze, halfway up the first beat there was a pressure band that came in at 18kn down the right side of the course favouring the heavier sailors. This was a challenge for most of the fleet as the boats were set up for lighter winds which made for an interesting race. It led to many capsizes throughout the race and those who kept it upright had a close race at the front, with Jon crossing first closely followed by Matty, Paul, and Wayne.

For race two, the wind had settled back down to around 6-7kn and the first upwind consisted of the fleet looking for any extra pressure as they made their way up the course. just like race one, there was a band that came through of 14-15kn but from the right. This led to a similar split in the first race and left some of the more experienced sailors trying to play catch up. With constant pressure on the right, it was difficult to make up or lose many positions. The results saw Matty first followed by Paul and Casey in third.

Race three started with the lightest breeze that we had had all day at 5kn and the most constant breeze of the day so far. This saw sailors making gains but hooking into the small gusts on the upwind. The downwind was similar with many lead and position changes as the wind slowly died. The last upwind was a battle trying to find pressure up the course which some picked well, and others got a bit lucky. As the fleet compressed, the tail was able to hook into a shift that led them to hold a kite from the bottom mark to three-quarters back up to the top as the wind shifted back. Unfortunately, the race was called off 200m from the finish as the fleet had reached the race time limit much to the disgust of both Bates with Wayne and Casey sitting in first and second.

For race four, the wind had shifted over 90 degrees and settled in with a constant 7-9kn. This allowed the fleet to have the best-combined start of the day and saw good racing up the top of the course with all the boats rounding the mark in close succession. Throughout the downwind, the fleet slowly separated with the more experienced sailors showing their skill in the medium breeze. The race finished with Paul in front closely followed by Jon and Matty.

A huge congratulations to Paul for winning the regatta due to count back over Matty and Jon who was third, three points behind. Also, to Casey for winning the youth division, and a special congratulations to Max as he completed his first Musto regatta.