Report: Musto Skiff’s at Itchenor SC – 2/3 Nov

The final event of the UK southern circuit took place last weekend at Itchenor Sailing Club (ISC) as part of their annual Firecracker weekend. For those of you who haven’t visited ISC before, you’re missing a trick: one of the most welcoming clubs in the country, great race management, and excellent facilities.

Saturday dawned with an early 10.30am start to get the tide right and an east north easterly wind with the course set just to the east of East Head. This presented a world of tactical options with the still flooding tide and the wind bouncing around off the shore, something that would be in attendance for both days. We shared the course with the 14, RS200, and XOD classes, which also made for some interesting tactical situations!

The first race set the standard for the weekend. The need to get a good clear lane off the start line saw Andy Tarboton and Graeme Oliver starting on port to try and get to the right-hand shift first. Halfway up the beat, it looked like they would be top two at the mark, but with the strong tide and shifts everywhere, Tarboton just cleared the chasing pack with Oliver 10 boat lengths back buried in the early teens. Josh Belben pulled through well with Sam Barker and Dan Vincent, and the four duelled out to the finish, with Tarboton taking the win.

Race two followed a similar format but with a curve ball of a big shift midway down the first run. This split the fleet and allowed Barker, Andrew Gould, and Brian Greensmith to benefit, with Barker going on to a fly-away victory with Gould and Greensmith just holding off the charging Oliver and Tarboton.

Again, race three had some snakes and ladders, with Barker pulling off a miracle recovery from a poor start and getting the shift of a lifetime to get back into the top 3 at the first mark, with Mark Cooper leading having come in from the port layline with Andrew Gould and Steve Robson (incidentally sailing a 20+ year old boat!).

The fleet was so tightly packed that it meant the gybe lines were critical, with gusts coming off the shore changing the angles on the lower part of the run. Oliver and Barker nailed the layline to lead, with Tarboton doing well to work his way back through after getting the wrong side of the shift. Oliver and Barker duked it out up the beat, with Barker getting a better final shift and going on to take the win from Oliver and Tarboton.

Race 4 was a straight-out fight between Cooper, Vincent, Barker, and Tarboton, each having their time at the front in the shifting breeze, but Barker again pulled through to take the bullet from Oliver, who worked the shifts well up the second beat, and Vincent showed good pace and tactics to take third.

So, after day one, the consistency of Barker leading saw Barker, Tarboton, and Oliver making up the top 3.

The fleet then faced a leg-burning sail home against the tide to be met by a beer, roaring fire, and dinner at the club. After 5.5 hours on the water, it was a welcome sight!