Report by Ben Schooling, Bill Maughan, and Jono Shelley
After 14 events on the GBR circuit this year, the overall points have come down to an unprecedented three-way tie! With 7 events apiece, Euan Hurter from Dalgety Bay, Bill Maughan from Sunderland, and Dan Vincent from Stokes Bay are all tied on qualifying points – the Nationals, plus 3 other event scores.
Based on cumulative points countback, it is Dan Vincent who wins the 2023 GBR Musto Skiff series by a single point from Hurter. Vincent put in a strong performance at the final event of the year – the Itchenor Firecracker – to pull off a 2nd place, going back-to-back to retain the circuit title for the second year running.
Dan, a stalwart of the class and the driving force behind the 15 strong Stokes Bay fleet, was thrilled to keep the coveted half scale model of the Musto Skiff on the mantle-piece. A Springbok in disguise? Who knows, but we can be sure to see Dan fighting at the sharp end of the fleet again next season.
There were 80 individual competitors on the GBR circuit this year. 12 winners over 14 events shows how closely fought our fleet is, and 20 names made podium spots over the year. A special mention goes to Ollie Bull from Chanonry SC who competed in 7 events and finished 7th overall in his first season in the Musto Skiff.
The Scottish and Northern Skiff Circuit also continues to go from strength-to-strength with a great blend of ‘front of the national fleet’ to ‘new in the boat’ sailors. Seeing the progress of the ‘new in the boat’ folk who have come along to the events and are warmly welcomed and helped by all is such a differentiating feature of this circuit. We also all take pride in having (another) Scottish and Northern based UK National Champion in Bill Maughan…. However, he didn’t win the circuit; Euan Hurter did (for the second time), closely followed by Bill, and then Jamie and Danny Boatman (our social secretary).
This year, the Scottish and Northern Skiff Circuit included 7 different venues (thanks again to all the host clubs and volunteers) and multiple different event winners. It also saw an increasing number of other skiffs (who are again welcomed along with open arms) coming to play. Borrowed boats are also regularly on offer for those further afield.
Jono Shelley, who organises our Scottish and Northern events, is well on his way with planning the circuit for next year, which he has told us will very likely be ‘the biggest ever – with at least one new joiner to the class having some SERIOUS sailing pedigree’. This makes up one half of the overall GBR circuit for 2024, with Mark Cooper also well on his way to finalising an excellent event schedule for our Southern Circuit. The full GBR schedule for 2024 will be announced in the coming weeks.
As well as some great events across the UK, this season has also seen some successful training events run by professional coaches, which was once again sponsored by Noble Marine. This is also something we will be doing more of next season. Our recently launched class training videos are also now available via our Musto Skiff YouTube Channel and class website for anyone planning to brave the cold and train through winter.
There is also plenty going on over the winter months for those who want to keep racing, including the recently launched Seldén SailJuice Winter Series. More Weymouth training is also being planned (dates to be announced) in preparation for a huge year for the class in 2024, which will see our World Championships being hosted at Weymouth and is tipped to be a 100-boat fleet event.
This year, we also saw the introduction of our square top mainsails, and confirmation of a smaller mainsail aimed at beginners, ladies, and lighter-weighted sailors, which is set to launch in the coming months. 2024 is certainly a year to get excited about and there has never been a better time to join the GBR fleet!
Our GBR Chairman, Bill Maughan, wanted to share a personal thanks to each member of the GBR committee for making this season a success, all the club volunteers, and of course all the Musto Skiff competitors for coming along to enjoy the racing (and a handful of socials along the way!).
Overall Results
To close this year, here’s the top 10 sailors, all the event winners, and a link to the overall results for 2023:
Musto Skiff GBR Circuit 2023 – Top 10:
1st | Dan Vincent |
2nd | Euan Hurter |
3rd | Bill Maughan |
4th | Jamie Hilton |
5th | Ben Schooling |
6th | Rob Richardson |
7th | Oliver Bull |
8th | Danny Boatman |
9th | Mike Matthews |
10th | Eddie Bridle |
Musto Skiff GBR Circuit 2023 – Event Winners:
Sam Barker | Ovington Inland Championships – Grafham Water |
Danny Boatman | Yorkshire Dales SC – Scottish Skiff Open |
Jamie Hilton | Daffodil Regatta – Ullswater YC |
Peter Greenhalgh | Stokes Bay SC Open – Stokes Bay SC |
Sam Pascoe | WPNSA Open – WPNSA |
Euan Hurter | One Design Regatta – Largs SC |
Alastair Conn | Scottish Championships – East Lothian YC |
Danny Boatman | Sunderland YC Open – Sunderland YC |
Euan Hurter | Scottish Skiff Open – Chanonry SC |
Dan Vincent | Lymington Dinghy Regatta – Lymington YC |
Bill Maughan | 2023 Noble Marine UK Musto Skiff National Championships – Restronguet SC |
Eddie Bridle | Brightlingsea SC Open – Brightlingsea SC |
Brian Greensmith | Scottish Skiff Open – Dalgety Bay SC |
Andy Tarboton | Itchenor Firecracker – Itchenor SC |
Full results:
https://mustoskiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MS-UK-Circuit-Weighted-Scores-2023-Final.xlsx
Feature image: Start line / © Tim Olin, 2022 UK Musto Skiff National Championships
