Welcome to the August Newsletter. Well it's that time of the year again, Nationals and then the Gold cup. Both events are looking like being blinders! There will be a big fleet at Sunderland and a big thanks to Kev and his mob for organising everything, all we need now is the right weather. The Gold cup is shaping up well with what looks like being the largest MPS fleet ever gathered. This will probably be the last Garda for a year or two as we look to expand our horizons. Possible venues under consideration are Switzerland, Majorca, Spain, Germany, Holland or maybe even the US. I will keep you all posted with the latest news, things are going fantastically well....... lets keep it up !

Good sailing, Graeme Oliver Musto Performance Skiff Class Chairman

Musto Skiffs at the Lord Birkett

The best conditions in years welcomed the ten skiff sailors to the Lord Birkett where 200 boats battle for the coveted Lord Birkett platter.

The course suited the skiffs with the wind blowing down the lake making it in effect a windward leeward. Ian Turnball revelled in the conditions to take an impressive 1st place overall with Richard Stenhouse 2nd and Ian Trotter 3rd. Kev Anderson having got left at the start pulled through to finish fifth. more>

Training this weekend at Rutland ... August 7th & 8th

We have got enough people booked now to make the training happen, but there are a few places left if anyone else would like to join in. Due to this unimportant regatta going on in Athens in the near future, all of the top coaches are tied up. So what we thought is to get the person who has dominated the class to do it instead. Sten has agreed to this (fool !).
The training at Rutland will take place over the weekend above. Basic format below 10:00 Arrive 10 - 11:30 Rig set up - Sten, Graeme, Matt 11:30 - 12:30 Sail trim / setup - As above 12:30 Lunch 1:30 - tiredness On Water training - basics (Graeme & Matt), Advanced (Sten) Night - Curry / Chinese or alike

Sunday 10:00 Briefing / rig boats 10:30 - 12:00 On water, windward leeward courses, laylines etc. 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch 1:30 - 3:30 On water, tacking, gybing, hoists, drops (basics group) Go faster tips, reverse drops, wire to wire tacking, gybe drops (adv. grp.)

Obviously all of this will be dependant on weather, we have our own RIB supplied kindly by Devoti (Thanks Guys), this will allow us to hopefully get some video and stills photography to help you understand where you are going wrong (or right !)

Garda Training Programme Outline

This 2 day training camp will aim to help those new to the class to take control of your destiny. Don't miss this great chance to receive top quality training at a great venue. The training will be targeted at the lower half of the fleet so even if you know you are not going to win the Gold Cup you can still get a lot out of your visit to Garda.
Boat Handling; Good boat handling Techniques are the basic building blocks of a race winning performance. Champions in any class take control of their destiny, choosing where to tack and gybe, where to start, and thread their chosen route around the race course; while the rest of us are forced to sail defensively through poor or inconsistent technique. We will use a mix of short races, training exercises, video, and on shore briefing, to focus on tacking, gibing, slow sailing, acceleration, getting out of trouble, and mark rounding, to help you to take control of your own race.

Strategy; We will also look at the priorities and decision making processes involved in making a race winning strategy, both in general terms and specifically at Garda. Tactics; Now we can use our newly improved boat handling to gain tactical advantage, force our will on the fleet, and thread our way through the obstacle course of the fleet.

Mark Rushall is a freelance coach and writer, and champion in a range of high performance dinghy and keelboat classes, who has coached sailors to medal winning performances at national and international events. Having sailed a Musto Skiff during the development process he is looking forward to getting wet once again at Garda!

UK Nationals - just weeks away ...

This is the last e-Newsletter before the UK Nationals and our last chance to remind you all what a great event this is going to be.
Sunderland has great sailing waters and the locals have lined up a great event that is well supported with a range of sponsors.

For the Southern sailors there is often a perception that anywhere north of Watford is a huge drive. In fact Sunderland is closer than Penzance (for me based in Whitstable) and the roads will be a lot less congested ....

So don't miss out on what is set to be a fantastic event!!