mustoskiff.com

Hi,

I've recently purchased GBR 250 and in all honesty, I'm struggling.

I've probably bitten off more than I can chew after progressing from a 505.

I'm starting to get the hang of her, but I'd like to invest some time and money in training / coaching.

I'm based in North Wales but I'm happy to travel / trail her.

Can anyone recommend someone / place I can get training please ? I've tried Plas Menai but they don't seem to have anyone there with the specialist knowledge..

Thanks in advance - Rob

Hi Rob,

Your best its to get yourself along to another club where some Musto's are - makes a huge difference being able to watch people, but also a confidence boost when you see others having mastered it, very few people cracked it straight away so you're not alone.

Not sure where the nearest concentration of Musto's are to you, but sure one of the Northern fleet will be long soon to offer some suggestions.

Cheers
Mark

Rob

The class DVD produced by Richard and Kit Stenhouse is also very helpful. I believe you can buy these through Ovington Boats.

I would also strongly recommend that you break down your learning into questions regarding what you are not sure about and post these on the forum. It is very likely that the points you raise have already been covered by others in the class and I'm sure they can help.

As example questions

- are you finding the boat difficult to tack?
- are you finding the boat has a lot of weatherhelm?

The class are very helpful, so don't worry about asking

There are quite a few new Musto sailors in Scotland. We are likely to organise some coaching around Edinburgh early next season. Id name the venue, but Im not sure they know it yet. (:
Fly up and join us, or trail up.
There are also a few guys in our fleet in the north who are planning some coaching for next season. Again, if you fancied a weekend training in the north, look at Flybe Manchester to Inverness. Have a look at the Chanonry skiffs on Facebook.

Hi Rob and welcome to the class.

In the North of England the main group of sailors are based at Derwent Water over in the North East. There are a number of boats at Ullswater however i am not sure how active they are. I am based in Bassenthwaite in Cumbria but is getting close to me not sailing for the winter. Next year we will be looking to run a Scottish Skiff circuit which is likely to include an event at Ullswater and Derwent which would not be too far from you. We also tend to run training events albeit next year in the central belt wherever suits the Scottish Musto guys.

Cheers John

07966596376

Hi Rob

I know its a long way from Anglesey, but there are 3 skiffs sailing at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club at Grimwith Reservoir near Grassington. We don't all sail every Sunday ( or travel much) due to a combination of other interests. Last weekend was the first time all 3 of us were out at the same time ! None of sailed today as there was no wind, which is unusual as the club is quite high up.

Often over the winter a couple of the Ullswater skiff sailors usually come to Grimwith as well there as well as Ullswater stops racing in November I think. So most Sundays there will probably be 2 or 3 skiffs out

We have a winter series with 2 races on Sundays right through the winter.

Sorry I don't know of anywhere with any skiffs over closer to you.

Stewart

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the messages and sorry for the delay in replying, I've been struggling with the site and my notification's hadn't been turned on !

Well.. I've managed to get to the stage where I can tack (after putting on lots of Cunningham and no kicker) and I've even managed to get on the wings with the kite up (albeit briefly).... but I have a feeling a few of the basics aren't right, I'm still not able to stand and sail yet (unless on the wings) so I'm shuffling around on my knees a lot and often find that I loose power and end up capsizing back on myself...

Basically I now feel confident to go out and get back safety (after being rescued twice) with 10+ capsizes each trip... I've taken a lot of the forum advice on board about speed through the tacks and weight distribution etc.. and I've watched the DVD, but I'm more a self taught sailor from a young age (Optimist, Mirror, Lazer, GP, 505) so a lot of the terminology and technical details went a bit over my head... I had to google what a 'Vang' was for example... I'm trying to read some basic books to catch up on my lingo... however the best article I've seen to date is "The Art of Not Giving Up " on the Musto site- so motivating and apt !

I may have found someone locally who can film me and scream advice, but if that doesn't work out I may well take you up on the advice below and travel to one of your recommend locations...

Thanks again for the info !

Drop any questions here and we'll all try to help

If you can tack with no vang on then you are an expert already
When you are trapezing off the rack upwind then you need to pull then vang on until it is in-line with the back of the main halyard pocket (e.g. between the mast and the back of the pocket).

GBR 250? That's my sail number!! Your skill level sounds just like me...you're not my double are you?!

Has there been a case of duplicate sail numbers? I have GBR 250 on the registry plate on the hull too...If anyone could advise on this would be great..

In terms of progression, I have found buying a camera (I bought a cheap 'knock-off go pro for £50) has been invaluable. Strapping it on to the tiller allows you to see yourself through tacks and gybes so you can see exactly what you do wrong/right, plus its good for telling you if you're sailing flat. Those seem to be the biggest things for me to try and crack at the moment anyway..

I don't tend to get too much from club racing yet, not getting lapped by Bruce is my aim each time! But going out and doing tacking/gybing every 30 seconds/ a minute drills really helps get into a 'groove' and feel like I'm beginning to gain some consistency and rhythm. Having watched the others down a stokes there seem to be various different techniques so finding what works for me really helps..

Having done a training session with Russ and Penny Clark, I have also started to try and focus sessions on one aspect rather than everything. Before, I would get knackered pretty quick by capsizing a few times with the kite still up that it would end the session as I had run out of beans!

I started in the class in May and would often sail on my own in the evenings after work, so learning from the cam footage as well as all the great youtube uploads from others and of course Sten's DVD have really helped me. Having a good fleet down at Stokes has also been great to chat to others and watch when its too windy for me so I hope you can find some other skiffs nearby too..

Cheers,

Nige

Sounds like someone has previously bought a used sail and not changed the sail number.

For clarification, the sail number is the number on the blue ISAF plaque stuck on the transom, you can't have a duplicate

Cheers Paul,

I was pretty sure I was 250, will have to double check at the weekend now though!