19 Musto Performance
Skiff’s from Switzerland, Austria and Italy met over
the weekend 15-16th October at Lake Zug south of Zurich
 Skiffs
had been practising on Friday in brilliant sunshine
and a good breeze, but unfortunately the low cloud did
not clear on Saturday, so racing was postponed until
Sunday. This gave yours truly a chance to go sightseeing
with some of the locals, above 1500m there was brilliant
sunshine, and the snow on the higher alpine peaks was
a memorable site.
Sunday was a better day for sailing, and
the fleet managed to hold 3 races in light breeze.
Race one saw the fleet get away to a clean
start, and there was a lot of place changing as the
skiffs made their way up the first beat. This was to
set the theme for the other races. Roger rounded first
closely followed by a pack of boats including Ueli Marti,
Beat Blasi, Diter Brunner and Dominique Walchli and
a down wind dual ensued which Roger came out of in front,
and managed to pull clear to take the win followed by
Dominique with Dieter 3rd .
 Race
2 was a close battle throughout, with a number of different
boats leading on the first two legs. Urs Serrer, and
Roger Oswald rounding the final mark together, looked
like Urs would beat Roger, but Roger pulled through,
and Urs was unlucky to drop to 4th.
The final race saw the fleet split up
the beat as the sailors decided which side of the course
to take. Most of the fleet arrived at the first mark
within boat lengths of each other, and the downwind
leg was close to call, as the sailors worked to keep
their air clear. By now the breeze had built to around
8-10knots, and the lake sailors all demonstrated their
light airs trapezing and boat handling skills to the
full. Roger managed to pull through, and take the win
from Ueli with Rolf Schindles in 3rd.
The eventual winner was Roger Oswald,
but I am sure Roger will be the first to admit he had
a close battle with the front end of the fleet. Ueli
Marti, Urs Serrer and Dieter Brunner all showed consistently
well at the front, and it is noticeable to see the standard
of sailing technique of the majority of the fleet in
light airs is very high.
 Many
thanks to Cham Sailing Club for organising the event,
and to the sponsors Duvoisin Nautique, Gerber, Greatkit,
and Selden for their generous prices.
A big thanks also to the Swiss class association
for looking after me, it was good to see old friends
and new.
Paul Manning.
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