Gold Cup 2006

A fleet assembled from 5 different countries (GBR, GER, SUI, NED, ESP) gathered for the 2006 Musto Skiff Gold Cup which was held as part of the famous Travemunder Woche event on the Baltic coast of Germany. The fleet was 43% non-GBR which is reflective of the true international flavour of the class.

The majority of the fleet gathered on Sunday prior to the event to enjoy a couple of days training and practice before the main event. This also allowed the sailors to fully indulge in the festivities off the water and to give enough time to recover from the hangovers - Zambuca slammers were the down fall of some who should have known better ...

The fleet is characterized by being very helpful to each other and these few days gave the newer members of the fleet a good opportunity to pick the brains of those at the front of the fleet.

The first days sailing started after a short delay for the thermal sea breeze to build. Racing was dominate by Richard Stenhouse who was closely challenged by Dave Poston. At the end of the day it was Stenhouse in the lead followed by Poston and Rick Perkins in third overall.

The day started with a windless bay & plenty of sun to enjoy whilst the racing was postponed. The sun was working its magic though as by early afternoon the breeze had kicked in as had the nasty short and steep chop on Hotel course.

In the evening the fleet enjoyed a fine reception on board the Passat courtesy of the city of Lubeck.

On day 2 the breeze and sea presented a tougher challenge than day 1 and most competitors were seen checking the foils for weed without lifting them at some stage.

Richard Stenhouse took race one in impressive style from Ian Trotter who chased hard followed by Dave Poston who was continuing to build a strong set of results.

In race two Stenhouse fell victim to the conditions downwind to let Trotter take the win with Ian Renilson in third.

Race 3 saw Stenhouse back in the driving seat taking another win from Spanish sailor Pablo Arnandia with Renilson again third after Rick Perkins capsized just yards from the line.

Day 3 dawned again with light winds but this time with less sun. The fleet left the shore with less wind and after a short delay were lining up for the start in much lighter winds with sailors just sitting on the wings upwind.

At the first attempt to start the fleet pushed too hard and there was a general recall; the second start was under the I flag and again the fleet pushed hard and an individual recall was sounded - only one boat returned and there were sure to be more OCS ...

At the finish Rick Perkins was third but first after the OCS's removed followed by Simon Reynolds and Dave Poston.

The second race was started in slightly more breeze and again one general recall was needed to get the fleet going. Again there were individual recalls and this time more boats returned ... This race was won by Pablo Arandia from Spain followed by Rick Perkins and Richard Stenhouse

The final race of the day was started in slightly more breeze with sailors just starting to trapeze. Kit Stenhouse lead for most of the race but was passed by Richard Stenhouse just at the end of the final beat. Kit held on to take second from Ian Trotter in third.

In the evening a BBQ party was held followed by some impressive beer drinking from the team from the Netherlands.

The 4th day showed little promise of any wind and unfortunately no racing was possible leaving Richard Stenhouse a worthy champion.

In the evening the fleet enjoyed a prize giving dinner sponsored by Selden. The prize giving recognized not just the top sailors but also those who had achieve "special" status and awards were also made on behalf of the class to the organizers and race officers.

There was also a draw for a Hyde Sponsored spinnaker which was won by Martin Sattelkau (GER).

The prizes were sponsored by Harken & Musto.

Thanks again to all the sponsors of the event

Happy faces from all the sailors ...

Photos from the event >>>

Results

Full results >>>