Kielder Welcomes Scottish Musto Skiffs

Kielder Water Sailing Club laid on a red-carpet welcome for the first event of the 2006 Musto Scottish Skiff Travellers Trophy Series. It was held as part of the Trident-UK Scottish Skiff Grand Prix Series, in which the fleet of 16 Musto Skiffs was by far the biggest class, making up half of the total fleet of 32 skiffs from 10 different skiff classes.

Several newcomers were attending their first Musto event, one of them launching a new boat for the first time. Everyone had a great time and the experienced sailors helped the newcomers - although some of these guys are obviously not going to need help for long!

Saturday was cold, with a gusty & shifty wind that built during the day to be a good force 6 by the end - which was a bit much for some this early in the season - particularly with 4 races scheduled per day.

In the first race Kit Stenhouse (Rutland) rounded the windward mark chased by Ian Renilson (Dalgety Bay) and Ian Trotter. Renilson & Trotter gradually closed in on Kit, and eventually passed her on the last round, to finish Renilson; Trotter; Kit Stenhouse; and Richard Stenhouse.

In the slightly more wind of race 2 Richard Stenhouse got going and led all the way round with Renilson & Trotter chasing, followed by Andy Bunyan (Largs).

Race 3 got away after one general recall and was led at the windward mark by Renilson, but his main halyard broke and he sailed ashore to fix it, then returned to finish last. Andy Hutchinson (Dalgety Bay) then took the lead but in the building breeze he couldn’t keep the boat upright and capsized gybing, leaving Trotter to win, followed by Richard and Kit Stenhouse, then Hutchinson.

Race 4 started after 2 general recalls in a stiff breeze that increased dramatically and led to the race being shortened. Richard Stenhouse led from start to finish, followed initially by Renilson - who capsized gybing to let Trotter through. In the shortened race Richard Stenhouse finished first, and then Trotter & Renilson crossed the line to silence, being over the line at the start. This left Hutchinson and Kit Stenhouse to take 2nd and 3rd, followed by John Evans (Derwent).

Sunday started bright & cold with a force 2 - 3, and again the wind was gusty & shifty. The race got away after one general recall and Richard Stenhouse got away well, chased by Ian Trotter and Kit Stenhouse. Renilson came back strongly on the second beat to pass several boats and get up to second place. On the third run Renilson got close enough to threaten Richard Stenhouse, then the breeze died and Stenhouse sneaked away to win convincingly, with Renilson second; Kit third; and Trotter fourth.

The wind failed to materialise and after waiting ashore for a while the racing was abandoned.

Richard Stenhouse therefore won convincingly, after a faltering start in the first race. He also won the Trident-UK Scottish Skiff Grand Prix event, followed by two Vortexes.

Perhaps the most unfortunate competitor was Ian Renilson, who scored a first and two seconds, but also had a last place due to gear failure (whilst leading the race) - which he had to count through also getting a Black Flag in the last race of Saturday.

The most amusing incident happened to a nameless competitor who slept-in on Sunday morning - which you would think would be difficult since he was sleeping in his car. When he did not show, friends tried to find him and tried looking in his car, but couldn’t find him - he was fast asleep in the boot! Yes - he is rather short ?.

Many thanks to everyone at Kielder for running an excellent event - and for making us feel so very welcome.

Pos’n Name Club 1 2 3 4 5 Points
1 Stenhouse, Richard Rutland 4 1 2 1 1 5
2 Trotter, Ian Derwent 2 3 1 17 4 10
3 Stenhouse, Kit Rutland 3 7 3 3 3 12
4 Renilson, Ian Dalgety Bay 1 2 11 17 2 16
5 Bunyan, Andy Largs 5 4 5 17 8 22
6 Hutchinson, Andy Dalgety Bay 13 13 4 2 6 25
7 Evans, John Derwent 9 9 6 4 7 26
8 Chapman, Tim Rutland 8 6 7 17 5 26
9 Lowe, Stephen South Shields 10 5 7 17 11 33
10 Griffith, Peter South Shields 7 8 17 17 9 41
11 Davies, Paul Derwent 11 11 9 17 12 43
12 Anderson, Peter Dalgety Bay 6 10 17 17 17 50
13 Haine, M Prestwick 17 12 10 17 17 56
14 Bamber, Mark Glasson 14 17 17 17 10 58
15 Reekie, John Largs 12 17 17 17 17 63
16 Purdy, Richard Sunderland 17 17 17 17 13 64