Scottish Skiff Grand Prix Event & Musto Skiff Scottish Championships
East Lothian YC - 3-4 June

Glorious conditions greeted 28 Skiffs from 7 classes at the second event of the 2006 Trident-UK Scottish Skiff Grand Prix series at East Lothian Yacht Club, with warm sunshine and a good force 3 from the West.

This was also the Musto Skiff Scottish Championships and they were the biggest class amongst the skiffs with 13 boats. The Musto Skiffs also dominated the results - not surprising since the standard in the fleet is very high, led by multiple champion Richard Stenhouse (Rutland) and current UK National Champion, Ian Trotter (Derwent).

Richard Stenhouse led the first race at the windward mark and everything seemed to be going to form, but top Scot Ian Renilson (Dalgety Bay) passed him up the second beat, and led to the end. Ian Trotter (Derwent) was also in the fray, until he capsized in a careless tack. First Non-Musto on handicap was the International 14 of Wilkie & McCafferty (Dalgety Bay) in 5th place.

The second race went with the form book with Sten squeezing Renilson away from the favoured port side of the course shortly after the start, and it was Sten - Trotter - Renilson all through the race, with the first non-Musto the father & son team of Stewart & Ben Robertson (Royal Forth) sailing well in a 49er.

Race three belonged to Renilson, who won the port end of the start line and hit the port side of the course to lead at the windward mark and extend his lead through the race. Sten was initially close on his heels, but got caught by Ant Chapman (Rutland) and Trotter on the first run and had to fight to get back. By the end of the race the order was Renilson - Trotter - Sten. The first non-Musto was the International 14 of Wilkie & McCafferty in 5th.

That left Renilson as the surprise leader overall, but the day was not over.

The lovely sailing conditions tempted 6 of the top Musto Skiffs to head off on a skiff-cruise around the massive Bass Rock, with its huge colony of sea-birds - which was an awesome experience in a small dinghy. The weather-gods looked kindly on the endeavour, allowing the sailors to sail down to the island under kites, and then shift the wind and raise it a couple of knots to give a belter of a kite run back to the club as well - what luck - and what fun!

The ELYC BBQ that evening was excellent, as was the 10-piece folk-rock band, and the competitors relaxed after a hard day on the water.

Unfortunately Sunday was a different story - with light & fickle winds that died to nothing. 3 races were sailed, but it just was not the same. Race 4 was a marathon 1.5 hours with 4 rounds in fickle winds - Kit Stenhouse led initially, but was soon overtaken by her other half. Trotter and Renilson struggled to stay in contention, but lightweight Ant Chapman scooted through from the back of the fleet after capsizing & totally inverting on the run (!) to take second place. With the International 14 late for the start, it was the 29er of Jenny McIntyre & Tom Gosden that was first non-Musto in 6th place.

Race 5 was a much shorter affair - again won by Sten, who just seemed to know where the wind was and kept his boat going when others faltered. Ant Chapman again sailed well to finish second, and third was Trotter. The first non Musto was the International 14 of Wilkie & McCafferty in 4th.

After Race 5 several competitors drifted towards shore expecting no further racing, only to see the flags go up for another race. Sten & Renilson just got back in time for the start, but Trotter didn’t even try. Sten & Renilson were neck & neck approaching the windward mark, but Sten pulled off a couple of miraculous roll-tacks to jump in front, and he sailed away as Renilson hit the spreader mark and had to do a turn, letting Chapman through. Sten was first Musto & first Skiff on handicap, to give him 3 straight wins in the fickle winds of Sunday. Second on handicap was the Holland brothers Fergus & Thomas in a 29er from Kielder Water, and third was the Laser 4000 of Sam Thompson & Matt Day from Wigton Bay.

That left Richard Stenhouse the emphatic overall winner in a Musto Skiff, counting 4 firsts and a second, to take the Musto Skiff Scottish Championship trophy and win the Trident-UK Grand Prix event. Second and third were Ian Trotter & Ian Renilson.

The results in the Musto Skiff Fleet changed slightly after the individual race results were extracted from the overall fleet, with Renilson second and Trotter third in the Musto Skiff Scottish Championships.

The 4 x 49ers also had good racing, with Stewart & Ben Robertson sailing well to dominate all races in the breeze on Saturday, but they struggled in the light winds of Sunday and - after some close racing - Ronnie Millar & Gavin Mackinnon (Royal Forth) were first in their class for 2 races and Craig Hepplewhite & John Annan (Loch Lomond) were first 49er in the other.

Overall Results (MPS Scottish Champioships):

1st (Musto Skiff) Richard Stenhouse
2rd (Musto Skiff) Ian Renilson
3nd (Musto Skiff) Ian Trotter

Overall Results (SSR Series):

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Total
1st (Musto Skiff) Richard Stenhouse 2 1 3 1 1 1 6
2nd (Musto Skiff) Ian Trotter 3 2 2 4 3 DNC 14
3rd (Musto Skiff) Ian Renilson 1 3 1 5 5 7 15

1st International 14 (6th overall) Martin Wilkie/ Iain McCafferty 5 5 5 26 4 8 27
1st 49er (7th overall) Stewart & Ben Robertson 7 4 8 13 11 11 41
1st Laser 4000 (10th overall) Sam Thompson/ Matt Day 20 23 18 7 6 3 54
1st 29er (12th overall) Fergus & Tom Holland 17 20 19 10 17 2 65

Report by Ian Renilson Musto Skiff GBR128