2007 Circuit Results

2007 UK Southern Circuit

2007 UK Northern Circuit

2007 Scottish Circuit

2007 Survey Data >>>

High pressure blues at the Inlands :-(
For once the forecasters got it spot on, and the 25 MPS sailors that turned up at Derwent to contest for the title of Inland Champion were left a little dissapointed. The race officer gave the wind every chance to fill in but by 1.30 it was pretty obvious this was not going to happen so he abonded racing for the day. The fun could now begin in earnest,some went mountain biking on the glorious north pennines with others watching the rugby.All I can say is that I opted for the latter and some 12 hours later I fell into bed. Sunday arrived but the wind did not.The fleet made the decision to nurse there very sore heads and hit the tarmac.
Many thanks to all that attended and for making the most of some unfortunate weather conditions.

Ovington Boats are delighted to announce the acquisition of the Victor Boats share in the Musto Performance Skiff project. Ovington Boats have been a 50% partner since the inception of the Musto Performance Skiff project, formally with Devoti Sailing and latterly with Victor Boats. Ovington Boats has purchased the Victor Boats share in the project giving them complete control over building, sales and marketing of the class. Dave Hall, Ovington Boats Sales Director said; “Ovington Boats have been a key partner in the Musto Performance Skiff project from the very outset and to develop the class further, as its international growth increases, required further investment in all areas. Increasing our stake in the project allows us to support the growth in the class” Paul Manning, the Operations Director with Victor Boats will continue to provide key regatta support for the class , Paul says “Following the classes continued growth in both the UK and overseas the project has out-grown Victor Boats. To support the next phase the transition to full ownership to Ovington Boats is the obvious next step. I look forward to working with Ovington Boats to provide the continuity in regatta support” Read more >>>

Dan Vincents Y&Y Article Dan has written an excellent article on the Musto Skiff learning curve which is in this weeks Y&Y (21st Sep Issue). It's out now ... unfortunately they have credited the article to Dan Wilson, but it was of course written by Mr. Vincent ...

The first ever World Championships, I was there... All, this print was signed by all present at the event as a memento of our first formal world championships following ISAF ratification of the class. A copy has been send to FMV as a thank you to the club from the class. You can view a larger version of this here >>>

Fixtures 2008 - Major Events To help those who need to give a lot of notice with work to get time off here are the key dates for 2008 major events ... start planning now. 2008 Fixtures >>>

Stenhouse Elite Skiff Winter Training Series 2007
The difference between club sailor and world champion is their attitude to training – will you be training this winter? Sailing with facilitated after race analysis and training from World Champion Richard Stenhouse. Find out more >>>

UK Nationals - Lyme Regis SC - 6th - 9th September 2007
YouTube Videos now added >>>
In challenging conditions which saw 3 overall leaders during the event and 7 individual race winners, Rick Perkins from Whitstable Sailing Club has won the UK National Championships, making him the fourth different champion in the past four years.The event was superbly run by Lyme Regis Sailing Club with racing held in predominately light airs off the famous Cobb and harbour. In an event where good tactics and speed were equally essential, a number of sailors showed at the fore in individual races, only to post less convincing results later in the series, leaving Rick Perkins as the sole consistent front runner. Indeed his worst result, a 15th, was heading for a 5th until his tactics for once let him down on the last beat. Read more >>>

GBR Owners Map Ever wondered where all the GBR Musto Skiff sailors are distributed? Well, thanks to the efforts of Ted Mount you can now see where everyone is located, well everyone who we have a post code for ... As you can see the GBR Musto Skiff fleet is well distributed throughout the UK with sailors in all parts of the country ... Click for map >>>

Separating a stubborn mast (by Ted Mount) As I need to either have my top section repaired/replaced I tried pulling the upper and lower mast sections apart today with the help of a couple of guys...... it was having nothing of it, probably due to sand ingress and it having never been split since new! Rather than messing around I went straight for the killer blow and separated it using my car.Read more >>>

Compass Bracket for the MPS - Now Available. With the help of a few of the sailors in the fleet, special thanks to Barry Shotton, we are pleased to launch a class specific mounting bracket for the Tacktick T061 micro compass. More info >>>

Sunderland Open The Sunderland MPS open took place over the 18th & 19th August. The feleet was welcomed by a good south easterly breeze, almost perfect conditions. The first day saw 2 races being sailed at sea just north of Sunderland harbour. Ian Trotter took the early lead winning both races, with John Evans 2nd and Richard Purdy 3rd. Read the full report >>>

2007 World Championships - Photo Gallery - Over 1,000 shots All - we are very lucky to have a huge gallery of excellent photos from the worlds taken by Fabrizio Prandini. In the below galleries there are over 1000 photos so I'd hope almost every one of the competitors who participated in the worlds will be able to find a photo of themselves. If you are a bit short on time and just want to see the top shots Paul Manning has selected his favorite shots for your enjoyment. View the gallery >>>

Musto Skiff Question Time. The Musto Skiff class is well known for being open and friendly with the top of the fleet keen to pass knowledge and experience down the fleet to improve the standard and enjoyment of all sailors. If you are wondering if your are ready for the nationals then Musto Skiff Question time is the reason you should attend and move your Musto Skiff sailing on. Each evening (in the bar of course) there will be a Musto Skiff Question time with a panel of experts keen to answer any questions. Find out more or submit a question >>>

Harken Fit-Out Details Of course you know that the Musto Skiff comes with a standard Harken fit-out.But - just incase you want new bits here are links to the Harken site so you get the part numbers correct. More >>>

Thorpe Bay Yacht Club - Musto Skiff Open Meeting 2007 14 Musto Skiffs enjoyed an excellent weekend of sailing on the Thames Estuary over the weekend of 28 & 29 July. The weather gods on the light side of the estuary provided 2 days of 8 to 15 mph of breeze with occasional sunny spells as a welcome break from the weeks of dull wet weather experienced around the country. The weekend was shared with the Finn class, with two races on the Saturday and three on the Sunday. Saturday saw Richard Stenhouse take two bullets with Andy Peake, Dan Dixon and Gareth Evans fighting close behind for second, third and fourth. Local sailor Dan Henderson then took two fifth places to make sure that TBYC were not far behind overall. The Finn fleet made room at the local curry house on Saturday evening for the MPS sailors to join them, they were however disappointed to see that there was no food going spare from the skiff table for them to have seconds! Read more >>>

Musto Skiff's at the Lord Birkett hoisted by Ullswater Yacht Club 12 Musto’s took part in the Lord Birkett hoisted by Ullswater Yacht Club over the 7th and 8th of July. The Lord Birkett is a long distance race with a mass start across the lake and around 200 boats just to make life a little interesting. The course is basic and the shortest time on handicap wins with both days’ scores making up the overall winner. Read more >>>

Hayling Island Musto Skiff Open Meeting Saturday’s racing was held in a variable F2-3, but it was the chop that made life difficult, with the waves being particularly nasty on Stbd tack. Gareth Davies showed good form with 2 wins from 3 races, however he could only score a 4th in the middle race, which meant Neil Upton-Brown was the overnight leader with a 2-1-2 scoreline. Read more >>>

RUTLAND CLASSIC 2007 Stenhouse tops 23 knots as he dominates at the Rutland Classic Rutland offered everything on Sunday 1st July, sunshine, black clouds, heavy showers, clear skies, and breeze from 10 to 25+ knots in the squalls. Entrants from all over the Midlands meet at Rutland for the Rutland Classic 4 hour pursuit race. In wind speeds averaging 15 knots, a race this length was likely to be a test of fitness as well as skill. Read more >>>

Message from the new Chairman - Simon Reynolds. The success of the World Championships recently on Lake Garda, Italy with 86 entrants, has clearly shown the popularity, growth and, International appeal of the Musto Skiff over the last 12 months and, in particularly since becoming a recognised class by ISAF. The class has truely come of age. However, such achievements do not happen by accident, but from the deliberate actions and committment of your committee members, from the support of the class sponsors and, from dedicated individual members. A big thank you therefore goes out to all who, over the last year, have contributed their time and energy in making the class the success that it is today. Particular thanks go to out to our former Chairman, Paul Clarke, for guiding us through the last three years so diligently, to Ovington Boats who have given such generous financial and staff support to the class and the association over the years and, to you the sailors, who have showed your faith in the boat and for serving as great ambassadors for such a great product. Read more >>>

New Italian Website - We are delighted to announce that the Italian MPS sailors now have their own local language site http://www.mustoskiff.it/. This site has been developed by Roberto Usai who can be contacted via the Italian site. As the class grows more and more internationally it's great that fleets are developing their own information sources to help with the development of Musto Skiff sailing around the world. Visit the site >>>

Velocitek Musto Performance Skiff World Championships - 2007 Following ISAF ratification in 2006 the International spread of the Musto Skiff Class has progressed at a rapid rate and the first official World Championships held at Fraglia Vela Malcesine was always set to be a fantastic event; but the reality was it was even better that anyone had anticipated. The event was run as a single fleet of 86 boats representing 13 nations. Title sponsor Velocitek also added an extra dimension to the event by loaning S-10 GPS units to those competitors who didn't already own one to keep a track of maximum speeds and to run replays of the days racing. Read more >>>

Musto Skiff Scottish Championships - East Lothian Yacht Club - 2/3 June 2007 “Leave the Bass Rock to Port!” 35 Scottish Skiffs gathered at North Berwick under the banner of East Lothian Yacht Club for the second of the 2007 Trident sponsored Grand Prix series. The event also featured the Scottish Championships of the Musto Skiff class and with 19 entries in this class it was by far the largest of the 8 classes represented, and the event was an ideal opportunity to practice for the classes first ever World Championship in 2 weeks – for which there is already an entry of 88 boats. Read more >>>

Stokes Bay Open - 26 & 27th May 2007 We were greeted with about 7 different forecasts for the weekend so I don’t think any one knew exactly whether we were getting 5 or 50kts the weather soon became sunny and we launched in 8kts of northerly breeze. Read the full report >>>

Winning in the Italian lakes - by Mark Rushall Sun, wind, good food, food wine, and a great atmosphere. Many UK and International classes include a visit to one of the lakes in their fixture list, and those who haven’t yet tried it are missing out on a fantastic experience. Most first time visitors will be sailing from Torbole or Riva on Lake Garda, or Gravedona on Lake Como. Since similar principles apply at many other mountainous lake venues, we will focus on these venues.
Read the full analysis >>>

Whitstable Open - 12-13th May Despite an awful forecast 23 Musto Skiffs arrived at Whitstable Yacht Club on Saturday 12th May and were greeted by the predicted 30 knots of breeze. The race officer soon came to the conclusion that boats were best left on shore, particularly as Sunday’s forecast was looking more promising. Race one on Sunday got underway in around 8 knots. Ex Solo National Champion, Dan Vincent, showed early promise by leading the fleet round the windward mark, closely pursued by Kit Stenhouse. With the breeze building, boat handling skills started to come into play which didn’t work in Vincent’s favour. His capsize allowed Kit to capitalise on the lead she had earlier taken and Rick Perkins to pull through into second. Michael Palfreman from Starcross was third. Read more >>>

Tactics - by Mark Rushall Mark is well known to many Musto Skiff sailors as he has run a few training events for the class over the years. Mark has recently launched an excellent new book covering all aspects of tactics.
Book Review by Rick Perkins >>>

Velocitek GPS Bracket This mod has been developed to mount a Velocitek GPS. Bend the Perspex around a bit of 77mm diameter tube and then cut a slot for the velcro strap. I put a bit of progrip on the inside the grip the boom when the strap was tightened up.
Read more >>>

Billy No Mates Trophy - Carsington Bright sun and moderate cool north east force four breeze blowing down Carsington lake. Four Musto Skiffs turned up for the fast single handed, Billy No Mates Trophy. 51 entry’s only 48 sailed out towards the south of the lake to start the first race. Most sailors were shocked as they sailed through the moorings into the open lake. The wind was very unstable, very sharp quick gusts, shifty winds and random holes made racing very interesting. Especially the windward mark, which was dropped in fluky winds from being shadowed by trees. Read more >>>

Musto Skiff Open at Ullswater Yacht Club Sunny weekend welcomed those making the travel to Ullswater for the Musto Skiff Open. With a disappointing entry due to a clash with the Carsington Open the sailors were greeted with a personalised race committee eager to get on with the proceedings. The first day saw 4 races sailed with a light Easterly breeze offering plenty of places for overtaking. It was Nick Marshall making the early running to lead by one point. Read more >>>

Guide to using GPSar with your Velocitek S10. Notes & guidance to help. Click for more >>>

Using a trapeze has just become a lot safer. A new safety product has been launched for the 2007 season aimed at dinghy or cat sailors that use a trapeze. The Aquastrap, releasable foot-strap, replaces the potentially dangerous fixed footstraps that adorn most boats. A footstrap is an essential piece of equipment for anyone that ventures out onto a trapeze, providing stability and balance, and allowing the user to extract the maximum performance from his or her boat. Read more >>> UPDATE - Aquastrap have donated 6 pairs of these for prizes at the Whitstable Open, UK Nationals & Worlds.

UK Circuits In recognition of the growing fixture list and the geographical spread all over the country this year the MPS class will have 3 circuits. Scottish Skiff Racing, North and South. This is the first year we have done this and some events count for both circuits. Please give us your feedback on this via the forum. You can view the fixture list which defines all the various circuits >>>>

Felpham Open Sun, flat seas and sizzling temperatures were the conditions provided by the good folk from Felpham sailing club for the Musto Skiff open event held over the weekend of the 14/15 April. The wind however was not so willing to please. The light and fickle offshore gradient breeze was always going to struggle against the probability of a sea breeze kicking in as the temperatures increased during the day. Under these conditions the race team did a great job of providing six good races over the weekend. Read more >>>

Helensburg Scottish Skiff Racing. Helensburg sailing club hosted the first event of the Scottish Skiff Racing Circuit over Easter weekend.Saturday was hot and sunny with a light to medium north westerly wind. This gave some challenging tactics with no one side being favoured due to some interesting tidal effects between Gare lock and the Firth of Clyde. The tidal gains were often over ridden by changes in pressure and wind shifts, not a day to go the same way as last time. The race officer set a big windward leeward course and used average lap times to decide the winner of the 30 strong fleet of the various skiff type classes. Read more >>>

Training at Whitstable Yacht Club The 4th training event to be held this year by the MPSCA took place over Easter at Whitstable. The investment by the class in training up coaches has resulted in good training kicking the season off all over the UK with now 52 people attending training events. Read more >

All the MPS fixtures in Google Earth Just in case you don't know where all the events are here is a Google Earth file that shows you where they all are. Download file >>>

Replays of Velocitek S10 GPS data As I am sure you all know Velocitek have come on board at the title sponsor of the Musto Skiff World Championships. The product is shown below and shows speed & VMG whilst sailing; but that is just half the story as the data can be analysed after to give a new view into what happened on the race course. Watch the race >>>

The Musto Skiff Class Association and Ovington Boats are delighted to announce that Velocitek have stepped up as the title sponsor of the 2007 Musto Skiff World Championships to be held at Lake Garda in June. Velocitek design, manufacture and market innovative GPS products specifically for the sailing market.The Notice of Race for the event has been written such that competitors will be permitted to use GPS equipment during the event. As part of their support for the event, which will include some great prizes, Velocitek will also support the event through some loan S10 GPS units which will be used to provide post race analysis of the performance of various sailors within the fleet. Read more >>>

Pimp My Skiff Update - Trapeze Harness (Ian Renilson/Rick Perkins) All good pimps should have somthing special hanging from the crotch ... This mod has been developed to attach the mainsheet tail to the harness.I use a clip on my harness so that I can control the main from the wire whilst going downwind without leaning in and I don't have to worry about it through the gybe. Check out these pimps >>>

Rutland Open - 24-25th March Five different race winners over the weekend showed the depth of competition within the fleet. Newcomer to the MPS fleet Andy Peake wins his first race in his new Musto - proving how easy the transition from 700's to an MPS can be. Twenty-two hardy souls were greeted with a full blown hoolie and weather cold enough to freeze nuts on brass monkeys, at Rutland Sailing Club, for the first open of the season. The fleet took to the water on Saturday with a four race programme ahead of them. After Andy's win in race 1, Sten stamped his authority on the event winning the next three races. Racing was very close throughout the fleet with all mistakes punished. Read more >>>

Pre-Championship Visit to FVM – March 2007 Paul Manning and Paul Clarke visited the host club for the 2007 World Championships over the weekend of 9th to 11th March. During the visit, the details of the event management were discussed with the club and there was also an opportunity to look around the new facilities that the club has built since the Gold Cup was held there back in 2004. FVM – what had changed over the last 3 years? The change is dramatic, the marina to the northern end of the facility has been increased in size and the club perimeter has been smartened up. The biggest change is seen on entering the club site through the main entrance gate. Read more >>>

Training Dalgety Bay SC. It was just as well that we postponed the training from last weekend – it was far too breezy to sail all weekend. I am pleased to now be able to confirm that we can run the training this coming weekend – 24/25 March – and the weather forecast is looking a lot better: Read more >>>

Training at South Shields. The appauling weather forecast did not deter 12 MPS sailors and a lone 600 sailor from attending South Shields sailing club for early season training. The coaches decided after the first 30 knott gust blasted through it would be adviseable to keep the training shore based. So plan B was implemented. Read more >>>

2007 Dinghy Show - UK Once again the Dinghy Show was a great opportunity for the Musto Skiff Class Association members who staffed the stand to spread the gospel according to the MPS. Thanks to all those who took the time to stop by our stand and give us the opportunity to tell you about a boat and sport that gives us all so much pleasure. More

Updated Pimps Seems many of you have been busy bimbling your new boats over the winter. Thanks for those who have sent in their photos ... Check out the latest Pimps.

Updated Tuning Guide. In keeping with the spirit of the class a number of sailors of various sizes who managed some decent results last year have shared all their settings and data for the benefit of others. Review the guide; if you have any questions most of these people are contactable via the committee section on this website or via the forum.

Lazyhook The Lazyhook is a self orientating trapeze ring allowing the sailor to hook on after wire to wire manoeuvres regardless of the orientation of the trapeze handle. This enables single handed sailors to perform consistent wire to wire manoeuvres. It also allows the crews of double handed dinghies to concentrate on trimming without having to assist their helms after manoeuvres.
Read more >>>

Musto Skiff National Training Day - 17th/18th March 2007 (or over Easter at Whitstable YC) In order to generate even closer competition and more fun in the worlds 'only' established high performance single handed racing skiff, it has been decided, to once again, hold a national training day. Following on from last years highly successful event, the Musto Skiff class association has persueded some of the top sailors from the class to hold training clinics at different locations througout the UK. The main aim of the coaches is to pass on the experience they have gained to the newer members of the class and to those who are struggling with the set up and handling of the boat.It is also a good excuse to get together early in the season and blow away the cobwebs. Book now >>>

Charter Boats for the Worlds If you would like to attend the 2007 World Championships but don't want to fly your boat half way around the world, or perhaps you don't won a Musto Skiff but would like to attend the event then you are in luck as there will be a number of charter boats available. Find out more >>>

The John Merricks Tiger Trophy 3rd- 4th February The tiger trophy is usually remembered as one of the most windy and cold events of the year. This year it was the opposite with very light winds all weekend and warm sunny conditions leading to a few of the 29er sailors going for swims whilst playing around waiting to start. The first start was a general recall with everyone rafting up, trying to find a gap at the favoured starboard end of the line. The next start was black flag to hold everyone back which seamed to do the trick. Ant Chapman learnt from his mistake in the first start where he got rafted up, and started a few boat lengths further down the line with perfect timing. This put him clear ahead of the other Musto’s, with such light winds racing for overall honour’s wasn’t on the cards. Read the full report >>>

Place all the MPS fixtures into Microsoft Outlook in one go. Here are three versions of files that the outlook calendar can import. Added a 1 week reminder on all events. No need to miss another event. More >>>

Review velocitek S10 gps speedometer By Huud Ouwehand NED229 Last year I came across with the Velocitek S10, a gps speedometer, specially designed for sailing sports. The S10 comes in a strong casing. It has large digits and two buttons on each side. The buttons work by just putting your finger onto it. The S10 package comes with a usb cable and two velcro strips to attach it to a bracket or straight to your boat. You can also equip the S10 with a clip with which you can attach it to a bar or the boom of a surfboard. Read more >>>

History of the  Musto Skiff - Area update with new archive photos and clippings from Dr. JH Back in 1999 ISAF put out a brief to designers for a fast single handed boat. Long-term German Contender sailor Dr Joachim Happrecht took this brief on and developed the OSP or Olympic Singlehander Project. Read more >>>

2007 T shirt on sale exclusively to MPS owners The class association have decided to produce an exclusive Musto Skiff shirt to mark the first world championships and the ISAF recognition. This is only available to members of the class association and only for sale now - it will not be for sale at the Worlds later this year so act now .... Read more >>>

Spotted on the Harken Stand at the London Boat Show, Digital rig tension gauge ....For those who are very keen on rig tune and repeatable boat set up this prototype digital rig tension gauge spotted on the Harken stand at the London boat show will be of great interest. More >>>

The Musto Performance Skiff’s raced at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham on Crouch on Saturday 9th December for the Burnham Icicle Trophy. Following several weeks of windy and wet weather the event was held in brilliant sunshine and 8-15 knots of westerly breeze, which brought the crowds out to watch the spectacular close racing.This trophy was originally presented by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club as the premier dinghy winter handicap trophy attracting the top sailors from the UK dinghy scene by invitation from the 1950’s – 1990’s. Sailors such as Roger Angell, Keith Musto and Peter Bateman are some of the previous winners. So it proved to be a great way for the sailors to celebrate their recent ISAF status achievement, and race be added to this long list of famous sailors. Read the full report >>>

HOT NEWS - ISAF Recognised Status granted for the Musto Skiff. At the recent ISAF conference the Musto Performance Skiff was granted ISAF Recognised Status by the ISAF Council. This is a milestone for the class and means we can now hold a proper World Championships. Well done to all those who contributed to the ISAF application ... Forum discussion >>> ISAF Report >>>

A Guide to Insuring your Musto Performance Skiff If you've just bought a Musto Skiff or are thinking just comparing different policies prior to renewing your insurance, this guide may help you decide the sort of policy you need. The cover provided by different Insurance Companies, and also the service they offer, can vary greatly. Bear in mind that a cheaper policy may end up costing you more, if you have to make a claim and you should always check what cover is being offered before signing up. Read more >>>

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