MORDIALLOC ZHIK VICTORIAN DINGHY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 The Victorian Dingh Championships is a multi-class regatta and this year the Musto Skiffs had a start as part of that event. Once again, because there was a Musto regatta scheduled, or perhaps because Jono Neate decided to compete, summer once again took a holiday in Victoria and we rigged up in pouring rain punctuated by strong squalls. Mordialloc Yacht Club is based on a small spit of land marking the entrance to the Mordialloc Creek. Launching is off the white sandy beach to the south of the spit through a beach break over two sandy bars and reasonably difficult. Coming in through the breakers, on the other hand – is almost impossible. read more >>>

2011 Provisional Fixtures (World Wide) Here you go chaps ... start booking your holidays for 2011. Read more >>>

Low Budget Race Cham, Zug (30-31. October 2010)
12 Musto Skiffs met at the last October weekend of the season in Cham. The regatta was a "Very Low Budget Race" ("VLBR") announced that Regatta Committee was still only two people on a boat with a horn, a flag and two drifting buoys. Were planned for Saturday, a Long Distance Race in memory of our recently deceased comrades sail Urs Scherrer, and on Sunday a couple of Up and Down Races. Read more >>>

More youtube vids This is what Jon Newman has filmed in Melbourne See vid >>>

28 Musto Skiffs packed for the Worlds in Australia After many months (years even) of planning the first non-European Musto Skiff World Championships to be held in Australia is looming closer. Whilst all the guys in the Souther hemi-sphere are busy organising the event and getting out training after their "winter" the guys in Europe are coming to the end of the season and packing their boats away for the long trip down under.
Read more & see the pics >>>

Ovington Inlands – Musto Skiff Inland National Championships – Oct 30th-31st A 43 strong Musto Skiff fleet were greeted to a force 2-4 on Saturday at Grafham Water Sailing Club. The competition was going to be close with all the big names from the nationals in attendance. Race one set the themes for the weekend with Tom Wright taking the bullet from Essex boy Daniel Henderson and light weight Michael Palfreman pulling through to third. Read more >>>

Musto Skiff Training at Dalgety Bay Some of the Scottish Musto Skiffers gathered at Dalgety Bay on the weekend of the 23rd/24th October for some pre-worlds training. The Northerly wind, and the first dusting of snow on the tops of the hills made for a cold weekend - very different to conditions expected in Melbourne! We were treated to a fresh F4-5 from the North East on Saturday, and a slightly lighter F2-3 on the Sunday. 7 sailors took part on the Saturday, with 5 on the Sunday. The wind coming across the land made for very gusty and shifty conditions, but meant that the water was very flat. The wind direction also meant our training area crossed the shipping channel into the Forth - it certainly focuses the mind on the gybes! read more >>>

2010 Ovington Boats Musto Skiff On-Line Survey In 2003 the MPS class conducted probably the first on-line survey by a dinghy class association; this was a key activity for understanding the correct direction for a young class. The on-line survey has been supported by the builder every year since and is a key activity of planning the progress of the class and for also dealing with many detail issues such as minor revisions of class rules to understanding the impact of the class sponsors. The 2009 survey was the biggest to date with over 400 respondents and we expect even more to complete the 2010 survey. Read more or Click Here to take the survey >>>

New & Used Boats Update At a time of year when used boats typically pile up for most classes as people pack in for the winter or look forward to a change used Musto Skiffs are selling like hot cakes. We are down to just 3 used boats available in the UK, which is very low ... so if you are not sailing your Musto Skiff much at present why not sell it ... or if you are thinking about upgrading your boat to a new one now is the perfect time to get your boat on the market and order your new one for 2011. More Info >>>

Sailor Profile: Rick Perkins. 2007 UK National Champion Here is a Q&A that was completed by MPS UK National Champion Rick Perkins.
What got you into the MPS class?
I had returned to the UK in 2002 after a year overseas and the MPS was starting to take off and there was the start of a fleet at Whitstable so it seemed like a good choice as my crew (and wife) Sarah was busy studying so I was after a single hander. Read more >>>

2011 MPSCA Fees From 1/10/2010 any MPSCA class fees will cover membership to the end of 2011; this may be particularly useful to those going to the Worlds in early January who will need to be up-to-date on teir MPSCA fees to race
Please pay your fees by hitting the "Pay Now" button on the right

SAIL SANDY 2010 (AUS) The summer weather that saw temperatures rise to the low 20s in the first two weekends of the Australian sailing season were replaced by gale warnings for the season opener Sail Sandy at Sandringham Yacht Club. Sail Sandy is a mixed class event that usually draws fleets in excess of 150 dinghies from around the bay. Sandringham is just a short sail away from Black Rock Yacht Club, the venue for the upcoming 2010 Broo Musto World Championship and home to MPS sailors, Tim Hill, Marcus Hamilton and Robin Dayes.
Read more >>>

Musto Skiffs on Google Maps The team have been busy putting together a Google Map to help prospective new Musto Skiff owners find sailors and clubs near them. This is a collaborative project so if you want your club or yourself to feature on the map just add yourself Google Map >>>

Ovington Inlands – More Than Just a Great Sailing Event This year’s Ovington Inlands at Grafham Water SC on 30/31 October really is looking like an event not to be missed with lots more than just great sailing going on. Chris Turner, Managing Director of Ovington Boats said, “This year we wanted to make this event really special, so within the entry fee, we’ve included an evening meal for every sailor, plus live music from The Dirty Purples and a firework display to top things off”. Read more >>>

Musto Skiffs at the Endeavour Trophy 2010 Thirty current UK National Champions, including World Champions and Olympic campaigners, gathered at Burnham on Crouch for the 50th anniversary of the Endeavour Trophy. The Endeavour trophy is a champion of champions event to find the overall UK dinghy champion. Everyone sails brand new Topper Xenons (a two person, hiking boat with asymmetric kite) kindly supplied by Topper. I was fortunate to get Penny Clark to crew for me. Penny is normally found helming a 470 on the Olympic circuit and is married to fellow Musto Skiff sailor, Russ Clark. Read more >>>

EuroCup top 10 prizes generously provided by Musto include their technical windstopper zip necked top, best quality thermal base layer, top of the range Amara sailing gloves and the useful wash bags that you can keep all your small spare parts as well as keys, phones and wallets from getting wet or forgotten! See more >>>

Musto Skiff Report 25th-26th September Thorpe Bay Yacht Club Saturdays forecast may have put some people off, however 20 Musto Skiffs arrived at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club for what promised to be a pretty full on first day. Being an offshore breeze, from the beach some may have thought they were in the Mediterranean with the new palm trees that have popped up down Southend sea front, however off shore where the committee boat was positioned, there was around 20-25 knots, with some vicious gusts. read more >>>

2010 Inaugural Euro Cup Series What a great series this has turned out to be! and congratulations to Roger Oswald from Switzerland and class chairman Iver Ahlmann from Germany for jointly winning overall (even after the rules to separate competitors were applied!!) We had considered holding a fight between the two of them for overall winner, but cannot think of suitable weapons... Read more >>>

Musto Skiffs at GoSAILING Performance Cup 2010 Slovenia As class secretary, I took the opportunity of an invitation from my good friend Mitja Margon to visit the GoSAILING Performance Cup 2010 to check out the facilities and general arrangements for the venue which will be the host of the 2011 European championships. A number of visiting sailors also had this idea, but used it as a bit of practise on the race area and in the restaurants! Read more >>>

Musto Skiff Weekend at Brisago (Lago Maggiore) 18th and 19th September In memory of Urs Scherrer, Philip Koch made a short speech. On Saturday a beautiful dark red rose was given to each boat, with the intention to lay it down on the regatta field, and therefore each person could take in this moment of farewell Urs. Full of anticipation at 15:00 Musto sailors went to Brissago. Registered, among other things, almost the whole family Oswald. This joy was marred by the weather a bit: calm and rain. More >>

Training at Blackwater Sailing Club: 23rd and 24th of October This is an ideal opportunity to get some last minute training in before your boat heads of to the Musto Worlds. Or for those staying in colder climes, it may help you stay a bit drier this winter!! Coach: Ian Turnbull Find out more & reserve a space >>>

"Fly & Sail" offer A great way to catch some last of the summer sun. There are 2 MPS’s (SLO 271 and SLO 378) available for charter for the upcoming Performance Cup in Portoroz, Slovenia Availability: first come first serve (e-mails to info@gosailing.si ONLY) More details >>>

Melbourne Worlds Entries By now you have probably booked your spot in the containers, checked out the cheapest flights and surfed around the various accommodation options, but it looks like a lot of you have forgotten to enter for the Worlds. So far only 11 boats have coughed up. We know we have 26 people booked containers so it's time for some entries. In 2 weeks (after 24th September) the first stage of late fees will be applied, and the on-line entry system doesn’t allow for any discretion. Wouldn’t you rather spend the extra $50 (£29) on beer in January. Please help the event organisers with the logistics planning by making a commitment earlier rather than later. Find out more info >>>

Trapeze Harness (Yaroslav Petrov) All good pimps should have somthing special hanging from the crotch ... This mod has been developed to attach the mainsheet tail to the harness. Comments 1. My mainsheet goes forward through the ring – same as on your boat as displayed in “Pimp my skiff” section of our web-site.. See more >>>

Musto Skiff Training in Stonehaven 18 & 19 September More details >>>

Selling your boat - watch out for scammers It seems our class is now so mainstream that we are now seeing some people selling their boats are being targeted by scammers. It is the responsibility of each person selling their boat to ensure that they are happy with the buyer & the method of payment. More details >>>

Urs Scherrer
8th November 1939 – 20th August 2010

It is with great sadness that we have to announce our great friend and Musto skiff sailor extraordinaire Urs Scherrer passed away on the 20th August following a battle with cancer. We were all proud to call him our friend and he never ceased to amaze us that, what ever the weather, this dedicated sailor born in 1939 would be out their fighting with some of the best skiff sailors in the World!

Urs was a great inspiration to all the sailors in the fleet sailing competitively into his late 60s in a class which most would have suggested was perhaps more suitable to young guns; Urs reset peoples sights as to what is possible for older sailors and gave vision to all about what can be achieved in later life with a good proportion of determination and a little cunning.

Urs was one of the driving forces in the successful growth of the class in Switzerland, and was key in organising our hugely successful World Championships in Silvaplana 2008.

We have all lost a great sailor and personality, and our heart felt thoughts go out to Marie-Claire and her family.

Urs Scherrer 8th November 1939 – 20th August 2010 a real class legend.

WORLDS CONTAINERS - UPDATE >>>

Hints & Tips: Upwind Speed Priorities This came from the forum; a very useful post by Richard Stenhouse. If you are looking for improved upwind speed then it is useful to break down the challenge and prioritise where to focus your attentions. In order of importance:

1) Keeping the boat flat - biggest effect on speed by far
2) Main sheet trimming and tension
Find out the rest >>>

Dutch MPS Masterclass Training We are very happy to offer a training clinic on the 16th & 17th of September in Bruinisse, Netherlands. Following the first two days of training, sailors will get the opportunity to showcase their skills while competing in the Dutch National Championships. Which is also the final event in the '10 EuroCup series. Find out more >>>

2011 World Championship update This could be a lifetime experience to sail in Melbourne, and the opportunity to there if you want to come along! There are currently 25 sailors signed up from Europe to go to Melbourne in January, with sailors from Germany, Great Britain, Holland and Russia booked in. Read more >>>

The date of our "Performance Cup" is approaching and with this also the Entry date closing on August 31st (late entries will be accepted, but with additional fee). As you probably know, Portoroz (Slovenija) is the host of next year's MPS European Championship, so this will be also a test regatta for all of us: sailors, race committee, race management and all involved. We are enjoying wonderful summer and temperatures of around 25-28°C. Read more >>>

Small Sail Project Based on general comments last year about trying to help youth & women into the class (usually lightweights compared to the average MPS helm. The following question was asked in the class on-line survey. "Should the class investigate developing a smaller class legal mainsail; this would perhaps make the class more attractive to lightweights and female helms. It could also be used as an introductory sail by newcomers. The intention would be for a smaller mainsail that is used within the fleet and would race off the same PY in handicap races ... "
Read more >>>

Sailor Profile: Bruce Keen. 2010 UK National Champion

Here is a Q&A that was completed by MPS UK National Champion Bruce Keen.

What got you into the MPS class?
I had been sailing Lasers for over 10 years and I was getting bored and wanted a new challenge. There were a few Musto Skiffs sailing at Stokes Bay, so the class seemed like an obvious choice.

Read the rest of the Q&A >>>

2010 Inaugural Euro Cup This is the first year that we have run a EuroCup series, and the class continues to surprise me! We have currently got an amazing 115 sailors taking part in different regattas around Europe, what a fantastic result… See future events and the results to date >>>

Parkstone Yacht Club Skiff Weekend - July 24-25 Sunshine and a light sea breeze greeted competitors, from Plymouth in the west, Chew Valley in the north and Wilsonian in the east, to Parkstone. Racing was held out in Poole bay with the wind shifting in strength and direction. Bruce Keen started where he left off at the nationals with a win from Dan Vincent and Brendan Jenner. Jenner went one better in race two as the wind had picked up, leading for a long time, and was only just pipped at the line by Keen with Vincent slipping into 3rd place. Read more >>>

Weymouth 9er Event – Oct 23/24 2010 – Cancelled
Unfortunately the Weymouth Open scheduled for 23/24 Oct will not take place. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Footage needed for Class Promo Video If you have some good quality, and exciting Musto Action please send through to Nick Hollis

UK Demo Boat is at Blackwater If anyone fancys a go in the demo boat please contact Jon or Paul

Thorpe Bay YC - Open Details - 25th & 26th September 2010 - All the details are now on the fixture page >>>

Feedback on Redress Protests from the Nationals All, following on from the nationals the chair of the protest committee (Bill Handley) has provided the below very useful feedback to assist us in future cases. It makes very interesting reading, some of you may already know all this stuff but I personally found it very imformative. Bill is willing to field any further questions should anyone have them. Find out more

Musto Skiff pre-nationals training Pre-nationals coaching has become a regular occurrence in the Musto Skiff class. This year, ex-musto skiff sailor turned coach Ian 'Bov' Turnbull ran the coaching at Hayling Island, in the 2 days prior to the nationals. Demand was so high that the 20 spaces were filled in a matter of days. Many more sailors expressed an interest, so Ian asked Graeme Oliver, fellow northerner and top Musto Skiff sailor, to kindly step in to help coaching on the second day, meaning no one was left disappointed. Read more >>>

Transition from the 29er, to the Musto Performance Skiff When most people look at the Musto Skiff, they think you need 4 arms and super hero abilities to sail it. The Musto Skiff is the fastest single handed trapeze asymmetric dinghy inn the world. It may sound pretty hard to gybe the kite, steer smoothly through manoeuvres, and get the main sail across without going for a swim, but I am here to tell you that coming from a class such as the 29er, it will give you a great platform to join the fastest single handed trapeze dinghy in the world, that is fully ISAF world recognised. Read more >>>

UK Nationals Buddy Prize Richard Pelley improved Brendan Jenner from 51st to 24th …Brendan started the first day with 51st, , DNF, 23rd. Sorry for not dealing with this at the event prize giving ... your prizes will be posted :-) Please contribute some on-line applause here >>>

Harken donate a perpetual trophy for the UK National Youth Champion The MPS class has enjoyed a long & good relationshipship with Harken UK and to continue this they have recently donated a perpetual trophy to be awarded to the UK National Youth Champion. As the class has now reached it's 10th birthday the committee are keen to capture the history of the class and this trophy is, hopfully, the first of a few that will be retrospectivly engraved to capture the full history of the class. Read more >>>

Parkstone Southern Circuit Open A quick reminder that the next Open meeting takes place at Poole on 24-25 July; click on the title link to get to the event website. This combined Musto & 29er event is fast becoming a skiff festival as on the Saturday after racing there’ll be an opportunity to try your hand in some 29erXXs, and we hope to set up a short, two boat downhill skiff cross course in front of the clubhouse. There will also be a beach barbeque at the club for spectators & sailors (an opportunity to catch up after the Nationals and chat with the next generation coming up through the 29ers). More info and innovative accommodation ideas from the event website.

Gocycle® UK Nationals After 4 days & 12 races finally we have a new national champion; well done Bruce Keen. Going into the final day defending champion Richard Stenhouse had a 6 point cushion over the fleet and most of the pundits were backing the odds on favorite to retain the championships. As it turned out the competition in the 74 boat fleet was tough and any errors were punished hard and top 3 finishes were hard to come by. Bruce scored 9,1,2 on the final day to take the title ... Read the full report >>>

Brunnen - 2010 Inaugural Euro Cup Brunnen was at its best - brilliant weather, time of onset of thermal-wind and a super panorama provided a good sailor mood. With the onset of wind we have expired. He has also been properly enforced then with 3-4 Bft, when we arrived at the starting vessel. When first run, I already felt as a safe third when Stephen suddenly came flying from behind me and just before the goal nor reconditioned. Read the full report >>>

10th Anniversary Hoodies & T Shirts - NOW ON SALE Class sponsor Musto have donated the class some 10th anniversary T shirts & hoodies. All the proceeds from these sales will be used to support the 2011 Melbourne Worlds Containers. So please help us to put on a better worlds by ordering your T shirts & hoodies ASAP. For UK sailors please order prior to the nationals. Stocks are limited so please act now to avoid disappointment. Please order here >>>

Gocycle® UK Nationals : The entry deadline is 23:00 on the 2nd July 2010 after that a late entry fee of £20 will apply. So please get your entries in ASAP on the HISC website. The event looks like it will be the biggest UK event in the history of the class and we have a load of competitions within the fleet to give everyone somthing to race for. This includes Silver & Bronze fleets, Youth, Master & Grand Master plus a buddy competition. Find out more here >>>

Musto Skiff German Open 2010, Travemuende Week The seasons highlight of the German Musto Fleet is coming. From 25th to 28th of July the Musto Skiff German Open 2010 will take place at Travemuende Week. Beside of that it is also an Eurocup event. Online registration is already working!!! Travemuende Week is the second largest sailing event in Germany. Find out more >>>

1st GoSailing Performance Cup 16. – 19. September 2010 Portorož – Portorose Slovenija. Pre-event to 2011 European Championship. All MPS riders, specially those who are serious about Europeans next year, those from neighbour countries that don't have a lot of regattas nearby and specially all those, who like the variety of food, tasty wine and good fun, we welcome you all in sunny Portoroz and Slovenia. The 1st GoSailing Performance Cup will gather not only MPS, but also A-Class and Moths in a nice event that will be held in the waters of next year's European Championship. The regatta promises good social program, prizes for every participant and many sailors from different countries. Please find "the base" of the web site and the NoR published at www.gosailing.si

Musto Skiff regatta in Dongo (Lake Como): 5th-6th June Last week-end 20 Musto Skiffs coming from 5 different countries (Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Germany, Nederland and Great Britain) gathered at the Skiffsailing Club in Dongo (Lake of Como) for the usual regatta, which is now part of the swiss sailing calendar. This year the event was made part of the Euro Cup Series, the inaugural Euro circuit putting together 10 Musto Skiff events in 10 different European countries!
This regatta is every year attended by a good number of sailor but this year we were really surprised seeing 20 entries! Report >>>

Belgian Open Skiff 2010 The 5th edition of the world famous Belgian Open Skiff will take place over the weekend of June 26th & 27th. The event is hosted by club SNEH on the picturesque Lac de l’Eau d’Heure (aka Plaite Taille) located in the southern districts of Belgium. Find out more here >>>

Checking your foil fit from new All Musto Performance Skiff’s are supplied with the highest specification foils, made from CNC aluminium tools and the best materials available. However, it is very important that before you go sailing with a new boat that you check the fit of the rudder blade in the aluminium cassette stock. Read more >>>

Whitstable YC Open: 5th & 6th June 2010 In spite of a forecast that could best be described as feeble, yet sunny, 23 Musto Skiffs turned up at Whitstable risking the possibility of spending a windless weekend cultivating a lobster tan on the beach. With the Race Committee carrying out their threat of turning races around quickly (invariably the finishing gun for the last boat was the 5 minute for the next start) seven excellent, closely fought races were shoe horned into the weekend. In the first two races Rick Perkins reaped the benefits of a slightly dubious training strategy of hardly sailing (allegedly) for the last 12 months whilst slimming down to waif like proportions on his road bike. This led to the swift accrual of two bullets whilst being followed home by Dan Henderson (student) and Richard Stenhouse (recent father) who have quite clearly employed contrasting training regimes in recent months. More >>>

Gocycle® UK Nationals : Category & Buddy
Prizes We are expecting a good turnout for this years nationals and just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that unlike many classes at the MPS Nationals there is something for everyone to race for. There are age categories, Silver & Bronze Fleets & the buddy system. As usual with the Musto Skiff Nationals the best prizes will not go to the top sailors, they get the glory the rest are racing for the goodies ...
Find out more & please enter ASAP >>>

Derwent Reservoir SC held a High Performance Open meeting on 29th and 30th of May The event was part of the Scottish Skiff series, the Musto Skiff Northern area traveller series and the B14 national traveller series. A total of 23 boats turned out, ranging in speed from 49ers and a foiling Moth to Laser 4000s. Read more >>>

Wear on fore and aft bowsprit mounts It has come to the attention of the class association that the mounting points for the bowsprit may become worn due to the regular movement of the bowsprit tube when launching and recovering the spinnaker. Speaking to Chris Turner from Ovington Boats, they are happy to supply the new boats with some PTFE tape to act as a slide on these two points. You can also purchase the PTFE tape (also known as Jap Tape) from themselves. Pimp your pole mount >>>

Musto Skiff Travemünde training camp | 21-24 May 2010 Great weather, weak to moderate winds and 8 registered Musto Skiffs – a promising forecast for this year’s training camp at the Lübeck Yacht Club (LYC) in Travemünde, Möwenstein. And for once, the experience exceeded the expectation. Max and I took the Friday and Tuesday off work to turn the long Whitsun weekend into a short vacation. On Friday, we enjoyed 20 degrees and sunshine as we rigged up the boats at the Lübecker Yacht Club. We then took the boats out for a spin to the fairway buoy to find our sea legs and ended the day with a barbeque and a few beers. Read more >>>

Worlds Note: the Aussie dollar has been slipping in value over the last few days, down from $1.64 to $1.75 = about 6%. Also Air Asia are having a big sale for tickets covering our time period - I had a quick look and London – Melbourne seems to be £921 – that is a good price. These can be booked on-line.

Whitstable Open: Usually a very well attended & run event. Just a month before the UK Nationals so a good chance to hone those starting skills and check your pace. Please note that there will FREE chilli on Friday night at the bar .Details here >>>

Regatta Report Wittensee Fight 1/2. May 2010 (GER) This year saw a spectacular turn out at the Wittensee Fight, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. A total of 9 boats showed up on saturday morning, which is a rather significant increase over 3 in the previous year and none in 2008! The Wittensee Fight has a history of peculiar weather conditions and it was no different this year, wind claiming many ship wrecked on Saturday and being practically un-sailably light on Sunday. Read more >>>

Scotland training session A training day for Musto Skiffs was held at Aberdeen and Stonehaven Yacht Club ( Loch of Skene) on Saturday the 8th of May. 11 sailors took part in the training (2 not on the picture) which was held in in perfect wind conditions, from 14 to 16 knot winds on Saturday. Ian Renilson provided the coaching and debriefing Read more >>>

Pre and during event coaching options for the UK Nationals. Ian Turnbull has put together 2 seperate coaching options for this years UK Nationals. There is a 2 day training programme prior to the event plus the option of coaching support during the event. Places are limited to ensure each person gets plenty of attnetion so please book your plase ASAP. More details >>>

Harken Sport Phillip Marine MPS Victorian Championships 16 Musto Performance Skiffs, the largest fleet yet assembled in Australia, contested the HARKEN Sport Phillip Marine Victorian Musto Performance Skiff Championships. The event was held over the ANZAC day long weekend at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, on the flat waters at the southern end of Port Phillip. The fleet welcomed a range of newcomers travelling from as far afield as Chris Sutherland from Perth who picked up and assembled his new MPS on the Friday before the regatta, current World Contender Champion Jonothan Neate and current Australian Javelin Champion and 49er sailor Jon Newman . Read more >>>

Asymmetric classes event. WPNSA Jaffa. Chris Knight from the academy has asked that sailors enter online in advance. The NOR is available from this page

Coaching Tips from the Palma de Mallorca 2010 Training Class sec Paul Manning has put together a range of vidoes which have excellent coaching tips in both the soundtrack (somtimes he's competing with the outbaord & the wind) and he's added tips in the notes on each video.

See more clips & tips >>>

Appointment of lifetime members in 2010 Our class is very lucky in having long term support from sailors who have put in a huge amount of time in helping the class. Fortunately, we have the ability to appoint lifetime members to thank those involved. This year the class has appointed lifetime membership status to Rick Perkins and Richard and Kit Stenhouse. Read more >>>

Musto Skiffs at Yacht Club Schaffhausen, Steckborn (SUI) In perfect weather, but little wind 12 Mustos met for the first event in 2010 organised by the Yacht Club Schaffhausen, Steckborn. After a long wait on Saturday, two races will be sailed. Although the wind was weak, the race took place under fair conditions. Dieter won both races. Behind Fritz provided me with a millimeter-battle for second place (first run) and third place (second run). It was so close that we did not know who was ahead in each case. Read more >>>

Musto Skiffs at Stokes Bay 24th-25th April Nearly 30 Musto Skiff’s arrived at Stokes Bay for their annual open meeting over the weekend of 24th-25th April and were joined by a strong fleet of RS700’s and 800’s. Saturday produced better than expected conditions with sun and a fresh easterly wind between 8-12 knots, moving South Easterly through the course of the day. Spring tides moving from West to East whipped up some short chop and coupled with the sun worshippers in the Solent out for their annual trip on their yachts and speed boats the water seemed even more confused. Read more >>>

Measurement advance notice for UK nationals The class international senior measurer (Chris Henderson) will be at the UK nationals to answer any rules questions you may have. Chris will be checking boats prior to the regatta and has highlighted the following points that he wants to check, so it's worth checking your equipment in advance to reduce any stress! 1. Centreboard and rudder lining to the 2010 class rules 2. Sail number positioning - see class rules for ISAF guidelines on the correct positioning (see page 14) 3. Spinnaker halyard cleat type - the class rules specify the cleat can be replaced by a similar type (this would be a camcleat) other cleat types are prohibited 4. Random checking of equipment and advice

World Entries Now Open We know it seems a long way off but please help the organisers to plan by entering early >>>

Shipping quote for the Worlds Peters and May’s Neil Curran has been working hard to get the class the best possible rates for shipping to Melbourne. At the moment the quotes are based on the current rates and these will be monitored on a monthly basis in order to try and reduce the shipping cost. More info >>>

Northern Area Training Weekend
A training weekend for Musto Skiffs was held at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club over the weekend of the 17th and 18th April. 11 sailors took part in the training which was held in a wide range of wind conditions, from 20 to 25 knot winds on Saturday, to very light conditions on Sunday. Read more >>>

HARKEN Sport Phillip Marine Musto Performance Skiff Victorian Titles The Melbourne Musto fleet will hold its annual Victorian State Championship at Blairgowrie this weekend. The regatta starts on Saturday with 2 invitation races as part of the regular club racing and a beer and pizza night at the club. Marcus Hamilton and Tim Hill will be on hand to demonstrate tacking, gybing, kite sets and drops for anybody interested during the day. The regatta kicks off on Sunday with 2 races scheduled from 10:30 in the morning followed by 2 races in the afternoon. 3 races are planned for Monday. So, if you’re new the class this is a great opportunity to meet other sailors and hear about their experiences – or if you’ve been in the boat for a while come celebrate the phenomenal growth of the class in Melbourne – we’re expecting 17 boats!!

1 day race training programme at Stokes Bay with Russ Clark next weekend on Saturday 17 April where on completion you are invited to join the club's Musto fleet for racing on the Sunday (2 races back to back 11am start), then leave your boat at the club for the week all tuned and ready for the MPS Open meeting the following weekend.
Cost - £10 per boat for training and the club is offering a discounted £10 for sailing fees and storage for the week - total £20.
I need 15 boats to confirm this by Wednesday evening.
I have just returned from coaching in Palma and I'm full of ideas to boost your early season racing...! Sign up here >>>

The Roadkill Cup – Palma de Mallorca 2010. Over the recent Easter holiday weekend a keen and enthusiastic group of Musto Performance Skiff sailors met on the beach at the Yacht Club Nautic S’Arenal, Mallorca to conduct race training in the Bay of Palma. The majority of the Spanish Musto fleet is based here and now numbers eight in strength and growing. Last years training event was a huge success and so this year the intention was to commence the 1st Euro Cup event of the season. The fleet consisted of boats from ESP, GBR, SLO and FRA (although a British sailor) and totalled 10 boats for the training event. Read more >>>

Rutland Musto Open 20-21 March 2010 22 boats turned up to the first circuit event of the season, which was a sort of accelerated transition from winter to spring, starting with a cold, rainy and grey first race which changed progressively until by the final race on Sunday we had bright sunshine and a light breeze. Read more >>>

2010 Inaugural Euro Cup The continued excellent growth of our class in Europe has reached a point where a number of sailors have asked whether the class along with the national representatives can organise a Euro Cup series. So Paul and some of the driving supporters of the concept have produced a series with overall prizes from Musto. As you can see there are 10 regattas nominated for the Euro Cup from 10 countries. Read more >>>

Melbourne: Port Phillip Bay, The Brit Perspective Having arrived back from my honeymoon to the mighty shores of old Blighty I thought I would drop the class a note on the 2010 Worlds venue of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne. The event started for me getting picked up by the poster boy of the Musto fleet at the airport. After spending a lovely evening with Marcus and Sigrid I was relaxed for my first days sailing in the Musto since Garda. The warm water, sunshine and good breeze did not disappoint. After a couple of training days with some video work it was time to go into the first days racing. Read more & watch the video >>>

Musto Skiffs at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club – March 13th/14th With the Ice Age of sorts now dissipated and the recent weather taking a marked turn for the better, 12 Musto Skiffs were in for a treat at Chew Valley this weekend where boats were rigged up in glorious sunshine and T-shirt conditions. There was even chat of sun cream. And with the first circuit meeting next weekend at Rutland Water, this was an ideal chance to blow away the winter cobwebs. It also provided an ideal opportunity for a large contingent of enthusiastic newcomers to find their feet against other Musto Skiffs Read more >>>

Pimp Clinic, Buedelsdorf February 28th 2010 With continental Europe having it’s fair share of snow and ice this winter and often the only way to get on the water being to put on your ice skates, the opportunity of the Pimp Clinic seemed too good to be true as a way of getting to know our recent acquisition – a Musto skiff each. Late last year we decided to bite the bullet and get Musto skiffs since this would give us a few boats in Holland to sail against (a plus over the RS400 where we are the Dutch fleet). Over the skiff Benelux site (www.skiffbenelux.com) we learned the fleet in Germany is growing rapidly with double numbers at events on a regular basis. Read more >>>

Asymmetric Sailing : Dinghy Show Presentation by Richard Stenhouse & Rick Perkins Thank you to all those who turned up to listen to the presentation on Asymmetric Sailing by Richard & Rick this weekend on the main stage of the Dinghy Show. As promised at the show the presentation is now available to download here >>>

The RYA Volvo Dinghy Show The fabulous looking 10th anniversary skiff on the stand created a great deal of interest from existing class members visiting the show and potential new members alike. This was enhanced by a clothing display of the new UK Olympic team kit from Musto, and the UK national sponsors Gocycle bike. Read more >>>

High-performance commuting comes to the Musto Performance Skiff, with the generous sponsorship of the UK National Championships by Karbon Kinetics Ltd. (KKL), producer of the award-winning electric two-wheeler Gocycle®. The UK MPSCA are pleased to announce that KKL and Gocycle will be supporting the Whitstable Open Meeting and will be title sponsors of UK Musto Skiff National Championships, to be held in Hayling Island in July. Paul Manning, international class secretary, said, “The simple, stylish, yet functional design of the Gocycle fits perfectly with the design ethos of the Musto Performance Skiff. We are very grateful for KKL’s generous support and look forward to working with them over the season.”
Read more & see a Gocycle >>>

SIGN-UP ASAP TRAINING/COACHING WEEKEND NORTHERN REGION A training weekend has been arranged for the weekend of the 17th and 18th April at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club. Martin Boatman, an experienced race coach and successful Musto Skiff sailor will carry out the training and coaching. Musto sailors of all levels are welcome. Interested sailors should contact John Evans by email jevans@nodent.co.uk or phone 07711 612775

Blairgowrie Invitational Weekend 20-21 February 2010 Blairgowrie is about 2 hours south of Melbourne on the tip of the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a spectacularly pretty seaside holiday spot, which gets ridiculously crowded over summer, and just next door to the very flash towns of Sorrento and Portsea. Read more >>>

Congratulations to Richard & Kit Stenhouse : Baby Oliver Born 10pm on the 9th Feb. 8 lbs 11oz. reports are that young Stenhouse is always hungry; just like his Dad. Congratulations from all the MPS fleet to Richard & Kit; Oliver is the first MPS baby.

MPS Vang Lever Reinforcement This is a basic guide to fitting the stainless steel vang lever reinforcement to an ‘old style’ MPS vang lever. The templates used are derived from the new model vang lever; the final result will be a vang lever of the same geometry as the new design. Guide & Template >>>>

Musto Performance Skiff class and Ovington Boats are celebrating the 10th birthday of the class by offering 10 limited edition Musto Performance Skiffs 10 years ago many people gathered around the first Musto Skiff to be exhibited at the Dinghy Show and marvelled at the impressive posters showing Paul Brotherton putting the boat through its paces and wondered who would be capable of sailing such a challenging dinghy. Read more >>>

11:30 Main Stage: Asymmetric Sailing - Richard Stenhouse Tips for perfecting high speed, asymmetric sailing – hoisting, gybing and dropping; assisted by Rick Perkins More >>>

Musto Skiff Coaching at Stokes Bay with Russ Clark This weekend, 13/14 Feb there will be a training weekend for the Musto Skiffs at Stokes Bay. Russ Clark (GBR 414) will be running another of his intensive training sessions over the 2 days focussing on boat handling and starting. Classroom work (in the warm!) will include discussions on starting, the new ISAF rules and guest presenter Olympian Penny Clark (the wife) covering race preparations on the water. The sailing sessions (in the cold!) will be active and designed to get the blood flowing and optimised to get the racing thoughts brought out of winter storage and onto the water. More >>>

Recommended bushing of an existing rudder stock Due to the long term wear found on the aluminium rudder stocks, the class now has all rudder stocks supplied with removable plastic bushes. Owners wanting to bush their rudder existing stock can also purchase this product at Ovis If you want to bush your stock, then you will need to follow these instructions >>>

Chainplate bolts ... upgrade There have been a few failures of chainplate bolt, fortunately in all cases the other bolt has held on and this has never caused a mast to fall. See discussion >>> There is now un upgrade kit from Ovi's to sort the issue; thanks to those on the class association who did lots of research on the bolt options. More details >>>

Musto Skiffs at the Tiger Trophy 2010 The annual event held by Rutland Sailing Club in support of the John Merricks Sailing Trust is usually either blowing 20knots + or light, but still attracts upwards of 200 entries from different classes. This year was no exception with an entry of 176 boats, and light winds for both days of racing. More >>>

Skiff coaching at Blackwater Sailing Club with Ian Turnbull 15 club boats and visitors of various skiff classes arrived at Blackwater Sailing Club just outside Maldon in Essex for a weekend of coaching with top skiff sailor Ian (Bov) Turnbull. Organised by Jon Simpson from the home club, the sailors were ready to go at 11:00 on Saturday morning, with a good breeze, and brilliant sunshine. All be it that they also had to remove the ice from their ropes and centreboard gaskets etc as it was still -2°c… Read more >>>

Accommodation for the Melbourne Worlds Please find attached details of accomodation options for the event. If you are interested in taking advantage of the billet option you need to register your interest ASAP. More worlds info >>>

Accomodation Details >>>

Australian Musto Performance Skiff Championships The inaugural Musto Performance Skiff Australian Championships was held at Black Rock Yacht Club on Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay from the 6th to 11th of January. The event was an opportunity to test the race management, scheduling and weather conditions for the Musto
Performance Skiff World Championships, to be held at the same venue in exactly 12 months time. The event was supported by the International Musto Performance Skiff Association’s training fund.
Read the excellent full report >>>

Money for old rope ... well sails actually Musto are planning a Musto Skiff feature in their retail stores and are looking for a number of old sails to use as part of their displays. So, if you have an old sail that you no longer use why not trade it in with Musto for some of their kit? Musto are offering a £300 voucher for kit ordered at retail price. Sails just need to have no holes ... if you are interested then you need to contact Paul for more details, first come first served ...

What Musto Skiff Sailors do in the winter With our lakes frozen and snow drifts covering the roads, an MPS sailor needs to find other things to keep himself occupied. Andy Peake and his team mate, Michael Sugden, have been taking advantage of the cold weather to train for their April expedition to the North Pole. Read more >>>

2011 Worlds shipping and flight information The International committee has been working on container shipping and flight options fro the 2011 World championships at Black Rock Melbourne. Things you should know! If you would like to add your name and details to a master list of participants from Europe or North America who are intending to take part in Black Rock, please drop Paul a line at paulsmanning01@gmail.com who is maintaining a database, and is liaising with the container shipping companies and flight options. This will give us a much better idea of numbers for booking flights and containers at the best possible rates. Flight information At the moment, we cannot get confirmed flight details from any European carrier flying out of major European airports to Melbourne for our regatta dates, as this is currently too far in the future. We have contacted all major carriers, and have requested information on group bookings and best deals available. Please keep an eye on this area of the event webpage for updates. Container shipping As with the flights, the time period is too far in the future for the shipping companies to give us prices for containers from mainland Europe via Rotterdam or the UK via Southampton or Felixstowe. Again, please keep an eye on this area of the event webpage for updates. We do have provisional quotes, but they are only valid for 90 days. More details >>>

Advice on most likely mast failure modes and insurance claims The class association has been working with top UK dinghy insurance company Noble Marine Insurance to produce a guide that will help individuals in the unfortunate situation of having broken their mast. The majority of insurance companies covering dinghy classes will use a standard response to a broken carbon fibre mast of requesting a quote for a new mast and a repair. This is based on most classes have a one piece mast, which is going to be very expensive to replace. However, one of the original design criteria for our class was that the mast should come apart so it can be transported inside the length of the boat. More details >>>

Coaching weekend with Ian Turnbull Jon Simpson has arranged with top skiff sailor and coach, Ian Turnbull, to run a weekend of on and off the water performance and boat handling sessions. For those of you that don’t know Ian, he previously worked for Ovington Boats, and has sailed Int. 14, 18 footers and Musto Performance Skiffs at the highest levels (2nd at the Worlds), and is a nice bloke too! More information >>>

2009 Musto Skiff Survey, 7th Year Running - by Ovington Boats The 2009 MPS Survey is now closed and the results indicate that we have a great future ahead. This is the 7th year we have conducted the survey.
To review the summary and/or full results>>>

AUSTRALIAN MUSTO PERFORMANCE SKIFF WEEK
6th – 10thJanuary 2010 Black Rock Yacht Club Half Moon Bay, Black Rock, Victoria, Australia NOR >>

Training-racing event Palma de Mallorca, 3-6 April 2010 On behalf of the spanish class association I´m pleased to invite you all to the 2010 combined training racing event. The plan is to train between 3 and 5 april, then race on the last day. For those who didn´t come last year we offer: A great lauching area in the beach next to Cub Nautico S´Arenal, where the Princess Sofia Thropy takes place, and where lot of 49er crews spend their winter training. See attached ignore the year >>>

Flinders (AUS) Skiff Weekend Last weekend saw the Melbourne Musto fleet crack 10 boats for the first time at the annual Flinders skiff weekend. With the recent arrival of 3 new boats a couple of the guys were having their maiden voyage. Flinders is a beautiful holiday village at the heads of Westernport Bay, about an hour south of Melbourne. The I14s have been making this trip once a year for the last 20 years. Over the last few years the event has expanded to include Mustos, B14s and Formula 15 skiffs. More >>>

ISAF RRS changes for 2010 Following the recent ISAF annual conference, please take a look at the following link for amendments to the 2009 - 2012 Racing Rules of Sailing which will become effective from 1st January 2010. Taken from the recent Y&Y article "The International Sailing Federation announced today that, as a result of actions taken by the ISAF Racing Rules Committee and the ISAF Council during the ISAF Annual Conference, several changes in The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2009-2012 will take effect on 1 January 2010. More >>>

Goal Setting - The Professional Approach (with special offer for MPS sailors) Have you set any goals for the coming season? If you have, then well done – you are on the right track. Of all the things that full-time, professional sailors do that the rest of us weekend warriors do not do, structured goal setting is probably the most important. Fortunately it is also one of the less demanding activities (compared to, say, completing 10,000 perfect tacks). With the right approach it can be done quickly – and it can even be fun. Read more >>>

It's not all about the racing ... Mark Haine organised a Skiff Cruise from Prestwick to Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. That was 20 miles as the crow flies. The weather picked up a bit for the return journey and it was too rough for Kites – very exciting and totally exhausting. There were 3 Mustos & 2 cats – supported by 2 RIBs. It was great fun – fantastic to get to Lamlash and talk to the local sailors – they were amazed. Read more >>>

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