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Musto Performance Skiff 2011 World Championship preview
 Anticipation
is building for the 2011 World Championships and having
run two previous European based regattas in Italy at
Fraglia vella de Malcesine (Lake Garda) in 2007 and
Switzerland’s Segel club St.Moritz (Lake Silvaplana)
the first World championships outside Europe will be
hosted by Black Rock Yacht Club in Melbourne Australia
from January 11th to 16th with a Pre-Worlds run between
the 7th and 9th and sponsored by local brewery Broo
Premium Lager.
There is an expected entry of 50 sailors
from upwards of 10 nations competing for what is the
only ISAF World Championship for a single handed trapeze
class with asymmetric spinnaker.
In previous years a number of European
sailors have dominated the major championships, with
Richard Stenhouse standing out as surely the most successful.
However, recently a number of top antipodean sailors
have joined the class headed by the likes of Tim Hill
and Marcus Hamilton from Australia and recent UK national
champion, South African, Bruce Keen who now lives in
and sails for the UK, so this championship is likely
to be the closest run to date. Class event organiser
Richard Ekberg is of the opinion that the conditions
at the venue tend to be a building sea breeze which
typically brings with it large waves, but predicting
the weather might for once be more accurate than predicting
the winner. How many regattas are met by the local sailors
commenting that it’s never normally like this! Well
that might just be the final results for the championships
too…
European sailors to watch for will include
class international chairman Iver Ahlmann from Germany,
who is especially quick if the wind goes light, and
UK youth sailors Tom Wright, who won the recent UK Inland
Championships in varying conditions and World and UK
Youth champion Dan Henderson.
Experience in major championships counts
for a great deal, and Ian Renilson has this a plenty,
with numerous major single handed championship titles
to his name it’ll be interesting to see how he performs
against Marcus Hamilton, both previous winners of the
highly competitive Contender World Championships.
Class secretary Paul Manning comments
“There are a number of sailors with the potential to
podium. At major regattas psychology plays a significant
part, the ‘will to win’ is the important factor and
the first day of racing will be key to the overall result.
Getting off on the right foot and being able to keep
focused is essential”
The calibre of sailors at the front of
the fleet is undeniable, but the class is not for shrinking
violets and so a great deal of support is given to the
competitors with prizes available not only for the top
10, but for a silver fleet as well as the top lady sailors,
youth, master and grand master titles. Yes, we get sailors
from all age groups!
There will be daily reports and images covering the
action from Melbourne.
Hosted by Black Rock Yacht Club http://www.bryc.yachting.org.au/
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