Musto Skiff National Training Day

Over 40 participants nationwide at the Musto Skiff national training day © Rick Perkins

Over 40 participants nationwide

The Musto Skiff class pulled off another first this weekend by running a national training day across the UK with over 40 participants attending at 5 locations throughout the UK in weather ranging from a sunny 5 knots to 35 knots and 2" of snow!

With so many new sailors joining the class the national training day was aimed at giving the season a kick start by providing all those new owners with a boost to give those sailors guidance on setting up their boats, learning the necessary processes to complete manoeuvres and to give an introduction to the class association members and Musto Skiff camaraderie.

Most of the sessions started with a shore drill (especially those where the wind was 35 knots) where the boats are tied down and demonstrations given on dry land to give people a clear idea of how to work your way through each manourver.

These sessions then progressed onto the water; here are some snippets from around the country;

Dalgety Bay - The training focused on boat handling, and was mostly aimed at the newcomers and less experienced Musto Skiff sailors. Saturday started with a short session of shore drills before hitting the water for 2 sessions of short windward-leeward sailing, each followed by free soup and a video-debrief. Saturday evening was spent sharing sailing stories at the club bar with a carry-out meal.

Whitstable - Saturday started with shore drills for each of the key manoeuvres then the assembled progressed onto the water; it was pretty breezey so the teamed up and went on the water two-up so instruction could be given directly. Once people were getting to grips with it the coach/ballast/passenger was dropped off and then more boats were put on the water.

Thorpe Bay - Musto Skiffs enjoyed two days of training a Thorpe Bay Yacht Club in Essex as part of the National training day initiative set up by the class this year. Colin Goodman, 1999 International 14 POW Cup winner and also a Musto Skiff sailor in the early days of the class very generously agreed to come out on a RIB and provide some coaching tips.The conditions on Saturday were bright and breezy with a steady 20 knots of breeze that enabled Colin and his crew on the RIB to get some good video footage over a short upwind/downwind course for discussion in the clubhouse over a welcome lunch. The conditions early on Sunday looked superb, 10 to 15 knots of breeze, clear skies and flat water. This lasted for the first half hour of sailing time, but dropped to a shifty 5 to 8 knots for the remainder of the day. Colin set another short windward/leeward course and the drop in the wind strength gave the sailors a chance to practice a drill of two tacks on the upwind leg, hoist, two gybes downwind and drop. Again, the video footage provided material for discussion over lunch in the clubhouse so that each sailor has something to focus on during sailing at TBYC over the Easter weekend.

Derwent - Despite pretty extreme weather conditions we had a very successful and enjoyable weekends sailing at Derwent. 7 boat's and Tamsin arrived on Saturday and were greeted by 35kt's of wind,sleet, hail, snow and the odd moment of sun all within the first haf hour. We agreed that sailing was out of the question and opted for plan B, which involed rig set-up,land drills and video footage from Garda which was a great way to show the different styles sailors use to get the skiff around the course. The weather was kinder on sunday and we were on the water bright and early to do tacking and gybeing practice which we followed by joining in the club racing. A de-brief rounded the weekend off. I think the weekend was a great success and know it was enjoyed by all who attended. A great way to start the season.

Rutland - Visitors from as far as Lymington and West Mersea joined 6 local boats. Formed top 29er and 49er sailor Johnny Backhouse was so keen he arrived for training before he has been able to buy a boat. Olympian Richard Stenhouse led the training ably assisted by wife Kit. Training started with shore drill for tacking and gybing including both wire to wire and safety techniques, lunch was followed by on the water session, which turned more into survival training as the wind built with gusts exceeding 33 knots. A video debrief was followed by dinner. Sunday was calmer and some coached sessions were followed by a series of short races to test techniques. Some interesting video was watched after the training, including some fisheye views from a masthead mount, giving some excellent "helicopter" views. Many thanks go to Kit and Richard for laying on some excellent training.