Musto Skiff Training at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
by Ian Escritt 3 Apr 2018 20:16 BST
30 March 2018
Musto Skiff Training at Yorkshire Dales © Ian Escritt
Yorkshire Dales was the venue for the Musto Skiff fleet training on Easter Friday. Ian Turnbull was invited to take on the roll of coaching the fastest growing fleet in the north, who now have eight regularly sailed boats.
The fleet arrived early to rig up and chat before a quick briefing by Ian. On the water with a steady force 2 we practised starts, trying to hold positions, then keeping a clean lane. Following this on to a couple of windward/leeward short laps with 5 tacks and gybes on each leg.
After lunch we gathered round the TV to watch Ian's filming of the morning session, we were eager to see ourselves and take on Ian's tips. We talked about body and trapeze heights, Strop lengths with kicker and downhaul adjustments.
A little more breeze arrived with a longer windward/leeward course to stretch our legs. It was surprising how close we were at the top mark, and with the smallest wind shifts, how easily positions changed. With Ian coaching from the rib you could feel how quickly the Musto can accelerate when you power it up. After a few hours the wind got a bit shifty and we called it a day. Sitting down afterwards watching the videos there was more for us all to take on board and put into practice. We all thanked Ian for his support and invited him back at any time to sail or even do another training session.
A big thanks to Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club for hosting, the Musto Skiff Class Association and Noble Marine for supporting the event.