Musto Skiff Inland Championships at Datchet Water Sailing Club

GJW Sailjuice Winter Series Datchet Flyer © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Following an autumn of one storm after another giving us either blustery or calm conditions for what seems like months, the rescheduled Musto Skiff Inland Championships took place at the Datchet Flyer event.

The forecast in the run up to the weekend perhaps kept a few people away, or perhaps it was the thought of having to learn a course more complicated than the usual windward leeward affair; nevertheless 17 boats registered.

With an original plan of 3 races to be held on the Saturday many sailors were discussing the 35 knots forecast for sometime around the 2nd race, we all launched under the hope that it was just a forecast and you can only sail what's point in front of you. The first race start was a general recall, which must have been the rest of the handicap fleet keen to get away ahead of the assembled Mustos, The race office was keen to make sure that the second attempt was more successful so the fleet started under a black flag and an increasingly black sky.

Richard Stenhouse took the bit between his teeth an was off, the rest of the fleet doing their best to hang on some where near his coat tails. The reverse P course was an interesting challenge with only one kite leg, the other being a fetch and a short run. The short beat through the gate close to the wall made sure everyone had to fully concentrate on their boat handling. With and increasing wind the conditions started to take their toll with some small breakages forcing the fleet to diminish, much to some peoples surprise Seraga Samus also broke his first Musto mast, although in typical style he broke it into two pieces!

By the time the last lap came only 5 Mustos remained out fighting, Richard Stenhouse looking majestic off in the distance. Dave Posten rounded the windward mark in 2nd, closely followed by Ben Schooling and Mark Cooper. The former two opted to hoist their kite only to have a very short lived time of it before putting themselves through a rinse cycle. Mark Cooper, showing a wiser head kept his kite down and sailed past both to finish second. Ben Schooling recovered for second and Ed Wilkinson rounding out the finishers in 4th.

GJW Sailjuice Winter Series Datchet Flyer - photo © Tim Olin

Between races the breeze increased to 35kts recorded on the committee boat, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the boat upright while waiting for the second start. With several boats being washed up on the bank so Race Team made wise decision to abandon racing for the day

After the abandonment on Saturday, a second handicap race was scheduled for the Sunday morning with the start time brought forward to 10:30. The Race officer started promptly and with the course laid at the far end of the reservoir, some competitors missed the start.

Racing got underway in about 5-7kts with a port bias line. The majority of the fleet tacked onto port on the gun and Ben Schooling led round the windward from Richard Stenhouse. The B14's were making life difficult for the Mustos but Schooling just managed to break free from the pack that Stenhouse got held up in, allowing him to escape and take the win. Dan Kilsby, missing from Saturday, finished 3rd from fellow Stokes Bay team mate Andy Rice with Richard Smith rounding out the top 5.

The final race was a 100min pursuit in a falling wind strength it looked like it was going to be a tough one for the Musto fleet. There was a short gap whilst the race team efficiently relayed the course. The Mustos had the same start time as the B14s and the Aeros & RS200s in the slow handicap fleet again making it a busy and challenging start.

Ben Schooling got caught up on the line allowing the fleet to get away and at the windward mark Richard Stenhouse led from Ed Wilkinson, the rest of the fleet quite tightly bunched. With almost 2 hrs of racing around a complex "S" shaped course it was a long time for the sailors to concentrate!

By the 2nd lap Schooling in his preferred conditions had managed to reel in Richard Stenhouse but infringed at a mark (with a B14!) so had to do turns allowing Richard Stenhouse to slip away again and the rest of the fleet to catch up. where there was a tight race between 5 boats, each wishing at some point for the race positions to finish as there were.

The wind continued to drop and as such there was even a suggesting that Ben Schooling had stopped trapezing, nevertheless he was back in touch by the next beat and managed to squeeze past Richard Stenhouse on a couple of shifts and hold onto the lead for the following 20 mins until the finish. Richard Stenhouse finished 2nd with Serega Samus 3rd and Paul Molesworth 4th. This was perhaps the longest Musto Championship race for some time!

As only 3 races where sailed the discard never kicked in and the final win meant on count-back Ben Schooling retained the 2015 Musto Performance Skiff Inlands title from Richard Stenhouse with Mark Cooper of Datchet Water rounding out the top 3.

Big thanks to DWSC for running the rescheduled Musto Inlands as part of the GJW Direct SailJuice Series, Datchet Flyer and completing 3 races in tricky conditions.

Overall Musto Skiff Results: