Musto Skiff nationals & Europeans at Paignton Sailing Club

by Rick Perkins/Paul Manning 8 Aug 2005 12:39 BST 1-6 August 2005

The Musto Skiff fleet gathered at Paignton 2 days early to receive the benefit of a two day training camp lead by Mark Rushall. Each days training was split up into groups allowing sailors of similar standard to work on their respective challenges. Also each day practice races were run to allow the students to put their new skills to test. At the end of each day a video debrief was conducted with a few beers.

At the end of the training a draw was made for the Hyde sponsored new mainsail which was won by Hein-Pieter Okker, he was easy to spot for the rest of the week ...

Races 1 and 2 of the Musto Performance Skiff European Championships got under way in 12 to 18 knots of wind and brilliant blue sky. Racing was close throughout the fleet with places changing mainly when boats sailed into more pressure. Richard Stenhouse, Ian Trotter, Rick Perkins, Graeme Oliver, Ian Renilson and Martin Boatman all vying for the top positions.

Both races finally went to Stenhouse with Trotter second in the first race and Oliver second in the second race.

Day 2 saw an eventful day of close racing in light to medium conditions.

Race 3 got underway after a postponement for the wind to stabilise and saw a new face at the front. Mark Addison swapped places with Ian Trotter and Martin Boatman. However, Mark showed good tactics and speed to hold off the challenges to take the win.

Race 4 saw the wind swing left and then stabilise. Richard Stenhouse led around the windward mark, closely followed by Ian Trotter. Stenhouse and Trotter had a hard fought race finally seeing Trotter take the win from Stenhouse with a group including Dave Poston, Graeme Oliver, Martin Boatman and Ian Renilson close behind.

Daily prizes for day 1 were handed out before the start of racing, courtesy of Great Kit / Gerber.

The earlier coaching has showed results with class newcomers including Charlie Baker, Steve Lowe and Richard Purdy finishing all races even if there were a few mishaps on the way ...

Day 3 was sailed in near perfect skiff conditions. The sun was out and the 3 races were sailed in a steadily building 15 to 23 knot breeze and a short chop.

Race 5 saw the majority of the fleet heading left up the first beat, with the fleet reveling in the conditions. Rick Perkins showed good speed to lead and then consolidate on the downwind leg, however and incident at the top mark (with a B14 from his home club) third time around saw him lose position to Ian Trotter and Richard Stenhouse, and this is how it finished.

The wind had built for race 6 and there was some dramatic downwind action which culminated in Richard Stenhouse capsizing just short of the finish to leave the win open to Martin Boatman. A desperate recovery by Stenhouse could not prevent Ian Trotter from narrowly taking second place.

The wind was up to a consistent 20 knots plus for race 7 and the skiffs showed how robust they are with a number of capsizes and a notable pitch-pole by Martin Boatman not stopping the sailors from enjoying their sailing.

Great Kit / Gerber day prizes were gratefully received be their winners after racing and many commented on today being one of the most memorable skiff days.

The final day of the Great Kit / Gerber sponsored Musto Performance Skiff European Championships was sailed in a light breeze throughout the day. Credit must be given to the top performers, with Rick Perkins and Pablo Arandia winning races, but most of the fleet were watching with interest the battle between Richard Stenhouse and Ian Trotter.

Race 8 saw Rick lead from the gun, slowly extending on the fleet to win in relative comfort. Stenhouse and Trotter had a private battle which saw them drop down the overall positions, so that at the finish they were both counting these results as their discard. This meant that Stenhouse still led by 1 point.

Race 9 can be put down to a tremendous comeback from Ian Trotter who having capsized managed to hold his nerve to eventually take the win from Stenhouse. Mental arithmetic or the use of fingers came to the conclusion that Stenhouse was still winning on count back, and so the event would be decided in the final race.

Pablo Arandia was the eventual winner of the final race, but on crossing the line even he stopped to look at who was leading between Stenhouse and Trotter. Following an epic battle between the two which saw both take turns to lead the other Ian Trotter crossed the line in 5th place, and with Stenhouse stuck in the pack Ian Trotter became the well deserved European and UK National Champion.

Ian has been sailing the skiff from the early days, and like Richard has been at the front of the fleet as well as on helping the newcomers to improve and the fleet was delighted to see Ian finally win a major event.

In summary the fleet enjoyed a great event sailing in a range of conditions that lead to a worthy champion in Ian Trotter. The class would like to thank all those who "made it happen" and gain to extend it's thanks to GreatKit and Gerber for their generous sponsorship of the event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm
1st	Ian Trotter
2nd	Richard Stenhouse
3rd	Martin Boatman
4th	Graeme Oliver
5th	Rick Perkins
6th	Ian Renilson
7th	Pablo Arandia
8th	Dave Poston
9th	Mark Addison
10th	Martin Goodlad