ACO 9th Musto Skiff World Championship at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron Preview
by Rick Perkins 3 Jan 2018 04:48 GMT
6-14 January 2018
Musto Skiff Australian Championships © Russell Bates
The Australian MUSTO Skiff Association is pleased to announce the Victorian State Government have agreed to support the ACO 9th MUSTO Skiff World Championship at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron. The sporting grant has been made available through the Significant Sporting Events in Victoria.
The event will be contested by some of Australia's best dinghy sailors, competing against sailors from nations including Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and New Zealand.
"We look forward to welcoming competitors from around the World to Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, to compete against some of Australia's best sailors and enjoy the many attractions on the Mornington Peninsula. I travelled personally to Palma de Mallorca in May 2016 to watch our Australian MUSTO Skiff sailors compete, and we are looking forward to seeing how our visitors perform against our Aussies at home." Al Singh, Commodore Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron
Logistically, there is quite a challenge to get boats from around the World to one location and the Musto Skiff class are very grateful to Peters & May for their support. Steve Franklyn said "Peters & May Racing have over 30 years' experience within the industry, and understand that a first class service is key. Trusted by individuals, teams, crew and event personnel in the global racing circuit, the team are dedicated to working with clients every step of the way to get yachts of all classes to events safely and on time."
What is a MUSTO Skiff?
A MUSTO Skiff is a single person high performance skiff sailed off a trapeze with an asymmetric spinnaker. Designed by Dr. Joachim Harpprecht to compete at the 1999 World Sailing (ISAF then) trials for a new single-handed class, the MUSTO Skiff has established fleets in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain and USA.
The MUSTO Skiff has developed a competitive yet friendly culture, adopted by highly skilled amateur and professional sailors. It has become an established high performance pathway to the Olympics with past and future Olympic Champions joining the class. The boat is a one design class, where every boat is identical, leaving the sailor's skill as the key element of boat performance.
Who sails a MUSTO Skiff in Australia?
The class was established in Australia in 2007. The simplicity of the boat, it's incredible performance and the high degree of skill required to race it attracted a role call of Australian and World Championship winning sailors from other dinghy classes.
The MUSTO Skiff is keenly sailed in Victoria, West Australia and NSW. The MUSTO Skiff World Championship is held annually, and has visited many prestigious sailing centres in Mainland Europe, Great Britain and Australia. Every 4 years the MUSTO Skiff World Championship is held in Australia, attracting competitors from around the World to compete.
Australian sailors have performed exceptionally well both at home and abroad, including:
- Jon Newman, current Australian MUSTO Skiff Champion and former World MUSTO Skiff Champion in Perth in 2014
- Will Phillips, former Australian MUSTO Skiff Champion member Australian Sailing Team in the 49er class
- Tim Hill former Australian MUSTO Skiff Champion and 4th overall at the 2017 World MUSTO Skiff Championship in Spain
- Marcus Hamilton, runner up at the World MUSTO Skiff Championship in Perth in 2014