Musto Skiffs at the Weymouth Skiff Open 2022

Musto Skiffs at the Weymouth Skiff Open 2022 © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Weymouth delivers... for one day anyway!

We arrived at the Musto Skiff Ovington build venue for the next round of the Southern Series with a good turnout of 21 boats at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA). Some boats arrived early for a fantastic sail in 20 knots on the Friday.

We were part of the Skiff event put on by WPNSA, which included Musto Skiff, B14, I14 and Cherub sailors. We were really grateful to the club who put on some good race management and excellent facilities, as always.

The first race on Saturday started a bit iffy at 7 knots and built gradually to 9 knots as the day went on. Sam Pascoe was fast out the blocks in borrowed boat, 605, in his first race back after winning the UK Nationals last year at Sunderland, and he just carried on where he left off, winning comfortably. There was a really close race battle behind, and with the usual left side not paying due to more sun and pressure on the right, it made the racing more tactical. Guy Rivington sailed a really smart race to finish 2nd with Sam Barker 3rd, and Josh Belben doing a good recovery job up to 4th. Behind all the racing, it was close all the way through the fleet, which was the case for every race.

For the second race, Sam led at first mark again and controlled the race from the front. With slightly more breeze, Dan Vincent and Robbie Wilson pulled through to 2nd and 3rd with straight leg trapezing and some good downwinds to be had.

Musto Skiffs at the Weymouth Skiff Open 2022 - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Paulo Molesworth shot off the line leading up the first beat with a fast-charging Robbie Wilson with his new steed 633 that he had just collected from Ovington in Portland two days before the event. It was fast straight out the wrapper (would definitely recommend!). Robbie managed to take the lead before the first mark and held this to finish with the usual left side now paying heavily. Paulo and Dan had a great battle with Paulo just pipping Dan for 2nd place.

Last race of a great day on the water in the sun, and Dan V shot off the line to control the race. Robbie moved through to 2nd catching up fast, but finishing a couple of boat lengths behind, with Paulo having a great day finishing 3rd.

Back ashore and Sam Pascoe had organised a big class meal at a local restaurant. Good craic was had as per normal!

Unfortunately, Sunday didn't deliver standard Weymouth conditions with a bank of fog killing off any wind, meaning no racing could go ahead.

However, we did get a visit to the Ovington facility at Weymouth where they now build the Musto Skiff. It was great to find out the build process from Sam Pascoe and another one of the boatbuilders, Sam Barker. Ovington Boats make a great product, and we are very lucky to have such a high-quality builder. I can vouch for this with my new boat, so a big thanks from me! It's fast even with an old and creaky helm!

Overall, the top three were tied on points with Sam Pascoe taking the win on countback with his two firsts, Dan Vincent taking second, and Robbie Wilson finishing up in third.

(l-r) Dan Vincent, Sam Pascoe, and Robbie Wilson - winners in the Musto Skiffs at the Weymouth Skiff Open 2022 - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Big thanks to WPNSA for hosting us all - same again next year.

The next Musto Skiff event in the Southern Series will be Lee on Solent on 11/12th June. The weekend before this, the Musto Skiffs will be in North Berwick in Scotland for the ELYC Regatta 2022 on 4/5 June as part of the Northern Series. As always, everyone is welcome to attend both events for some good sailing with a friendly fleet and lots of good banter to be had!

If anyone is interested in getting a Musto Skiff, a class demo boat can be made available for test sails, or class members at your local club may be able to organise a test sail with a borrowed boat. Get in touch with the class members through the GBR class Facebook group to organise a demo.

Full event photo gallery by photographer, Tim Olin, on flickr here.

Overall Results: