George Duffin - Obituary
It is with great sadness that the 505 class heard of the passing of George Duffin, during the night of Monday 13th April 2009 in his sleep. George was one of the founding members of the 505 class in South Africa in 1964, after immigrating to South Africa from Zimbabwe. The Class executive and all class members in the country join in expressing our condolences to his family.
WHAT TO DO IN A RECESSION
On Wednesday 01/04/2009 I looked out of my office window, the sun was shining and wind was blowing the branches of the trees. I just couldn't resist it, so I walked out of my office got into my car and drove off to the dam.
505 hull calibration
Getting your 505 to perform well on the racecourse requires a lot of attention to detail. Take the first step with this static (dry land) hull calibration worksheet and checklist recently updated (with pictures!) for RSA8520.
President's Report: Importing European boats into SA (Recently updated!)
505 promotion in South Africa - How do we grow the local fleet?
The 505 class is one of the growing racing dinghy classes in South Africa. The 505 EXCO has gone to extensive lengths to both promote and grow the class in all corners of the country, and to encourage true national participation. Several 505 sailors have identified the lack of new or rather competitive boats in the country as a stumbling block in the way of our efforts to grow the class locally. Not that the discussion on this topic had ever died down, but the question, whether to build boats locally or buy new or used boats from overseas has flared up again. A number of months ago the Exco initiated discussions with various role players, sailors, boat builders and investors on the topic of importing second hand boats and the effects of these initial discussions are now being felt in the 505 sailing community.
Mac Points Regatta
Perfect Regatta
On the weekend of the 21-22 February was the MAC Dingy Points Series held at False Bay Yacht Club down in Simons Town. With close to a hundred boats in all entered it was going to be a great event. Unfortunately only three 5s made it as injuries and broken boats stopped the other guys.
2008-2009 Rankings updated
The ranking page has been updated to include Charity regatta and RTIR. Have a look under the Downloads section at your ranking and see where you measure up. If you want to start making plans on how to jump up in the rankings, now is the time to start. The WC Champs are coming up soon and plenty of people are looking for Crews/Skippers for the event. Guess where they look!
Calling all Western Cape 505 sailors - WC Champs training (2 events)
The MAC Offshore Points Regatta being held this weekend, 21st-22nd February, at Simonstown is the ideal opportunity for the Western Cape 505 sailors to start preparing themselves for the WC Champs in April. Click here for event information on the Dinghy points regatta, being held offshore for the first time. This is an initiative of MAC and is organised in conjunction with DAC, FBYC Izyvunguvungu and SAS. Please all WC 505 sailors lets see you on the water!
SASWC youth training clinic at Langebaan on 21 and 22 March.
Get on pace for the Western Cape Dinghy Champs! All 505 sailors are invited to join the Youth Sailors at this special training clinic designed to prepare Optimist sailors for their Selections Regatta, Lasers, 420s and Hobie 16s for their Youth Worlds selection regattas, 420 sailors for their Nationals and all dinghy sailors for the Western Cape Dinghy Champs.
International 505 Site - Have you visited it yet?
The International 505 website (http://www.int505.org/) has been updated to include Africa specific information. There is a category for events in Africa, which Peter Roos has started updating, and also a forum for discussions relevant to the fleets on the continent.
We urge all members to make use of it. We would like the international community to know that the RSA fleet is healthy, active, participating, and proud of their performances and achievements.
Does anyone want to volunteer for the local administrator role? If so please contact one of the Exco members on rsa505@rsa505.org.za
Regular 505 Training - WC Champs Preparation
Training program – Pre WC Champs - Gauteng region
Due to popular demand the Gauteng 505 sailors are holding several training sessions in preparation for the WC champs in Saldahna on 10-13 April 2009. The training sessions will be held regularly on a Saturday afternoon at PSC every two weeks starting next weekend i.e. 14th Feb 2009. All boats must be on the water by 13h00 sharp.
505 Duffin Trophy Video - To be released this weekend
A superb promotional video showing 505's sailing in the recent Duffin Trophy held in November at Sterkfontein Dam will be released this weekend at the PSC Charity Regatta.
The short video of ±4 minutes is set to very fitting music and shows scenes of all participants at the event.
The video footage was shot and edited by Enid Klaas and the 505 class wishes to thank her for her efforts.
Click here for the video or go to the gallery to see some of the photos of the action.
