Strong 505 turnout at Northvaal Championships
13 top teams contested this year’s 505 Northvaal championships at Aeolians on the Vaaldam. Many of the teams are already gearing up for the World championships in Denmark next year and see these big regattas as perfect early preparation for their campaigns. The regatta was well run with 9 solid races in all conditions, testing crews and equipment to the max.
2009 Northvaals results and photos available
The 2009 505 Northvaals held at Aeolians this last weekend were a resounding success. 13 boats entered the event and wind conditions were ideal for the 505 at between 15 and 20 knots from the NW.
Thomas and Peter Funke became the Northvaal provincial champions in convincing style, and at times competition was tough at the top of the fleet. The full results can be seen in the results section and a selection of photographs courtesy of I.Willcox, J d'Engle and E.Klaas are in the photo gallery.
505 class grows for the 3rd year in a row at WC Champs
The 2009 Western Cape championships saw a record 11 boat fleet compete for the title. There were many talented sailors at the event including the likes of Dave Hudson, David Rae, Paul Willcox, Rudolph Holm, Kyle Klaas, Nick Pratt and Peter Funke but to name a few. Racing was extremely close and the regatta was a huge success!
Thanks George
How saddened I was to read of the passing of George Duffin.
When I took over the class presidency in 2000 he gave me some advice: He said "If you want the class to grow it has to be prepared to travel." At the time we were standing on the porch outside the club house at Midmar. Boy did we travel since then.
Thanks George, I will pass it on. Your legacy lives.
Tony Murray
Ex 505 Class President
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!
