505 Nationals, ZLYC, Richards Bay, 16-19 June 2011
The 505 Nationals held in Richards Bay on the long weekend 16-19 June was a challenging event in more ways than one. The class made allowance for travelling and measurement on the first day 16 June to help those teams who were expected to travel from far. Unfortunately the disappointing turnout due to various competing events (SAS High performance clinic, J22 youth regatta, L26 Regatta) and other commitments (Competitors missing David Leigh, Rudi Mc Neill, David Shilton, Luke Wagner, Anthony McMillan, Euan Hurter, Ferdi Holm, Richard Parker) meant there were only 10 boats entered by the cutoff time. The conditions in Richards Bay however made up for it and the sailing was world class with plenty of competition throughout the fleet!
Race report - 505 Duffin Trophy, 29 April-1 May 2010, ABYC, PE
Competitors revel in PE offshore conditions
Following the competition at the WC Champs over the Easter weekend, the 505 fleet travelled to Port Elizabeth to sail the Duffin Trophy regatta at ABYC from the 29th April to the 1st May. Six boats took part in this event both in preparation for the 505 Nationals to be held offshore at Richards Bay on the long weekend 16-19th June 2011, but also to promote Port Elizabeth as the proposed venue for the 2015 505 Worlds.
The organising committee at ABYC did a brilliant job of arranging the event and the 505 class wishes to express our appreciation to Ronnie and Glynis Baer and all of the volunteers at ABYC who made the regatta possible.
You can find the results in the Results section and some photos in the Gallery.
505 Nationals 2010 - a great success!!!
16 505s from 4 provinces descended on Sterkfontein Dam near Harrismith where the 2010 National Championships were a highly contested affair.
Funke Brothers win 505 Nationals in Mosselbay
The 2009 505 National Sailing Championships were held in Mosselbay from the 25th to the 27th of September. A total of 12 boats made it to the event with the fleet being made up of top sailors, amongst others the 2009 Lipton Cup Champion Helmsman David Rae and the 2008 505 National Champions Kyle Klaas and Robert von Gruenewaldt.
Several youth members sailed in the event and enjoyed themselves in the fantastic conditions sailing a great boat. Ryan Pentolfe, Alex Ham, Henko Holtzhausen and Eddie Forster showed that they could adapt equally to light or stormy conditions. We need more of this youthful enthusiasm in the 505 class.
On the registration and measurement the wind was howling offshore making conditions very tricky near the slipway. Conditions during the regatta ranged from light wind and sunny skies on the first day to rain and squalls of over 20 knots on the last day. This venue boasts a rich sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and of course sharks in a beautiful bay with ideal sailing conditions.
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 Nationals report - Warwick Ham
505 Nationals - Henley Midmar Yacht Club
There were 4 father/son teams taking part in this year’s 505 nationals, (The Milln’s, Ham’s, Hogg’s, and Arthur’s) and a couple of potential family teams which we want to see on the water more often. (Holzhausen’s, Rogotzki’s, what about the Quarmby’s, the Holm’s and of course the Funke’s, just waiting for Thomas to return) There are also several youth teams and of course there is the Klaas family which suddenly seems to be quite dominant in the 505 class. What is their secret? Is it in the coffee or is it in the Jaffels?
Read more of my impressions of the racing near the middle of the fleet in the rest of the article below.
2008 505 Nationals report - Peter Funke
In his report on the 505 Nationals at HMYC Peter Funke concludes with one of the fundamental secrets of top performance.
"Nationals 2008 saw some great sailing and extreme competition with good close quarter racing at times. In a fleet of this nature it is very important to optimise boat handling skills. From my side the biggest challenge was to get my head outside the boat and to concentrate on the sailing and tactics at hand, especially with the conditions that we saw at Midmar this year."
Read the rest of Peter's report about racing near the sharp end of the fleet below.
2008 505 Nationals Report - Robert von Gruenewaldt
"Both Kyle and I would say that the biggest factor that contributed to our performance at the nationals was the fact that we didn’t sail with our “heads in the boat”."
This is the view of Robert von Gruenewaldt, the National Champion Crew aboard BRT.
Read more in his article below.
505 Northvaal championships – Vaal Cruising Association, April 2008
The 2008 Northvaal Championships were held at VCA over the weekend 26-28 April 2008. Here is Thomas' race report.
The results have been put up on the results page. There are also some cool photos courtesy of Rene', even the photo finish picture is there, have a look in the gallery!
2008 Northvaals Results & Action Photos
The results of the 2008 Northvaal Provincials are available in the results section.
There are also some excellent photographs courtesy of Rene. Click on the Gallery tab to see the photos.
We look forward to Thomas's race report later this week.
