from the International 505 Class Magazine -1965

RIGGING AND SAILS
"The first important step forward was unquestionably the supple mast, which, bending backwards in a high wind when the main sail is hauled taut, flattens the latter. Absorbing part of the curve, and supports the leech which is particularly important in the case of a sail with such a pronounced curve as the one found on the 505, and supported by a single slat.

It appears that the English were the first consciously to make use of the advantages of the flexible mast, but their discovery was almost accidental. When lan Proctor introduced his light alloy masts across the Channel, they immediately proved so supple that sail-makers had to make drastic changes in their cutting technique � not without some errors being made.

On the other hand, the French remained faithful to stiff rigging, and as the English were not able to take immediate advantage of their new system, our crews continued to make them dance to their tune, at least until the 1962 World Championship at La Baule which produced Keith Paul's victory, confirmed last spring at Zeebrugge. This triumph came after the warning shot fired by Delmar Morgan who almost won at La Baule in 1961. Since then, the French have also been converted to the flexible mast, and our sail-makers, who had previously had many years' trouble over Finn sails, had no difficulty with the 505 mainsail."

	Being strong wind specialists, the Australians use a very short central sheet bar. Note the spinnaker control and the centerboard tackle, both very accessible for the helmsman.
	The highly functional cockpit of Price's boat at Larchmont was the first stage in the development of present-day craft.
	The curious boom inhauler on which are fixed the mainsail sheet pulleys. This device enables the boom to be bent regularly close to the wind.
	The cockpit of Parrington's boat may seem overloaded, but in actual fact everything is designed for saving precious seconds when manoeuvering. PHOTOS BY A. DRAEGER

"Theoretically, the flexible boom is also a very interesting proposition as it, too, helps to flatten the sail, at least when it is combined with a central stay. Unfortunately, experience has shown that if it is already difficult to find a sail that is perfectly adaptable to a flexible mast, the difficulties merely increase if the boom, with its own flexibility, is dragged into the picture as well. We would quote the example of Fogh, who, though himself a sail-maker, none the less adopted, after comparative tests, a boom which bent only very slightly."

"Much more recently, the Australian, Bryan Price, winner of the last 505 World Championship at Larchmont, took this development much further still. His mast is flexible, and so is his boom � his mainsail had to be re-cut seventeen times � but he adopted a real Finn sail, with a large hollow in the centre, making the sail like a circumference; furthermore, when the mast is bent, the head bolt-rope and the leech show exactly the same rounding. It must be pointed out that this sail with its pushed back hollow tends to make the boat griping, and Price thought it advisable to push the centreboard back a few inches at the same time

It appears that Price and his crew also tend, in windy weather, to turn back dose to the wind more than our men, which, while balancing the boat, carries the weight on to the part of the hull most subject to loads and frees the front. On a "normally" fitted boat this procedure might result in undue slackness on the part of the craft. It would then he necessary to haul the sails overtaut."

"Most of the European competitors remained faithful to Proctor masts (Farrant, profile E, Tanon, profile B) and the Australians to very light wooden masts. Whereas metal masts have to be very carefully wedged in the mast-hole, Price and Parrington's wooden masts call for less careful treatment, for whatever happens, it is not possible to make them move more than 3/4 inch.
Most of the fastest competitors are fitted out in much the same way: distance from the back of the mast to the stern, 3.14 to 3.16 metres. Distance from the mainsail halyard point to the stern 7.61 m, which confirms the tendency to increase the rake, this being the sole point of difference between the fitting out adopted by Price last year and that used by Parrington this year. This tendency is taken to an extreme by Farrant who continually sails close-hauled with the main sheet pulley to pulley."

"As for booms, Price's was not so flexible as has been stated. Even an article introducing Sundowner to the Australian public before his departure for Larchmont said that the elasticity of the boom should not exceed two inches; this has been confirmed to us by John Parrington. Farrant of course has a stiff boom (with sheet bar at the rear) and Tanon a fairly stiff metal Proctor boom.

It would seem that, as regards sails, the lesson has been quickly learnt and all sail-makers have adopted more or less immediately the Australian new look. And it is certain that in France, Verneuil and Elvstr�m have adopted it, nor must we forget Marc Philippe who, under the directions of Mathieu Tanon, made an excellent sail, which has already proved itself. We must ask Mathieu to give us his own viewpoint on the subject.

CENTREBOARD
"Although our collaborator Jack Knights considered in our last number (see his article: Are the 505 and the F.D. out of date?) that the 505's freedom in respect of the dimensions of the centreboard was a good thing, it should be noted that Bryan Price adopted a centreboard which followed exactly the original plan made by John Westell.

 On the other hand, it has been stated that the American boat which came second had a narrow centreboard 2 metres long. As the measurements of the 505's centreboard pit are restricted, it seems difficult to attain such a shape. In actual fact, the American centreboard was of normal length, but of surprising narrowness. This high length ratio is justifiable only in calm weather.

But almost all 505's have now adopted the freely turning centreboard, which, mounted with axis play and supported at the rear, turns its leading edge automatically towards the wind under the pressure of the water, which, in theory, allows a few degrees to be gained when turning. Here too, the advantage is of value only in calm weather, since present-day 505 steering techniques make it preferable to give the boats their head when there is a good wind about so as to gain speed, rather than to steer into the wind.

Thus it may seem contradictory to use a freely turning centreboard which makes it possible to luff when one would wish to alter course, but it is true that helmsmen are more and more tending to move the centreboard a little into the wind when there is a good breeze, so as to make the boat less griping, and this procedure may have the effect of blocking the centreboard exactly in the central axis of the boat."

"It certainly seems that after trying centreboards of all shapes, one eventually, reverts to the centreboard as originally planned, perhaps a little longer for calm weather, with a razor-sharp rear edge. At the La Rochelle Week a great deal of attention was aroused by the fact that Farrant's boat had its centreboard axis very far back, but it appears that this enables him to turn his centreboard round towards the front when it has been completely lowered, so that it is better orientated with respect to the wind, thus facilitating turning, but the real position of the middle of the centreboard is unaltered."

OTHER FITTINGS
"In other respects too, the Australian boat offered a wealth of ingenious devices intended to lighten the craft and to throw most of the weight on to the lower parts. We mention at random the flattened centreboard pit, stoutly framed but with surprisingly thin sides, the sharply cut away stern, the absence of a wave-breaker, the very thin, but lamellated deck-beams, the main sheet pulleys, which, hung almost half-way between the boom and the deck � they go back into the boat when the mainsail is tight hauled � lower their weights while making it possible to reduce the length of rope necessary for the main sheet; mast, boom, and spinnaker boom made of astonishingly light wood � the mast weighs 6 kg against 10 kg for a "normal" light mast."

Many helmsmen have attempted to follow in this path, and sometimes gone too far by asking builders for over-light hulls, which subsequently proved fragile. But wave-breakers have all disappeared; more and more central sheet bars are to be seen; beams have altered their shape to enable the spinnaker boom to be got out more rapidly, etc., but no very new ideas have been noticed apart from the automatic inhauler invented by Bryan Price; with this device, the main sheet pulleys are on the inhauler cable which therefore goes a very long way back. When you close haul the sail, you pull on the pulleys, and consequently also on the inhauler. When you haul in the sheet, you slacken the inhauler."

"One point remains to he settled with the Australians. They rarely make use of the sheet bar (adjustable only by slide on the Waltzing Matilda). They find that when sailing amidst waves as they do, it would require too delicate an adjustment and that it is better to concentrate on finding the best way through the waves."

Conclusion: Tangiers in 1965, and Adelaide in 1966.

Philippe BUCK