505 World Championships in Kingston Ontario, Canada 1990

Report published in 505 Great Britain, Issue No.37, March 1991

• Final Results

Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston Ontario, was the venue of the 35th World Championship Regatta for International 505s.

The Pre-World series of races, held during the week preceding the World Championship was run as part of 'CORK', the Canadian Olympic Training Regatta Kingston.'CORK' is claimed to be the World's largest freshwater sailing Regatta and second only to Kiel Week. We wouldn't argue with that, there were a LOT of boats. Quite a spectacle but, if there was a downside, it was that the Pre-Worlds rather lost their 'identity' and atmosphere. It was however an important opportunity for visitors to get the feel of things and the 8 race series allowed plenty of time for getting 'sorted'.

Anyway, counting 7 results from 8 races demands some serious consistency and the long-standing partnership of Jeff Miller & Bruce Heckman (USA) won it with a 2, 8, 1, 5, 13, 7, 12. Australians Steve McConaghy & David Page were second, only 1.1pts behind. They had scored an impressive six top results but had nailed themselves with a DNF in race two and a 30th in the fifth race. Jim Maloney & Bob Sutton (USA) were third. The Brits? Well there were 7 teams and they can't have been really trying, but Mark Upton-Brown & Bill Masterman were seventh.

So a couple of days of measurement and then on to the 'real thing'. A look at the pre-Kingston form guide put the finger on probably 4 guys with a good chance of 'getting the trip'. The reigning hat-tricker Krister Bergstrom (Swe), new European Champion and very much 'in form' Jorgen Schonherr (Den), 'yankee old timer' Ethan Bixby, the current North American Champ, and Geoff (brother of boatbuilding Terry) Kyrwood winner of the Australian Nationals. Of the British squad Upton-Brown (second to Schonherr by a neck at the Europeans) and Ian Barker, who has spent the last year 'jockeying' for Ulmer-Kolius 505 sails in Australia, looked the best two-way bets. Barker had Neal McDonald making a 'guest appearance' riding shotgun. Of this field only Bixby had shown any early form to finish one in front of Upton-Brown during 'CORK'.

Jorgen Schonherr and Anders Kaempe from Denmark, European and World Champions 1990.
Photo by Bill Jenner taken at the 505 Europeans at Quiberon in France.

Having made the long sail out to the race course, the fleet was met by a 7kt S.W. breeze for the first race. Mr. Schonherr's name had been drawn from the hat for the honour of being pathfinder and thus the 1990 World Championship began. Howard Hamlin & Steve Rosenberg went up the first beat pointing like badgers (high) and rounded the windward mark in the lead. At the bottom of the second reach, which had turned into something of a run, Jorgen Schonherr & Anders Kaempe had popped out at the front and Krister Bergstrom & Olle Wenrup were through to second. By the bottom of the second triangle Ethan Bixby & Cam Lewis were in third spot with Schonherr still leading from Bergstrom in the building 15kt breeze. So what is the golden rule when you are in the lead on the last beat? Exactly, cover the chap in second place. Well Schonherr didn't and Bergstrom beat him. What a silly Billy, still, we've all done it haven't we? Bixby finished 3rd.

USA team Patrick Andreasen & Dave Shelton were pathfinders for the second race but their first pass was aborted when Terry Kyrwood cut things 'a bit fine'. Of course being on Starboard when you hit the Port-tack pathfinder doesn't count for much so Terry went for a cup of tea and everyone else had another go.

The wind varied between a Force 1 and 3 with lots of biggish shifts and significant 'bands' of breeze making for major place changing, in both directions. The family name was redeemed however when Geoff Kyrwood & Paul Campbell led throughout to take the gun ahead of Phillipe Boite & Jean Luc Muzellec (Fra) and Andreasen.

For race 3 the 'inner' course was used, on account of the bulk of the fleet getting a bit bored with the 11/2 hr sail to and from the 'outer' track. A short course was put in the more limited space with a 1.2 mile beat that turned out to be exceedingly 'right-handed'. Large gains were to be made on the broad first reach, as demonstrated by Messrs Schonherr and Kyrwood (T) who both piled their way up from the 30s-40s to get to 12th and 14th respectively by the gybe. They maintained this momentum and when leaders Ian Barker & Neal McDonald stuffed their 'nose'in going down the run Kyrwood gratefuIIy accepted the lead. In the prevailing force 3-4 S.W. Kyrwood was going very quickly and certainly wasn't going to get caught, until his jib fell to pieces going up the last beat that is. When it did he fell back to 6th place and, meanwhile, Schonherr won it with Barker 2nd and Bixby 3rd.

An early start was crucial for race 4 as the unfortunate pathfinder, Boite, picked up a big header in the very shifty N.W. 1-2. His subsequent protest against the race committee was thrown out and Boite added a 34th to his existing results of 6,2,10. This was a particularly tricky race and the beats were real 'death or glory'. Glory eventually came to Hamlin who, sailing the last beat way to the left of the leading pack, found himself on the inside of something special and crossed the line a winner. Bixby was 2nd, Schonherr was 3rd.

Still inshore, Bergstrom opened the gate for the 5th race in a building S.W. 1-3. Each beat had the opposite bias to the last one, great if you're 'in synch', not so good otherwise. The first was a quick right-hander for Paul Tara & Mead Hopkins (USA) who lead by over a minute at the windward mark. We assume that he didn't say 'thank you Lord' loud enough as he went round because he ended up 16th. Things got interesting on the finish line however when the first three boats were so close that Schonherr and Boite could not be separated. Bergstrom had won it by a nose and Schonherr thought that he was second, but so did Boite and the committee agreed with the Frenchman. Schonherr protested the committee but there was no accurate video evidence to support his claim, thus he was given third.

When Schonherr thought that he had finished 2nd he was looking forward to a day off as he wouldn't need to sail the last race, having it 'in the bag' as it were. But a 3rd wasn't enough. His score for the 5 races sailed was 2,9,1,3,3 giving him 29.4pts and 1981 World Champion Ethan Bixby was counting 3,8,3,2,11 giving him 33.7pts so it was possible that, if Bixby won the last race, which he was more than capable of doing, he could drop his 11th and end up with a score of 28.4pts and if Schonherr was 9th or worse Bixby would 'nick it' outright. Straight out of 'Boys Own'. Well after a bit of 'whinging', from the Americans mainly, about the qualities of the inshore racing, the final act was to be played offshore on a stage set with a S.W. 2-4.

Actually it was a bit of an anti-cIimax, in that Schonherr set his sights on Bixby well before the start and was able to sail Bixby down the fleet rather effectively until Bixby retired. Elsewhere the sub-plot was unfolding. Geoff Kyrwood rounded the first mark ahead of Boite but was unable to stay with his impressive offwind speed, thus allowing Boite to dominate the race and win it from Kyrwood with Bergstrom 3rd. These results had a significant effect on the top 5 overall positions.

So after wearing the crown for three years Bergstrom had to let it go. He was the only person to win two races but had plugged in two 10ths and an 11th in races 2, 3 and 4, something that he could not afford to do in that sort of company. Jorgen Schonherr & Anders Kaempe have been dominating in Europe this season as a result of some hard work and plenty of talent. They thoroughly deserved to win this particularly difficult Regatta and make worthy Champions of the World.

EQUIPMENT AT WORLDS

505 Showdown
Report by Chris Hufstader (published in Sailing World, January 1991)

The drama of the 1990 505 World Championship surfaced in the very first race off Kingston on Lake Ontario. Battling with two American teams and chasing a Danish team he'd been unable to beat all year, Krister Bergstrom, the three-time World Champ from Sweden, caught a 10-degree shift to win on an intensely tactical final beat. But for Bergstrom, sailing a new boat with his old crew Olle Wenrup, the rest of the races were not to have such a happy ending.

Right behind Bergstrom and Wenrup were Jorgen Schonherr and Anders Kampe from Denmark, the current European and Nordic Champions. They were well prepared, fast in all conditions. and very smooth - but they had yet to win a World Championship, instead finishing in the top five in each of the previous four years. Trailing the Danes were Ethan Bixby and Cam Lewis, who were looking to recreate the glory of their win at the 505 Worlds on San Francisco Bay in 1981 (they were sailing the same Lindsay 505 they won with that year). Another U.S. team was shadowing them - Californians Howard Hamlin and Steve Rosenberg, the current North American champions (also in a 10-year old boat).

In addition to this group, all 505 sailors know better than to discount the Australian contingent, and they were reminded of their proficiency in Race 2 as Aussies Geoff Kyrwood and Paul Campbell were in the right position to benefit from a 30-degree shift to the west just after the start. They led the race all the way, as Schonherr, Bixby, and Hamlin were all in the mid 30s at the first mark. These three were fast enough to take advantage of the shifty conditions to finish in the top 10 behind Kyrwood, the fast Frenchmen Phillipe Boite and Jean-Luc Muzellec, and U.S. sailors Patrick Andreasen and Dave Shelton in third. As Kyrwood and Campbell took the lead in the regatta, Bergstrom and Wenrup scored a 10th, their first of three double-digit finishes. Despite winning another race later in the regatta, counting two relatively bad finishes irreparably damaged their chances of winning.

This was a world-class battle of boatspeed and tactics in the quintessential two-man planing dinghy. Most of the races were sailed in light-to-moderate winds, with only one race in better than 20-knot winds - a breeze all 505 sailors live for. Four of the races were sailed out on the open part of Lake Ontario, and two were held behind Wolfe Island, just in front of Kingston's Portsmouth Olympic
Harbour. Gate starts were used exclusively, a rarity in North America outside the 505 class, but clearly the best way to start this 76-boat fleet. See below for an explanation of the Gate Start system. The courses were all triangle-windward-leeward followed by another triangle and an upwind finish. Olympic scoring put a high priority on top-six finishes -especially firsts (for 0 points).

The fleet got the breeze it was waiting for in the third race, although many of them didn't see it coming. With very light air that morning and not much more wind in the forecast, the race committee decided to try a race on the "inside" race course just in front of the harbour where there is always a breeze. Bergstrom and Wenrup's 10th in Race 2 gave them the Pathfinder job (see below) and as they dipped the committee boat to start, the wind suddenly started to build. Halfway up the first leg the puffs were approaching 20 knots! Paul Tara and Meade Hopkins, another team from California, surprised everyone by getting farthest to the right as the wind shifted and increased, pulling them around the mark in the lead. From there the wind picked up, and the lead changed hands about a dozen times as boats capsized or broke down in the 25-knot winds and steep chop. Schonherr and Kampe fought their way to the front late in the race after recovering from a bad start and won the race to take the lead in the regatta, with British sailors Ian Barker and Neal McDonald second over the line, and the Bixby/Lewis team in third.

Race 4 was back outside, and the 505 fleet made the long trek out to the racing area to wait for the wind to fill in. They got an unusual westerly with moderate puffs and big lulls under dark clouds blowing off the shore. One of these clouds covered the fleet and snuffed out the wind as the Pathfinder started the race. Gary Bodie and Kevin Ely, a U.S. team from Annapolis, Md., were the first boat through the gate, but fell into a lull as the other starters behind them lifted to the inside. Almost immediately, a puff filled in and they tacked, and looked to be a hundred meters ahead! The shifts continued however, and Bixby and Lewis were first to the mark, leading a group that included Bodie, Schonherr, and New England sailors J.B. Braun and Andrew Goldman, all well in front.

The rest of the fleet caught up on the lightair reaches, and by the last leg Han-din and Rosenberg had started a remarkable comeback from a bad start in no wind. Lying fourth at the last mark, Harrilin and several boats that rounded behind him sailed on port out to the right side as Schonherr and Bixby battled it out up the left side. The Californians found more wind and enough of a shift to tack and cross the leaders and win the fourth race, followed by Bixby and Schonherr. The Worlds was still within reach of a U.S. team.

By the fifth race the regatta was getting down to the nitty gritty. At this point Schonherr had a 2-9-1-3, and could clinch the regatta with a first or a second, but he had to keep a close eye on Bixby, with 3-8-3-2. Hamlin was right back in the regatta with his win in Race 4, which followed up a 22nd in the windy Race 3. In an 8- to 12-knot southwester on the inside course. Hamlin and Rosenberg led around the first triangle, but Boite took the lead at the end of the ensuring run. Bergstrom moved into second up the third beat, and held the French high on the next reach, allowing Hamlin and Schonherr to go the low road; although the Swedes eventually rolled Boite, Hamlin came into the last jibe mark with a better angle, and took the lead again.

The race took a bad turn for the Californians up the final leg - they covered closely at first, but tried to hook into a left shift, the tactic that brought them the lead up the first beat of the race. With a right shift and four boats to the right of them with leverage, they watched helplessly as Bergstrom, Boite, Schonherr, and Terry Kyrwood with crew Charles Spence finished ahead. With Bixby and Lewis in the low teens, Schonherr knew if he could finish second the regatta would be his! Boite and Muzellec stood in his way, but it was very close at the finish - they both shot the line and Boite made it first, a clevis-pin length ahead.

The US teams had missed their opportunities in this race. Hamlin could now only hope to win the final race for second overall, while an 11th in Race 5 forced Bixby and Lewis to count their eighth in Race 2. Their backs were against the wall, but they were still the only team that could possibly stop the Danes. In order to win the Worlds, the Americans had to win the last race, with Schonherr and Kampe in a finish worse than their current throwout of ninth. The breeze filled in slowly on the outside course from the usual southwesterly direction, and the bright sun started to build the 12- to 18-knot thermal wind Kingston is famous for. As the Pathfinder prepared to cross the fleet, Bixby and Lewis tailed the Danes briefly, but couldn't shake them up. After the race, Schonherr said he played along with Bixby: "As long as he wanted to damage his own start, that was OK!" When they sailed through the gate, the Danes were right next to the Americans, and just started covering them. As Geoff Kyrwood rounded in the lead Schonherr and Bixby were both in the mid teens, leaving the championship firmly in the Danes' grasp, and opening up the battle for second overall in the front of the fleet.

By the second windward mark the breeze and chop were building, and the Frenchmen Boite and Muzellec were now leading. They went on to a huge lead as Bixby and Lewis, in keeping with their all-or-nothing situation, decided to head in after the second jibe mark and accept fifth overall. Schonherr and Kampe were content to sail the rest of the race for a 19th, and a well deserved championship. Boite and Muzellec finished first to move into second overall, followed by Bergstrom and then Hamlin.

The showdown was over, but just for now. Next year the World Championship will be in Marstrand, Sweden, Krister Bergstrom's home waters.

Danish Domination

Jorgen Schonherr and Anders Kampe have sailed together off and on since 1978 when they raced on an Elvstrom-designed Trapeze class boat. At 33 years of age, Schonherr now adds this 505 title to the Flying Dutchman World Championship he won in Italy in 1985. His FD sailing has had a big influence on the 505 campaigns he has waged with Kampe - but not always a positive one. -'The tactics in the FD were completely different. In the shifty conditions in the 505 we weren't tacking enough. This year we improved the tactics." he said, explaining that the 505 tacks easier than an FD, especially in light air. His other less detrimental FD habits have been harder to drop - his Kyrwood-built 505 is rigged like an FD, with many of the sail controls led to the center with shock-cord take-ups along the aft tank, and even a short traveler.
Schonherr and Kampe stay in shape for sailing by running and biking, with an occasional triathlon competition, which Kampe says is "just for fun." Schonherr, who is a wholesale athletic equipment salesman in Denmark, says he and Kampe (a computer service engineer) bicycle at least 5000 kilometers a year.

Gate Starts

Although no starting system is trouble-free, 505 sailors swear by the Gate Start! 
At the World's, the Race Committee modified the system in Appendix 12-C, "Gate Starts" in the IYRU Racing Rules. Here's how it worked:

 

The Race Committee picks the first "Pathfinder (more commonly known as the "rabbit") for Race 1. Following that, the 10thplace finisher from the previous race becomes the Pathfinder. If the 10th-place finisher has already been the Pathfinder, the 11th-place boat is chosen.

The RC anchors their boat and signals the amount of time the gate will be open after the start, and makes their signals for starting. With 30 seconds remaining to the start the Pathfinder is required to pass behind the RC boat and sail closehauled on port tack followed closely by the Gate Launch flying code flag "G". At the starting signal, the Gate Launch drops a free-floating mark in the water, which is now the left end of the gate.

The fleet can then pass between the Gate Boat and the starting mark on starboard tack. The Pathfinder must sail closehauled until released by the Gate Launch, usually after a specified period of time. The Pathfinder can then tack or continue as she pleases. After the gate has been open for the allotted time, the Gate Launch stops and makes a sound signal, drifts for one minute, then makes another sound signal and lowers the "G" flag, closing the gate.

Any boat that interferes with the Pathfinder Or the Gate Boat, or is to windward of the gate at the start, is disqualified and is ineligible for any subsequent re-start. The start may have to be abandoned if the Pathfinder breaks down or is fouled by another starter, or if there is a major windshift.

Fast 505's

There's more than one way to race a 505, but they all seem to be quick. With such a fast hull shape, significant differences in forestay position, rig tension, mast rake and bend with the appropriate sail designs seem to all have the same speed result.

The AUSTRALIAN BOATS, which are mostly Balsa-cored fiberglass and polyesterresin boats, usually sail with a fixed rig tension. As the wind builds they rake their mast aft and reposition their 3/16-inch mast blocks at the partners to maintain the right amount of pre-bend and sail with a lot of twist in their sails and a slack rig. The Aussies are deadly fast, but seem to suffer slightly out of the gate when there's a boat to leeward. Geoff Kyrwood's boat is a good example of this simple, fast approach, with forestay, vang, and cunningham the only lines near the skipper's position.

THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN setup is characterized by a tighter rig, with tighter leeches. As the wind increases, they rake their masts back and increase the rig tension while adjusting the mast ram on the forward edge of the mast. Obviously, these added controls require more rigging and add complication to the boat, and the tensioned rig places more stress on the hull. That's why Santa Cruz sailor Dave Shelton's 1990 Waterat boat is built with Kevlar and Nomex. The shroud adjuster and headstay controls are both double-ended and led to the side tanks for fast adjustments.

JORGEN SCHONHERR'S BOAT is altogether different. Built by the Kyrwood brothers in 1986, its rigging is influenced by Schonherr's Flying Dutchman experience: floating jib-lead blocks, a mast ram, and double-ended shroud tension and forestay controls led to cleats on either side of the centerboard trunk. The control lines are then led outboard through blocks mounted on the side tanks, and attached to shockcord stretched aft. With this system the lines are always suspended within reach, and never get tangled.

The most obvious option, which appears to be a matter of preference, is whether to use a bow SPINNAKER LAUNCHER with a retrieving line or SPINNAKER BAGS on either side of the boat. Most Europeans and Australians use the bow launcher, but North American sailors seem to go either way. The casual observer would suppose that the bow launcher/bag option would have a major effect on the entire rig due to the position of the forestay. With the launcher, the forestay is mounted about eight inches behind the bow, which increases the amount of overlap between the two sails. With the forestay all the way out or, the bow, there's more projected area and less weight in the bow. Ethan Bixby summed it up, "There's all kinds of great theories, but we all seem to go the same speed."