Malmo, a 505 perspective

“Just a few words” Pia asked. How could I refuse? After hearing her sing “Lucille” at the championship finale, how could I say no? That voice could freeze a man at fifty metres.
Much has been written elsewhere about what happened in the racing, so I thought I should write about my impressions as a first time visitor to MSS, and to Sweden.

I think that 505 sailors are privileged. Yes we sail a great boat. Yes we have a level of competition that sits just below the Olympics at the front of the fleet, but we are not exclusive and encourage the less experienced to come and rub shoulders with the top guys, have fun and learn. However, where we are particularly blessed is that we have this fantastic tradition of a World Championship each year, which gets people to go to places that they probably would not go otherwise.

I live in UK. Most Brits are like the Germans and can only think of going to the Mediterranean or Florida for their summer holiday. When people at work asked where I was going on holiday I got the response “ Sweden!…
that’s interesting ”with an expression that made it clear that they thought I was a closet Abba fan, or had some kind of herring fetish. However, 505 sailors already knew that Sweden was a nice place, with friendly people and a great sailing tradition, because our friends from Sweden have been travelling the World with us for years. Personally I had always wanted to visit after hearing tales involving friendly, naked Swedes (female version!) at the 1981 Europeans in Garda, but somehow had never managed to make it before.

So having travelled in expectation, I was not disappointed to find that no sooner had I got out of my taxi from the airport at MSS than I was greeted by a smiling Krister Ahlkvist. Happily he was fully clothed, but immediately he made me feel at home, introduced me to the rest of the team, and organised a lift for me and my monstrous Malmo, a 505 perspective bag to the hotel. From talking to other 505 sailors in the fleet, this welcome was typical. We were all enthusiastically welcomed and nothing seemed too much trouble for anyone.

Now I am sure that everywhere we go thinks they are friendly, but often it is a few individuals that stand out as making a special effort, and the rest aren’t really interested. We have had venues in recent years where the prize giving diner was double booked with a wedding party, caretakers refusing to let competitors use the clubhouse facilities and race officers who thought their job was to start the race on time even though the wind had dropped so much that 30 boats were becalmed 500 metres away from the start.

This year nearly everything ran well. We got all the races in. Although we had a couple of wobbles in the racing, the situations were recovered quickly and with the minimum of fuss.
The after race socials were good and although some people would have liked a bit more wind, we all got a sun tan! However, the thing that impressed me most was the spirit and enthusiasm for the championship amongst so many people at MSS. We have been to places with bigger clubhouses, with better changing facilities, with more and bigger support boats, with more spectacular scenery, but it is long time since we met such nice people who were always prepared to do that bit extra to make the event special.

That will be my overriding memory of the 2003 Worlds. And the bicycles of course.
Because of this it is very difficult to single out individuals, because if I did that I would surely miss out someone else who had worked just as hard. All I can say from the 505 fleet to MSS is “Thank you very, very much indeed, you did us proud. We were privileged to enjoy your hospitality,and to hear Pia sing!”

And I never did find the naked girls ...

Chris Thorne
International Secretary 505 Class
Yacht Racing Association