Record Turnout

The 40th Annual 505 World Championship was held June 27th through August 4th, at the Mounts Bay Sailing Club, in Marazion, Cornwall, England. 106 teams qualified to compete in the event. The 505 class has increased the worlds limit from the old 85 boats to allow more teams to race in the World Championship. There were seven races scheduled, but only four races were sailed. Two were lost due to no wind, while the last race was lost due to wind of 35-40 knots. The RC waited most of the day hoping to get a final race in, 35 knots would be OK, but 40 was a bit much.

Photos from the World Championship

The World Championship was preceded by a six race pre-worlds and UK Nationals regatta which had 140 teams competing, the largest recorded 505 regatta. The 505 worlds courses - an old-style Olympic with two extra reaches and a final beat - with 1.5 mile legs, was used for both the pre-worlds and worlds. The pre-worlds were sailed in a wider range of winds with four races in the 5-15 knot range, one race in the 25-30 knot range, and the Race of the Year in which an extra lap - making the race the equivalent of two Olympic courses - was sailed in 30 to 35+ knots. I am going to remember some of those reaches for the rest of my life; doing 20 knots on a tight two sail reach, passing boats you thought were there, but you couldn't see for the spray, trying to get a breath of air through the bow wave!

Prizes were presented to by HRH Princess Anne, who watched the last race from the water and met many of the competitors after the race.

The venue for the pre-worlds and World Championship was extraordinary. Marazion is the oldest town in Cornwall; mining tin and trading with southern France and the Mediterranean countries over 2000 years ago. Marazion is overlooked by St. Michael's Mount, which rises out of the sea just a few hundred feet offshore, and the nearly 1000 year old castle at the top. Competitors and families took advantage of one of the nicest beaches in Cornwall, Marazion's children's play area just behind the beach, a Ferris wheel and several other rides.

Though a small club, the Mounts Bay Sailing Club runs one major championship each year; the organization of both racing and non racing events was excellent.

One day was set aside between the pre-worlds and the worlds to measure the boats, spars and sails of the 106 competitors. Competitors could submit up to two suits of sails and two sets of spars for measuring. Competitors were required to have sails pre-measured during the pre-worlds, so that worlds sail measurement consisted of checking for a current measurement stamp and checking basic dimensions, rather than a full sail measurement. The sailing weight of each boat was checked and the newest Duvoisin, Kyrwood and Rondar boats were subjected to a full measurement check. During the measurement process about 8 boats were found to be underweight, most by less than 1kg although one was underweight by 6kg; and on a few boats the lead was not glassed in. Only minor problems were encountered with some of the spars (a few overlength spinnaker poles and missing or incorrectly positioned black bands) and sails. Measurement was completed well ahead of schedule, as the measurement team needed less than the allotted six minutes per boat.

World Championship conditions were light to medium. Gate starts and Worlds courses - two more reaches and a beat on the end of the old Olympic course - were used for all races. Racing was very close, with top teams finishing races in the back and vice versa. Though the Nicholsons (AUS) did not defend their '94 title, Darren Nicholson crewed, and was 52nd. '93 World Champion Ian Barker (GBR) was 44th. A variety of rigs, hulls, crew weights and sails were evident in the top ten finishers. The two oldest boats in the fleet, 7318 and 7876 (both sailed by recent US intercollegiate sailing stars), and the newest boat, 8585, all finished in the top ten! 7318 was built in '81, 7876 was built in '86, while 8585 was barely finished in time to sail the pre-worlds!

The 505 is raced in 18 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, Africa and Australia; some 14 countries were represented at the Worlds.

Race 1. Ebbe Rosen and Olle Wenrup from Sweden, the rabbit, led at the first mark, lost Robinson/Masterman (GBR), but then passed them again before the top of the 3rd beat. They led from then on. Bergstrom/Moss (SWE) were 2nd, with Robinson/Masterman 3rd, Towers/Johnson (GBR) 4th, and Barker/Cripps (GBR) 5th.

The next race was abandoned before the start, due to lack of wind.

Race 2. Light air, the right was favored on first beat, Homes/Young (GBR), the rabbit, were well ahead, and led at every mark. There were interesting current effects on several legs. Several boats were disqualified by the International jury for kinetics in this race. Bergstrom/Moss were 2nd again, with Cisneros/Crispin (GBR) 3rd, Carveth/Mitchell (GBR) 4th, and Christensen/Langedorf (DEN) 5th. Several of the top boats in the first race had their problems during this race. Robinson/Masterman were 31st, while Towers/Johnson and Barker/Cripps were disqualified.

The next race was abandoned before the start due to lack of wind.

Race 3. Four time world champion Peter Colclough (GBR), now sailing with his son, started early in the gate crossed the fleet and led all the way around. Marcel Buffet, 73 old superman, was 2nd at the windward mark. Buffet/Roucayrol (FRA) finished 8th in the race. A big right shift on the last leg provided big gains for those boats furthest right. Rosen/Wenrup, winners of the 1st race, were 2nd, while Robinson/Masterman rebounded with a 3rd. Nelson/Alarie (USA) were 4th, with Moore/Cox (USA) 5th. Bergstrom/Moss were squeezed out of the front row in the gate, and were forced to duck lots of transoms when they went right, and then were caught on the wrong side of the big last beat shift. They finished 28th. Towers/Johnson were 6th, while Holmes/Young's 7th kept them in the hunt.

Race 4. Started light to medium, the breeze almost died off at the bottom of the 3rd beat, and then built up to planing upwind at the finish. Warne/Collins from South Africa led this race for some time, but finished 6th. After 8 legs and 12 miles (as the crow flies) of racing, the top 20 boats were virtually nose-to-tail at the last leeward mark. It was a close race at the top, with places changing all the way around the course up to the finish line. Rosen/Wenrup sailed their throwout, finishing 72nd, while previous race winners Colclough/Colclough were 54th. Towers/Johnson and Barker/Cripps were also deep. Robinson/Masterman finished 1st, with Hamlin/Martin (USA) 2nd, Bergstrom/Moss 3rd, Hellmich/Meyer (GER) 4th, Higgins/Wilsdon (AUS) 5th. Robinson/Masterman's win against Bergstrom/Moss's 3rd gave them a 0.3 point lead over Bergstrom/Moss after throwouts. This would have set up a tremendous battle for the last race, but....

The last race was abandoned before the start due to the 35-40 knot conditions. This left the standings as they were after the 4th race, with Robinson/Masterman over Bergstrom/Moss by the 0.3 point margin. Rosen/Wenrup were 3rd overall, with Holmes/Young - the most consistent of the top boats - 4th. American intercollegiate stars Moore/Cox were 5th, and Nilsson/Arvedson (SWE) 6th counting YMP average points after being holed in race 3.