Recent 505 News..... March '97 Next Issue of International 505 Class Magazine in the Mail Shortly:The first issue of the new class magazine International 505 was mailed to class association members around the world in March of 1996. The next issue is apparently close to completion and should be in the mail to current 5o5 class members shortly. If you are not currently a class member, join through your national secretary IMMEDIATELY!! If you do not know who to contact, check the list of class officers and national secretaries at http://old.int505.org/old_site/intoff.htm, or contact International Secretary Les Everitt at: Les Everitt 100 Used 5o5s Sold in North America!The "505s for Sale in North America" list was started in February of '95, for SailEXPO. We have tracked sales on this list since then, with a few sales from '93 and '94 included. A total of 100 used 5o5s have been sold (the 100th within the past few days), with 1996 being the largest sales year. Something like seven used 5o5s have sold so far in 1997, and three or four more used UK 5o5s are being purchased and should be in the USA in time for spring regattas. I believe the significance of these sales cannot be over emphasized.... Especially interesting is the number of people new to high performance dinghies we are bringing into the class - frequently by them buying "Classic" 505s - and the number of ex-college sailors buying boats. Many of these boats are now out on the water, after spending the last 10-20 years in garages! Check out the 5o5s for sale (and 5o5s recently sold) list at URL: http://old.int505.org/old_site/4sale.htm Seven New 505s Delivered in the US, More Than in Years!More new 505s were delivered in the US than in years... Some of the new boat high lights are...Waterat sold new 505s to College Sailor of the Year 1994, Tyler Moore, and College Sailor of the Year '95, Ryan Cox. Waterat has built five 505s in the past 12 months (one for Australia)! Rondar Raceboats sold three new Rondars, one to intercollegiate All American sailors Nick Trotman and Mike Mills, and another to 505 and Finn sailor Dave Shelton and Bruce Edwards. There is more interest in new Waterats, Rondars, Australian Kyrwoods, and Karl's Boatshop 505s, as well as the newer used 505s from the UK. We believe the seven new USA 5o5s and the addition of three to five late model used 505s from the UK is the largest increase in the US 5o5 fleet since the late '70s or very early '80s. This is quite a contrast to three years ago, when we were getting about one new boat a year in North America. Major USA Regatta Turnout Up Significantly:The 505 East Coast Championship at the New Bedford Yacht Club -
Buzzards Bay - had a very strong 28 505 fleet, the largest in many years (despite a
hurricane/tropical storm threat), the upward trend continued at the Canadian Championship
in Ottawa with 29 (no wind though!), and the North American Championship in Kingston with
34, both up noticeably from last year. The St. Petersburg Midwinter Championship back in
January had 23, up from 20 the year before, and 12 the year before that. Recent NA Fleet growth:1996 was a great year for North American 5o5 fleet growth. The Texas fleet continues to grow, with at least three more boats going to Texas in '96. The Indiana University Yacht Club will be a 505 fleet in its own right; they now own five 505s and are negotiating for two more; they had only one a year ago! Another 505 was sold into Indiana (outside the University Yacht Club), and the first Annual Hoosier 505 Regatta was held. I understand that a resurgence of interest in the 505 is happening in Montreal and that that Alberta continues to grow as well. Florida has also seen some growth, as has Hampton VA. A number of people had given the Seattle 505 fleet up for dead; it turns out rumours of its demise were greatly exaggerated. Alan Johnson tracked down area 505 sailors (many are new to the class after buying "Classic" 505s) and has organized some events. Alan has fifteen area 505s on his list, a number of which turned out for the first event, the next event looks to be even bigger..... contact Alan Johnson ([email protected]) for more information. 505 web sites:In case you have not been keeping up, the 505 class now has the following web sites:
Expect a US Midwest site very shortly. There is also a Denmark
Worlds site at: 505 e-mail list server now over 350 people:The 505world e-mail list server continues to grow, and is now over 350 people in over ten countries. It is now so active we created bulletin boards on the 505 NA web site so we would not be getting 20 505 msgs in our in boxes every day! One of the best things about the e-mail list is that newcomers to the class - and prospects - can get their questions answered. A number of people who recently bought 505s and joined the class have mentioned the e-mail list server and the 505 web sites as key reasons for getting into the class. Another benefit is the much better communication between 505 sailors in different countries. The numerous people outside North America expressing interest in sailing the 505 Midwinter Championship and attending SailEXPO are a good example, another is the exchange of tuning information. To join the e-mail list, send a message with a subject (in lower case) of subscribe to There are several other 505 e-mail lists including:
New Bulletin board on 505 NA web site:The 505 North American web site has had over 11720 "hits"
(as of March 7th) since the middle of August. New articles are added almost daily. The 505
bulletin board is a nice alternative to using the 505 e-mail list server, which results in
everyone getting e-mail. We have a general bulletin board as well as UK, Europe, Australia
and North America specific bulletin boards. The URL is: '97 505 Midwinter Championship:We had 23 teams at the Midwinters - hosted by the St. Petersburg
Yacht Club - probably the largest 505 midwinters since 1982 when I started attending.
Simon Lake flew in from England to race and suggested that the UK could do a container of
boats for this event in future. The number of new faces in the fleet was significant.
Every single newcomer who did not already have a 505 left saying they were looking for a
good used 5o5 to buy. Paul Muus in St. Petersburg has already bought a used 505 since the
Midwinters; welcome to the 505 class Paul! Mike Zani/Peter Alarie won the event in Lindsay
7318. A complete report on the Midwinters is available at URL: Southern California Midwinters:Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin won the the recent Southern California Midwinters, while Johan Backsin of Sweden and Urs Rothacher of Switzerland, both recent transfers to southern California, had strong finishes. Nick Adamson, the US Laser representative at the Savannah Olympics was also racing. Bruce Edwards/Dave Shelton, several times top five finishers at 5o5 World Championships were last out of ten boats. A full report is available at URL: http://old.int505.org/old_site/97scmid.htm. SailEXPO '97 - Atlantic City:The 505 class had another great SailEXPO, attracting lots of attention and interest. We wowed vistors with Tyler Moore's launcher 505 with spinnaker pole launcher. A number of people were interested in used or new 505s, and we also re-established contact with a number of 505 owners. Paul Young of Rondar was over for the first few days of the show. Paul brought photos of several used UK 5o5s, and these eventually led to the sales mentioned earlier. We also discussed lighter rigs with two different rig designers, and talked to Triad Trailers about building four-boat trailers. Triad also expressed an interest in building single and double combi trailers at prices below what it costs to import the Rapide trailers from the UK. Sailboat '97 - London:The Sailboat '97 dinghy show is just over as I write this. Early reports indicate this was a successful show for the UK 505 class. Looking Ahead505s Back In Bermuda Race Week!After a long hiatus, 5o5s are back in Bermuda Race Week. The event is April 26th to May 3rd. About seven to nine 5o5s from the US, perhaps Canada, and a Bermuda charter are expected. Further information is available at URL: http://old.int505.org/old_site/97bernot.htm. Gearing up for 1997 5o5 World Championship in Denmark:The 1997 World Championship is August in Denmark. Details are available on their web site at http://users.cybercity.dk/~ccc12869/worlds97.html. Aside from all the European 505 countries being represented, I know a number of Australian teams are going and several US teams. Are you going? The 1998 World Championship is September at Hyannis, Cape Cod USA! Free Container Shipping for East Coast 5o5s to/from the NA Championships!Howard Hamlin and Mike Martin are arranging a free 48 foot trucking container and shipping from the East Coast to Long Beach and return, for the North American Championship. Thanks to SeaLand for their support! Tom Kivney is coordinating from the East Coast end. With the container and perhaps some multi-boat trailers, we could have over 12 East Coast 5o5s at the Long Beach North Americans, the largest cross-country showing at a North Americans in quite some time. The North American Championship is July 7th-11th at ABYC in Long Beach. North American 5o5 Schedule Available on Web:A consolidated North American 5o5 schedule is available on the 505 NA Web Site at URL: http://old.int505.org/old_site/97regstb.htm. There are already 85 events listed for 1997! If you cannot browse the web, contact an American Section Class Officer or Regional Coordinator and ask for a copy. Balsa Cored 505 Being Built in Nicaragua & Another 5o5 Being Home Built in Virginia:Yves Chaix (Nicaragua) is in the early stages of construction! The boat will be homebuilt of locally available materials due to the very high cost - import duties - of importing both boats and materials into Nicaragua. For those interested, Yves plans to build the boat using strip planked balsa (plentiful in Nicaragua) sheathed in glass and epoxy. A 505 and a couple of Aussie 18 foot skiffs were built this way in Australia some years ago, with considerable success). I expect Yves could use some fittings, sails etc. After fixing up 7554 and racing it in a few events, Gary Van Tassell 2nd is planning to home build a 505 in Hampton Virginia. Gary and his father Gary have extensive boat building experience, and hope to have the new 505 in the water this summer. New 505 Builders:The Australians now have THREE 505 builders. In addition to the Kyrwood Composites 505, Kulmar recently started building 505s. Several of these Kulmar 505s were at the World Championship, and several more at the recent Australian Championship. A THIRD builder's first boat was also racing at the Aussie Championship. (sorry, no name or address yet). Karl Anderson - Karl's Boat Shop on the Cape - is apparently building the first boat using the all plastic Lindsay tooling. This tooling was last used to build the all plastic Lindsays being raced by Tom Kivney, Shona Moss Lovshin/Steve Lovshin, Steve Yates and Kiwi Paul Heads. For those of you keeping track, Karl's Boat Shop will be the 8th active 505 builder (not counting home building in USA, UK, Zimbabwe and Nicaragua).. Members of the re-born Seattle fleet are rumored to be interested in acquiring the Ballenger or Moore 5o5 tooling in order to build some 505. At the same time, a Midwest syndicate has plans to build an initial four 505s, and has arranged to share the Lindsay tooling with Karl Anderson. Australian Season in Full Swing:Its summer in Australia and they must all be sailing too much to
take the time to write any reports for the e-mail list.. There are recent updates on the
Australian 5o5 web site, including coverage of the 1958 (first) Australian 5o5
Championship, the 1966 World Championship (Jim Hardy won with
sometimes-steering-from-the-wire Paul Elvstrom/Pip Pearson second), and the recent 1997
Australian Championship, won by Chris Nicholson/G. Boyd. The International 505:With over 1200 members in 18 countries, the International 505 class is the largest and most active two person high performance dinghy class in the world. Despite its exceptional performance, the 505 is relatively easy to sail; but a challenge to sail well! It is raced by Olympic medalists and club sailors, men and women, juniors and seniors, on lakes and on oceans, in drifters and in 35+ knots. Many of the best known names in International Sailing have raced, or currently race 505s. For further information on the International 505 or the International 505 Class, contact: Ali Meller and point your browser to http://old.int505.org/old_site/
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