Race 5 & 6

Only one race was scheduled for today, but we nearly sailed two. After a postponement, we went with a gate start in very light air. A number of teams were trying to gate early and several of these were caught a little high as the pathfinder started its run. Pip and I were still going backwards as the pathfinder sailed by and were rolled by a number of boats that squeezed through. It turns out we did rather better than some, as something like six teams were DSQ'd for hitting the gate launch or the pathfinder. Incredibly the teams DSQ'd include:

1st race winners Dave Smithwhite/Neal Fulcher
Event leaders after three races, Ian Barker/Dan Cripps
1999 World Champions Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin

several other teams were also DSQ'd.

The Doctor was tardy

This race was in a mostly easterly breeze, with wind ranging from near zero to 16 knots, and puffs filling in from one side and nearly inverting the fleet. On the third beat, after the two reaching legs, the easterly died out, leaving most of the fleet barely moving, and the Fremantle Doctor breeze filled in from the opposite direction. At this point the Race Committee abandoned the race, and moved into position for another start, setting the course for the new wind direction.

Since it was late in the afternoon for The Doctor, it did not fill in all that strongly, perhaps to 14 knots, though there were some higher puffs. Again there were a number of teams trying to gate early. The fleet went off planing fast upwind. The leaders all chose to do bear-away sets at the windward mark, while a few teams that rounded well back jibed at the offset mark and hoisted spinnakers on port. The jib set group had good breeze right to the corner, and when they jibed back to starboard to lay the leeward mark, received the strongest puff of the day. Large gains were made by these teams, Pip and I may have passed 30 boats and rounded the leeward mark 10th. The breeze backed as the leaders started down the first reach, with a number of teams forced to douse their kites to make the mark. The shift was large enough that not jibing at the jibe mark and continuing on starboard wire-running was the better move to get down the second reach, which had now turned into a run. There were lots of place changes on these two legs. After a fast beat upwind the leaders split down the run to the finish, and then converged on the narrow finish line.

First finishers.

Andy Beeckman/Ben Benjamin (USA-Team Tuesday) won the race.  Krister Bergstrom Thomas Moss would have crossed second, but capsized on the last jibe before the finish and fell to 4th.  What with Bergstrom/Moss swimming Simon Payne/Bill Masterman dueled with Tim Collins/Drew Buttner for second, with Collins/Buttner (USA) taking 2nd and Payne/Masterman (GBR) 3rd. Bergstrom/Moss (SWE) were 4th, Les Nathanson/Richard Machin (AUS) 5th, Luke Molloy/Lucas Prescott (AUS) 6th, Henry Amthor/Steve Sparkman (USA) 7th, Brett Van Munster/Andrew Petch (AUS) 8th, Doug Hagan/Stuart Park (USA) 9th, Ian Pinnell/Steve Hunt (GBR) 10th.

Overall standings very close. 

Danny Thompson/Andy Zinn were in the teens at the last windard mark but put their kite under the bow on the hoist and dropped some places.  If we start figuring in a throwout, Barker/Cripps throw out their DSQ and count ten points overall.  Bergstrom/Moss drop a 7th and  have 12 points.  Andy Beeckman/Ben Benjamin  throw out a 14th and  have 12 points.  Thompson/Zinn throw out today's race and have 13.. 

Alexander Meller
President, International 505 Class Yacht Racing Association

Grolsch International 505 Worlds – Race 2 & 3

Another fabulous day racing 505s

From Ali Meller

Another warm sunny day in Fremantle. It blew overnight, and the morning offshore breeze was very well established and quite strong.  The Fremantle Doctor never did fill in and both of today's races were sailed in a shifty, puffy easterly.  The wind range was probably something like 6 or 7 knots to 20 knots, and the shifts were probably 30 degrees.  With the offshore breeze, the waves/chop were not as large as yesterday, though the race course was a considerable distance downwind of the shore, so we still had a noticeable chop.  It was another fabulous day to be racing 505s.

 Race 2:

C’mon Hughie
The left looked good early, but it all depended on who was in the puff and sailing the lifted tack, so a number of teams had their moments up the first beat.  There were LOTS of place changes up the first beat, and then down the run; it was very easy to lose a bunch of boats as they went down the run wire running in a puff while you sat in a hole calling for "Hughie" (apparently Australians encourage a puff by yelling C'mon Hughie!").  There were more place changes down the beat, and even the reaches were a good opportunity to pass or be passed, as some teams would go high looking for a puff and then come screaming down in one.

At the finish it was Ian Barker/Dan Cripps 1st, Simon Payne/Bill Masterman 2nd, Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin 3rd, Krister Bergstrom/Thomas Moss 4th and probably Danny Thompson/Andy Zinn 5th.  Second through fourth were within five meters at the downwind finish.

Race 3:

Gatecrashers
Today was a scheduled two race day, so after the stragglers had finished, we had another go.  The first gate start attempt ended quickly when the pathfinder tacked to avoid several teams trying to gate early (the offenders may have gotten away with it as the race officer in the gate launch tried to inform the RC who the offenders were, but apparently there was so much background noise over the radio that he was not heard).  The start was recalled, which happens quite rarely in gate starts.  The next attempt also had some issues as the pathfinder had to take evasive action (the offending team was DSQ'd) and may be filing for redress.  Pip and I had already gated and did not see the incident, but it seems to me that if the pathfinder feels they deserve redress, anyone who gated after the incident might choose to see.  There are people rapidly filling out forms as I write this report.  We'll have to see what the jury decides on these.

Once again it was a shifty, puffy race, with place changes all around the course.  The difference in speed between a 505 wire running in a puff and a 505 forced to go low in a lull is substantial; finding and staying in the puffs makes for HUGE gains.

Ian Barker/Dan Cripps gated early, punched out on the boats near them and then tacked to cross.  Since Pip and I were below them in the gate and kept going for awhile, we were able to seem them cross at least the first 10 or 20 starboard tackers who had gated after them.  We had a good start and worked the left, but even though it was shifting back and forth, the trend was going right, so we were looking terrible.  1992 and 1993 505 World Champions Chris and Darren Nicholson led at the windward mark.  We ended up nearly on the port tack lay line early, and then in a "Hail Mary" back and puff we pulled through to round 6th and then noticed that we were ahead of Barker/Cripps, Hamlin/Martin and number of the favored teams.  Thompson/Zinn apparently caught Nicholsons at one point, but Nicholsons (AUS) led for most of the race and were in the lead when it counted, at the downwind finish.  Barker/Cripps (GBR) pulled through from a first mark rounding in the teens to finish second (apparently Barker/Cripps were forced to capsize the boat at one point during the race to fix something and still manged to pull through to second!).  Andy Beeckman/Ben Benjamin (USA-Team Tuesday) were third, Thompson/Zinn (USA-Team Tuesday) were 4th, Hugh Stodart/Peter Holden (AUS) were 5th, Malcolm Higgins/Andrew Chisholm (AUS) 6th and Bergstrom/Moss (SWE) 7th. After fighting a battle for much of the race with 505 Class Vice President Tom Bojland -- racing with Philip Christran -- we lost them on the third beat.  Though we were quite close at the last windward mark, they finished 12th, Peter Chappell/Ian Davidson crossed 13th, and Pip and I were 14th,  about one boat length behind Chappell, our best finish so far.

It was a long day.  It is now almost dark and we are about to have the daily prize presentations.  I need a quick shower and a shirt!  No time for a swim today.

Gotta go....

Ali Meller