More great pictures from the windy 2012 PCC's in San Diego.
Amie Huebner's Gallery
Mark Burge's Gallery
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
From the President - Drew Buttner
American Section,
With 2012 upon us, I'd like to take a moment to share my thoughts related to our American Section of the International 505 Class. We are coming off a year of tremendous economic turmoil in the United States and the world. The sport of sailing has seen declines in some of its most popular events. Yet our class continues to maintain both its foothold and its reputation as the premier high performance dinghy in the US! This is a true testament to us and our boat.
The 2011 North American Championship was hosted by American YC in Rye, NY and saw 28 teams compete across 4 amazing days of racing. Congratulations to the team of Tyler Moore and Geoff Ewenson for taking home the title! In the fall of 2012 we will return once again to San Francisco Bay and challenge its famed race track.
However, an area of concern for us should be the limited opposite coast attendance at the past two North American Championships. There are many valid reasons to explain this, but we as a class need to make sure that this does not become the norm. The North American Championship is our marquee event and good participation from all of our members is important in maintaining our reputation as a class.
Two other major events on the 2012 calendar are the East Coast Championship to be held June 8-10 in Little Egg Harbor, NJ and the Pacific Coast Championship to be held March 16-18 in San Diego, CA. Both events promise to be full of friends, fun, and competitive racing.
There is some exciting news for 2012 as Rondar Raceboats is establishing a presence in the United States, building/importing boats in their new Peabody, MA facility and establishing a sales team across the United States. Coupled with Waterat Sailing Equipment in La Selve Beach, CA providing world class fittings and foils, and our two sail makers: Glaser Sails in Long Beach, CA and North Sails in St. Petersburg, FL, the American Section once again has local suppliers of everything 505!
2012 is shaping up to be another fun and exciting year for our class and I look forward to seeing everyone on the water!
Enjoy 2012!!
Drew
With 2012 upon us, I'd like to take a moment to share my thoughts related to our American Section of the International 505 Class. We are coming off a year of tremendous economic turmoil in the United States and the world. The sport of sailing has seen declines in some of its most popular events. Yet our class continues to maintain both its foothold and its reputation as the premier high performance dinghy in the US! This is a true testament to us and our boat.
The 2011 North American Championship was hosted by American YC in Rye, NY and saw 28 teams compete across 4 amazing days of racing. Congratulations to the team of Tyler Moore and Geoff Ewenson for taking home the title! In the fall of 2012 we will return once again to San Francisco Bay and challenge its famed race track.
However, an area of concern for us should be the limited opposite coast attendance at the past two North American Championships. There are many valid reasons to explain this, but we as a class need to make sure that this does not become the norm. The North American Championship is our marquee event and good participation from all of our members is important in maintaining our reputation as a class.
Two other major events on the 2012 calendar are the East Coast Championship to be held June 8-10 in Little Egg Harbor, NJ and the Pacific Coast Championship to be held March 16-18 in San Diego, CA. Both events promise to be full of friends, fun, and competitive racing.
There is some exciting news for 2012 as Rondar Raceboats is establishing a presence in the United States, building/importing boats in their new Peabody, MA facility and establishing a sales team across the United States. Coupled with Waterat Sailing Equipment in La Selve Beach, CA providing world class fittings and foils, and our two sail makers: Glaser Sails in Long Beach, CA and North Sails in St. Petersburg, FL, the American Section once again has local suppliers of everything 505!
2012 is shaping up to be another fun and exciting year for our class and I look forward to seeing everyone on the water!
Enjoy 2012!!
Drew
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
2012 Midwinter Championship - Mike Holt
Never let it be said that St Pete cannot deliver 3 consecutive days of perfect 505 conditions. The Chamber of Commerce went all in for this years’ Midwinter Championship and for those of us who took the challenge and risked going to St Petersburg in February, we were not disappointed.
The plan was to sail out in the gulf off of Pass-a-Grille (a newly acquired satellite YC of St Pete) but with a challenging weather forecast and some logistical pressure from the Yacht Club, Ethan was forced to make the choice of sailing in Tampa Bay from the St Pete YC Sailing Center. I am certain that there were a few of us who questioned this call but in the end it was absolutely perfect……..Those of us who were staying in the rented beach house would all have to admit that launching from the beach might have been a bit challenging on Friday. (Total understatement)
The RC set a beautiful race course and we were able to sail races that were between 45 and 60 minutes. The conditions were mixed throughout the weekend and forced us all to concentrate not just on boat speed but also on the numbers as there were big shifts to be found and capitalized on. Each race saw new leaders near the front at different times……. Ali Meller and Mike Coe with their newly (still in process ) rigged woody were often showing their bow in the lead up the first beat only to have a bobble once they had to go downwind. Charles and Jay Smith hooked into a big righty on Sunday and led the fleet to the top once and did their best to hang on to a top place after the second lap. Jim Englert and Brian Huntsman were still finding the magic in the new boom that Huntsman rigged from a broken M24 mast. (The Jury is still out on that one.) But Jim did comment that at least it didn’t break!
The plan was to sail out in the gulf off of Pass-a-Grille (a newly acquired satellite YC of St Pete) but with a challenging weather forecast and some logistical pressure from the Yacht Club, Ethan was forced to make the choice of sailing in Tampa Bay from the St Pete YC Sailing Center. I am certain that there were a few of us who questioned this call but in the end it was absolutely perfect……..Those of us who were staying in the rented beach house would all have to admit that launching from the beach might have been a bit challenging on Friday. (Total understatement)
The RC set a beautiful race course and we were able to sail races that were between 45 and 60 minutes. The conditions were mixed throughout the weekend and forced us all to concentrate not just on boat speed but also on the numbers as there were big shifts to be found and capitalized on. Each race saw new leaders near the front at different times……. Ali Meller and Mike Coe with their newly (still in process ) rigged woody were often showing their bow in the lead up the first beat only to have a bobble once they had to go downwind. Charles and Jay Smith hooked into a big righty on Sunday and led the fleet to the top once and did their best to hang on to a top place after the second lap. Jim Englert and Brian Huntsman were still finding the magic in the new boom that Huntsman rigged from a broken M24 mast. (The Jury is still out on that one.) But Jim did comment that at least it didn’t break!
Local St Pete sailor Lin Robson sailing with Paul Von Grey were always in the mix as those of us who don’t spend much time in the Tampa Bay area were always looking at where they were headed in an effort to gain any local knowledge they might be showing. Or at least we could convince ourselves of that! Macy and Parry showed excellent speed throughout the weekend and are on the cusp of jumping into the winners circle in a big event very soon. Henry and Dustin sailing the new version of “The Hoop” have certainly increased their speed with the new Rondar. They are always happy to lend a hand or a beer at the end of the day which puts them on a high pedestal in this fleet.
The Midwinter Championships winner however, was his lordship Master Holt and his faithful super crew (not a seal) Drew Buttner. They sailed with the most consistency throughout the three days and put together a score line that was not to be challenged. A final day swim gave some of us hope that we could overcome them but a last race bullet put the nail in the coffin.
The biggest applause goes to Ethan Bixby and the Staff and RC at St Pete YC for putting on such a fantastic event. A subtle golf clap to Holtie for bringing some west coast weather with him and an even more subtle golf clap to Ted and Doug for not coming as Ted swears he is Midwinters kryptonite!
Link to Photoboat shots
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Results
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
2012 SCYA Midwinters, ABYC - Brian Haines
Everyone who attended the 2012 ABYC Midwinters, held Feb 18-19, was treated to a great weekend of warm sailing conditions and a good turnout for the 505 fleet. As my wife might tell you, I’m not very good with the details, so I’ll avoid the play-by-play and provide some overall observations and photos from the weekend.
The most exciting part of the weekend was to see some new and relatively new faces in the fleet. Jeff Condon (8762- Pink Boat), Holt Condon (8841) and Brandon Folkman (8558) have all recently purchased boats. It was especially good to see 8558 back on the water after a pretty serious crash at the ’09 Worlds sent it to Larry Tuttle’s shop for some TLC. Jeff, sailing with crew Dave Kenny finished third in the event, while Holt, with crew Jacob Averbuck, and Brandon, with skipper Brian Angel each had top-5 finishes in the 12 boat fleet. East Coasters-turned-San Diegans Amy and Ted Huebner weren’t missing February in Rhode Island and finished the second to last race in 3rd as the breeze picked up. It is encouraging to see new talent coming into the fleet, and we hope that these guys and girls are having as much fun with the boats as the rest of us.
Saturday started with the typical scramble for us to get to the start on time, but fortunately there was already a nice 5 knot southwest breeze filling in. The hazy, partial cloud cover certainly didn’t make us think it would turn into a typical day in Long Beach, but the breeze settled in nicely at around 5-8 knots from the southwest and allowed for four races on windward-leeward courses. Aside from one significant left shift that left Ted and me scratching our heads, the name of the game for the day was boatspeed and the ever-so-difficult decision of when to wire run or when to sail deep. Big gains and big losses were made with each, but at the end of the day it came down to commitment; if you were confident enough to separate from the fleet and wire run, you had to really heat it up and commit to the puff in order to make it work. The rest of the boatspeed discussions after racing seemed to be focused on ram positioning, particularly with the newer teams. Thanks to Howie and Team Tuesday’s countless hours of developing the matrix most of us use, we can all speak the same language at the end of the day when comparing settings. I know that when I first got into the 5-0 after years of college and high school sailing, using the ram was a completely foreign concept. The matrix allows all of us, new and seasoned, to set up the boat and just race, which is so easy to overlook in these boats.
Sunday morning’s sky looked a bit more promising for breeze. Three races were scheduled and the noon start got off just as the anchored tankers started to shift around to the right. YES, Long Beach conditions. There were a few mark changes in response to the shifting breeze, but the race committee handled all of it very smoothly and did a great job of minimizing the waiting time between each race. By the end of the second race, crews were starting to stretch out their legs and the boats were moving. The third and final race of the day was sailed in typically beautiful Long Beach breeze. Aaron and Rob were glad to see some proper 5-0 conditions and it was only due to some aggressive covering tacks that Ted and I were able to keep them behind us. The 285 lb team of AJ and Pat sailed very well to finish the breeziest race of the event in third, narrowly missing out on the tie breaker for third place overall. Gary Lee and crew Dan Downing had great upwind speed all weekend to finish the event in second, and as mentioned above, Jeff and Dave won the tie breaker for third place. Ted and I ended up in first overall, our first regatta win in the 505.
The next Southern California event on the 505 schedule is the PCCs, held at Coronado Yacht Club in San Diego March 16-18. This should be a great 3-day event, so we hope to see as many of you as possible.
The most exciting part of the weekend was to see some new and relatively new faces in the fleet. Jeff Condon (8762- Pink Boat), Holt Condon (8841) and Brandon Folkman (8558) have all recently purchased boats. It was especially good to see 8558 back on the water after a pretty serious crash at the ’09 Worlds sent it to Larry Tuttle’s shop for some TLC. Jeff, sailing with crew Dave Kenny finished third in the event, while Holt, with crew Jacob Averbuck, and Brandon, with skipper Brian Angel each had top-5 finishes in the 12 boat fleet. East Coasters-turned-San Diegans Amy and Ted Huebner weren’t missing February in Rhode Island and finished the second to last race in 3rd as the breeze picked up. It is encouraging to see new talent coming into the fleet, and we hope that these guys and girls are having as much fun with the boats as the rest of us.
Saturday started with the typical scramble for us to get to the start on time, but fortunately there was already a nice 5 knot southwest breeze filling in. The hazy, partial cloud cover certainly didn’t make us think it would turn into a typical day in Long Beach, but the breeze settled in nicely at around 5-8 knots from the southwest and allowed for four races on windward-leeward courses. Aside from one significant left shift that left Ted and me scratching our heads, the name of the game for the day was boatspeed and the ever-so-difficult decision of when to wire run or when to sail deep. Big gains and big losses were made with each, but at the end of the day it came down to commitment; if you were confident enough to separate from the fleet and wire run, you had to really heat it up and commit to the puff in order to make it work. The rest of the boatspeed discussions after racing seemed to be focused on ram positioning, particularly with the newer teams. Thanks to Howie and Team Tuesday’s countless hours of developing the matrix most of us use, we can all speak the same language at the end of the day when comparing settings. I know that when I first got into the 5-0 after years of college and high school sailing, using the ram was a completely foreign concept. The matrix allows all of us, new and seasoned, to set up the boat and just race, which is so easy to overlook in these boats.
Sunday morning’s sky looked a bit more promising for breeze. Three races were scheduled and the noon start got off just as the anchored tankers started to shift around to the right. YES, Long Beach conditions. There were a few mark changes in response to the shifting breeze, but the race committee handled all of it very smoothly and did a great job of minimizing the waiting time between each race. By the end of the second race, crews were starting to stretch out their legs and the boats were moving. The third and final race of the day was sailed in typically beautiful Long Beach breeze. Aaron and Rob were glad to see some proper 5-0 conditions and it was only due to some aggressive covering tacks that Ted and I were able to keep them behind us. The 285 lb team of AJ and Pat sailed very well to finish the breeziest race of the event in third, narrowly missing out on the tie breaker for third place overall. Gary Lee and crew Dan Downing had great upwind speed all weekend to finish the event in second, and as mentioned above, Jeff and Dave won the tie breaker for third place. Ted and I ended up in first overall, our first regatta win in the 505.
The next Southern California event on the 505 schedule is the PCCs, held at Coronado Yacht Club in San Diego March 16-18. This should be a great 3-day event, so we hope to see as many of you as possible.
Back to the Future
Press Announcement Parker 505 to build in 2012
Parker's are to return in 2012 to building the International 505. Built in Boston, Lincolnshire in the UK and distributed worldwide the new Parker 505 will be available from June 2012.
Bruce Parker will be the builder through his company bpsailboats ltd, Bruce is the eldest son of Bill Parker who founded Parker's back in the 1950's and went on to win 15, 505 world championships as a builder, including an unprecedented 10 consecutive wins in the 1970's.
David Parker (is Bill Parker's youngest son) and will represent Parker's in the USA based on the East Coast in Fairfield, CT.
He is active in the East Coast 505 fleet, sailing with Greg Davis out of Larchmont. NY.
For further details please contact:
David Parker
david@parker505.com
c: +1.917.209.1681
http://www.parker505.com
Parker's are to return in 2012 to building the International 505. Built in Boston, Lincolnshire in the UK and distributed worldwide the new Parker 505 will be available from June 2012.
Bruce Parker will be the builder through his company bpsailboats ltd, Bruce is the eldest son of Bill Parker who founded Parker's back in the 1950's and went on to win 15, 505 world championships as a builder, including an unprecedented 10 consecutive wins in the 1970's.
David Parker (is Bill Parker's youngest son) and will represent Parker's in the USA based on the East Coast in Fairfield, CT.
He is active in the East Coast 505 fleet, sailing with Greg Davis out of Larchmont. NY.
For further details please contact:
David Parker
david@parker505.com
c: +1.917.209.1681
http://www.parker505.com
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