2015 Pacific Coast Championship - Chris Love Reports

Big Guns at 505 Pacific Coast Championship

The West Coast contingent of the American 505 Class showed off its big guns as well as its infantry this past weekend at the Pacific Coast Championship, hosted by Santa Barbara Yacht Club May 15-17. Though the 505 is a dinghy, the boat’s technical prowess and penchant for speed apparently qualified the fleet of 17 for entry to SBYC’s yearly Santa Barbara Skiff Festival, sharing the water with slightly smaller fleets of International 14’s and 29ers.

The fleet gets up to speed in a medium-light air start.

Even in the boat park, the favorites were known to all. Perhaps the most notable this spring is Santa Cruz, Cal. skipper Mike Holt who successfully defended his world championship in South Africa in April, and his crew Rob Woelfel, who was also in the front of the boat when Holt won worlds the first time around in 2014. Howie Hamlin, who sailed with his regular crew Andy Zinn, has been the driving force of the class since the 1970’s, and has won several major trophies along the way including the 1999 505 Worlds in Quiberon, France and the 2002 JJ Giltinan Championship, known as the world’s championship of 18ft Skiff Racing. Mike Martin of San Francisco won his first world championship crewing for Hamlin in 1999, then claimed the title again as helmsman in 2009. Martin and his crew, Adam Lowry, had planned to challenge Holt at the 2015 worlds, but were unable to get there due to unforeseen shipping complications. Another San Franciscan, Ted Conrads, who finished third at the recent Worlds, arrived with fill-in crew David Kenny, an accomplished part-time 505’er. Needless to say, these teams are intimately familiar with each other.

Friday’s racing kicked off in a spirited 10-12 knots and the veterans Hamlin/Zinn got off to a quick start with two bullets. The breeze dropped throughout the afternoon, culminating in a floater for part of race three, and a tough race for both Hamlin and Holt’s boats. Martin/Lowery took the win and the lead. With expectations high for more breeze, Saturday delivered a somewhat disappointing 6-8 knot choppy race course, but it was enough for Hamlin/Zinn to get back on track with two more first place finishes and top the leaderboard going into the final day. Sunday morning didn't look promising, but after an onshore postponement, the fleet went out for what turned out to be another two good, closely fought light air races.

Crowded starting line in light air.

Besides the roster full of sailing rock stars duking it out in the front, this regatta offered plenty of memorable moments for the entire fleet. SBYC’s deck was the perfect location for post-racing debriefs along with good beer, classic margaritas and even a stiff martini served under the guise of a "Cold Remedy,” loosening tongues and making for fun conversations between competitors. Sailors reported sightings and close calls with gray whales each day. In one instance, the local whales looked to be ducking the fleet on port tack. “In hindsight we should have lee-bowed them and lead them over to the right instead of crossing through to the left. Clearly whales are smarter than we are!” says Richard Mundell of Royal Victoria Yacht Club in British Columbia, Canada.

One boat served as the fleet’s recruiter, unexpectedly bringing on new sailor’s each day. On Friday Jeff Sharp jumped in to crew for Bob Tennant while crew Richard Mundell desperately sought some back therapy in downtown Santa Barbara. Then on Saturday and Sunday local youth sailing rock star and current 49er campaigner Dane Wilson gave 505s a try for the first time, driving for Rich (Bob had to fly home). Four people in one boat in one weekend!

When it was all said and done, it was the veterans Hamlin and Zinn who stood atop the podium with an impressive four race wins in seven total races. Next were Holt and Woelfel, edging out Martin and Lowery by a single point when factoring in the drop of their worst race. Not far behind in 4th were Kevin Taugher of Alamitos Bay, Cal. and local Don Smith, considered by the fleet to be an SBYC “founder” on account that he can remember when the current clubhouse was built, back in 1966. Their only race win came on the final race, putting the pair ahead of Ventura Yacht Club’s Ryan Cox and Garrett Baum on the tiebreaker.

Impressive distances traveled by sailors hailing from San Diego, Seattle, and even Hawaii made this a strong showing for the west coast fleet.Their ability to mix it up with the reigning world champion and have a great time doing it bodes well for the group as they look ahead to the North American Championship on the other coast, to be co-hosted by Severn Sailing Association and Easport Yacht Club in Annapolis, Maryland, September 16-20, 2015.

 Doug Hagan (helm) came from Hawaii to part the Santa Barbara waves with Paul Von Grey (crew).

Eben Russell (helm) and Brendan Teague (crew) skimming off the top of waves not far from the Santa Barbara shoreline.

Event Website: http://sbycracing.org/2015-skiff-festival/
Full results: http://sbycracing.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Skiff_Fest_2015D32.htm

Top ten:
1 Howard Hamlin, Andy Zinn, 1, 1, (7), 1, 1, 5, 2, 11
2 Mike Holt, Rob Woelfel, 3, 2, (5), 2, 3, 1, 3, 14
3 Mike Martin, Adam Lowery, 2, 3, 1, 3, 4, 2, (6),15
4 Kevin Taugher, Don Smith, 6, (7), 2, 4, 5, 4, 1, 22
5 Ryan Cox, Garrett Baum, 4, 5, 4, (6), 2, 3, 4, 22
6 Jeff Miller, Pat Diola, 5, 4, 3, 5, 6, (12), 5, 28
7 Douglas Hagan, Paul Von Grey, 7, 6, 11, 7, (18 OCS), 6, 8, 45
8 Robert Tennant, Rich Mundell, 9, (15), 12, 9, 11, 7, 7, 55
9 Pierre Jeangirard, Antoine Laussu, (14), 9, 9, 12, 12, 8, 10, 60
10 Edward Conrads David Kenny, 8, 14, 6, 10, 10, (18 DNC), 18 DNC, 66

Region 1 Training Session Report - Drew Buttner

The first training session of the season was held on May 2-3 in Stonington, CT. Although the water was still chilly, the air temps were very nice and the sun was shinning brightly. Sailing out of the New England Science and Sailing (NESS) facility, two great days were had with winds topping out at 16 knots during the expected afternoon sea breeze. Focus for the weekend was boat handling with many tacks and jibes, followed by many more tacks and jibes. Rust was flying off of every boat and by the end of the session, everyone had found their groove and the sailing started looking like 5o5 sailing.

After sailing on Saturday, Heather Zagol put on an amazing dinner with burgers, dogs, homemade mac and cheese, grilled broccolini, and homemade brownies to top things off. AMAZING!

Many thanks to NESS and to Mark Zagol for making it happen and to all the boats that made the trip.

Session #2 is in two weekends. Unfortunately, the original plan for Saunderstown had to be scratched. Not exactly sure where the launching will be out of, but people are going sailing in the area that weekend. An update will come out soon.

Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta Report - Mike Martin

The 505 fleet had 13 boats show up for the Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta this past weekend. It was great to see several recent additions to the fleet out racing.  Harrison Turner was out in his recently purchased  7875, which looks like a brand new boat.  Harrison teamed up with Rich Mundell, creating a great program.  Another new face was Adam Roberts who teamed up with Reeve Dunn in AJ’s Greenie. Reeve and Adam put on a great show rounding the top mark in 2nd in the final and windiest race of the weekend.  Not only were their new faces, but also all of the top West Coast teams showed up, providing some great racing.

SF Bay delivered the wind that it is famous for, with light shifty races early and breeze building all day to some proper conditions in the afternoon.  StFYC race management of course lived up to its reputation of delivering great courses on the Cityfront with 3 races on Saturday, and 3 on Sunday.  The super team of Steve Bourdow and Michael Menninger in 8714 started off with a horizon job in the first race, asserting their dominance early and making the rest of the fleet wonder if they were going to walk away with the event.  There was a good fight amongst the fleet for the lesser places, with lots of positions changing every leg.   Adam Lowry and Mike Martin were apparently not OK with getting beaten by their spare boat, and responded with wins in the next 2 races.  Steve & Michael, Jeff Nelson & Howie, and Pat & Jeff Miller were hot on their tail providing some tight racing.

Sunday started off with a lots of south in the breeze, which led to some very tricky racing.  Again with a great display of smarts and speed, Steve & Michael walked away with the first race.  As the breeze built, it became slightly more stable, and Adam & Mike were able to pull off a win. This resulted in a tie going into the last race. The stage was set for a show down, but Tommy Fink & JB Turney and Reeve Dunn & Adam started to steal the show with a big lead at the first mark in the super shifty and windy conditions.  Lots of places changed including the lead which changed at least 5 times during the final race. On the final run Steve & Michael, with some great down wind boat speed, snatched the lead to win the event on the water.  Unfortunately there was a minor detail of sailing through the restricted finish line on the first run. (Perhaps reading the sailing Instructions would have been a good idea.)   In true 505 fashion there were no protest, when Steve & Michael learned of the restriction upon returning to shore, without anyone asking them, they did the sportsmanlike thing and retired from the race.  Hats off to them for 1) kicking everyone’s ass on the water, and 2) showing great integrity off the water.  They showed that they are true winners.

Complete Results: http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=10250&show_crew=1

More Photos: https://m.flickr.com/photos/californiasailingphotos/sets/72157652274215396/

Howie Hamlin starting SAP 505 Worlds on back foot - Andy Rice

Port Elizabeth, South Africa (March 27, 2015) – Head-torches on, Howie Hamlin and Jeff Nelson were working another late night in the boat park, on the eve of the SAP 505 World Championships being hosted by the Algoa Bay Yacht Club on March 28-April 3.

Forced to fit out a brand new boat in record time, the former 505 World Champions are in a race against time to be ready for the first heat at midday on Algoa Bay. Hamlin wasn’t even aware of who had won the two-day Pre-Worlds which concluded yesterday, as he and Nelson, along with three local South Africans have been working round the clock to get the new boat ready for competition.

The winner of the Pre-Worlds was another team from California, Mike Holt and Carl Smit, who beat Ian Pinnell and Johannes Tellen on tie-break, with a score of 5,1 from the two races. Holt is the reigning World Champion, although he won last year’s Worlds in Germany crewed by Rob Woelfel. Now Holt sets out to claim a second world title, this time with his long-time regular crew Smit. The 2007 World Champion, Great Britain’s Pinnell, will be pleased to have settled in well with his crew for the week, Tellen, with solid scores of 4,2 from the warm-up regatta. In 3rd place were the Australians, Sandy Higgins and Paul Marsh, who also racked up a consistent 3,4. Top South African team were Peter and Thomas Funke in 7th overall. Pre-Worlds results.Hamlin and Nelson tried to race in the Pre Worlds but equipment failure led to their main shroud breaking and the mast come alarmingly close to falling over the side. “Tack!” yelled Nelson to his helmsman, who responded quickly enough to get the boat on to starboard tack and keep the mast in the air. Even so, the aluminum mast had already bent, and while Hamlin managed to bounce it more or less back into alignment, it’s a less than ideal scenario for the usually meticulously-prepared, multiple World Champion from California.

It all went wrong for the team – and many other American competitors – when their shipping container was held up by a dockers’ strike in San Francisco a few weeks ago. While other notable competitors like former World Champion Mike Martin were left high and dry and forced to withdraw from the event, Hamlin at least had the option of a using a bare, brand new hull that he was already shipping from the UK to Port Elizabeth, en route to his home in California where he would have fitted out the boat at his leisure.

Instead, Hamlin decided to fit the boat out in haste in South Africa. “It was always going to be hard, but we’ve been really lucky to be helped out by Jim Foot, who lent us his garage, all his tools, and a lot of his time,” said Hamlin in the boat park this evening. “We’ve also been helped out by Andrew Blane and Ewen Hurter who’s racing in the fleet this week. It’s been five guys working solidly, a combined 200 hours over the last few days to try to get this boat ready. Couldn’t have done it without them! When it was reaching midnight I’d say it was time to get some sleep, but they never let up. There’s a great ‘can-do’ attitude here in South Africa.”

Asked if by some miracle if he could still win the Worlds, Hamlin would only reply: “Well we’re certainly on the back foot!” It will be fascinating to see what Hamlin and Nelson can accomplish this week.

The SAP 505 World Championships will be fully covered by SAP Sailing Analytics. The first three days will have live tracking and expert commentary, with the live online coverage coming in for the final three days of competition. To follow the action go to: http://sap505worlds.com/

Story by Andy Rice, www.sailingintelligence.com; Photos: © Christophe Favreau/SAP

St. Francis Yacht Club Spring Dinghy - Bruce Edwards Report

The first major regatta of the season in California got off to a bang this past weekend in San Francisco. Though racing was postponed on both days, the wind filled in nicely and we were treated to summer-like conditions. Saturday was sailing in a nice 8 to 14 knots and Sunday kicked off with 10 knots from the NW building to 15-16 with puffs into the 20s according to the RC. A nice air temp in the mid 60’s capped off an amazing weekend.

Photo(s) by Chris Ray

www.printroom.com/pro/crayivp

With many of the fleets boats doing the Panama turn around instead of going to the worlds, several people borrowed boats and gear. Rob and Aaron were sailing the B boat while the beautiful new Waterat is taking a nice vacation to Panama. The northwest fleet was represented by Brain Trainor who made the 1000 mile trek south, and Davey Chatham taking time off from the Orchards of Washington. Ian O’leary and Dan Esdorn made great showings. Tim Murphy made it out on Sunday after nursing a sick kid on Saturday.

We felt bad that so many of our compatriots are suffering with sub zero temps and snow on the same weekend on the east coast, well not that bad ;-) We had a nice turn out of 12 boats and the racing was really tight, with the exception of Mike and Rob who seemed to be racing themselves on Saturday, as they took 3 bullets on the day. The racing was on the Bravo Course just to the west of Alcatraz. The rest of the fleet had some really close racing. Jeff Miller and Pat Diola pulled out a nice finish in race 1 in 2nd as past WC Mike Martin and Adam Lowry forgot to drop their chute at the last bottom mark. Bruce & Dave pulled off a 3rd, closely following by Bob and Rich, & JB and Tommy. Race 2 & 3 were held in nice steady building westerly. Race 2 showed an amazing comeback from zero to hero by Bob and Rich when the found nice current hard left on the last beat taking a well earned 2nd, closely followed by Bruce and Dave, and JB and Tommy.

Photo(s) by Chris Ray

www.printroom.com/pro/crayivp

On Sunday, Mike and Rob decided to race with the rest of us. The day dawned looking like no wind and with the time change it was looking grim, but the bay didn’t disappoint and a nice westerly that built all day began to fill in.  Jeff and Pat nailed the start then proceeded to sail inside Anita Rock and then round the top mark the wrong way, earning a nice discard in the process. Race 4 had the breeze building from the gate, and probably the tightest racing of the weekend. The race finish was a nail biter and saw the top 4 boats finish within 15 seconds, Mike and Adam got the win in the race, with JB & Tommy sailing a great race and getting a 2nd. They were closely followed by Mike & Rob in 3rd and Bob and Rich in 4th. Race 5 was again another close one with Mike & Adam getting the gun, closely followed by Mike & Rob, JB & Tommy, and Bruce and Dave. Race 6 saw an nice big puffs off the city front pushing into the 20 knot range at times, and Rob & Mike got back on it after a close race and took the win. Jeff Miller & Pat came back and repeated race 1 by taking 2nd, closely followed by Mike & Adam, and JB & Tommy.

Overall, Mike & Rob, won the event, followed by Mike & Adam, and Bruce & Dave / JB & Tommy tied on points for 3rd. Complete results below.

Photo(s) by Chris Ray

www.printroom.com/pro/crayivp

Next up on the schedule is the Worlds for those lucky enough to attend. Followed by the “Thrilla in Cabrillo” on April 25-26th at LAYC, and The Elvstrom/Zellerbach on May 2-3 at StFYC.

1 Rob Woelfel, Mike Holt Santa Cruz YC 9115 IO Integration
2 Adam Lowry, Mike Martin NHYC / StFYC 8714 greenie (Boat #8554)
3 David Shelton, Bruce Edwards StFYC 9073 Dog n Pony Rides Again
4 Tommy Fink, JB Turney StFYC 9042 Stimulus Package
5 Rich Mundell, Robert Tennant RVicYC CAN8970
6 Pat Diola, Jeff Miller SCYC 9082 Miracle (Boat #7875)
7 Ben Glass, David Chatham Bird Dog YC 8786
8 Rob Waterman, Aaron Ross Santa Cruz Yacht Club 8084 Rob's Old Boat
9 Chris Pittack, Brian Trainor Kitsilano Yacht Club CAN8755 Banshee
10 Geoff Gales, Tim Murphy TISC 8937
11 Chris Burleson, Ian O'leary BYC 7069 Tiburon
12 Ashley Lyon, Dan Esdorn StFYC 8931 Duesentrieb

2015 Midwinter Championship - Chris Love Reports

505 Class All-Stars Rumble at Midwinters

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Mark Zagol (Stonington, Conn.) and Drew Buttner (Westwood, Mass.) bested the nation’s top 505 sailors to win the class’ 2015 Midwinter Championship this weekend, breaking a three-way tie in the final race.  For the entire six-race series the tricky St. Pete breeze kept the top six boats guessing, constantly trading places and often finishing within only a few boat lengths of each other, a rarity for a class whose focus on boatspeed is known to see splits times of minutes not seconds.

It was the first Midwinters win for the pair, adding to a handful of regional and North American titles captured since they began sailing together in 2012. “It’s hard to beat the Floridians,” said Buttner, referring to accomplished class veterans like former world champion Ethan Bixby (sailing with Chris Brady), who finished one point behind Zagol/Buttner, and Augie Diaz (sailing with 2014 world champion crew Rob Woelfel) who took third.

Some of the champions’ success, says Buttner, can be attributed to the training sessions Wednesday and Thursday, run by some class members from the east coast. On those days St. Pete delivered colder temperatures and big breeze up to 25 knots. While this regatta is traditionally sailed in the open water of the Gulf of Mexico, swells left over from a storm earlier in the week relegated the fleet to Tampa Bay, which brought unique challenges for the three race days. Friday saw excellent flat-water conditions for the first three races, but Saturday became trickier, leading to a couple of abandoned races. Sunday offered shorts and flip flops weather, but not enough wind to go sailing, so the fleet got an early start on their trips home.

This mid-winter meeting of the 505 class is not only a pleasant way for snowbound sailors to stretch their trapezing muscles, but is also a training event for some big time upcoming regattas. Reigning World Champion Mike Holt (Soquel, Calif.) booked his cross country trip to St. Pete knowing he would have plenty of quality sparring partners. “Great week of training, full range of conditions, fun group, great racing. It was a perfect way for us to get some time on the water before the 2015 worlds in South Africa next month,” said Holt, speaking of his longtime crew Carl Smit. While the pair have finished second sailing together at multiple World Championships, Holt earned his 2014 honor with crew Rob Woelfel.

Also coming down the pike are the 2015 North American Championships in Annapolis, Md. and the 2017 World Championships at the same location. This could be the start of the East Coast ramp-up to Worlds, says Buttner. All six of this regatta’s top finishers have their sites set on that event, but this class has a culture of teamwork, and the 505 American Section will be working together to make a strong showing on its home waters.

While this year’s fleet was stacked with top talent, overall the fleet was a little short on size expectations, partly due to the breakdown of a three-boat trailer carrying entries from Annapolis. One of the three pairs was able to borrow local sailor Zack Marks’ boat and compete. Alexander Meller recalls, “pulling frogs, lizards and a snake out of Mark’s boat.” with his skipper Lauren Schone. “The snake was pulled out Saturday morning, so had raced with us Friday,” said Meller. “The snake had no comments about 505 racing.”


Top 10 Finishers:

1    Mark Zagol & Drew Buttner 13
2    Ethan Bixby & Chris Brady 14
3    Augie Diaz & Rob Woelfel 18
4    Macy Nelson & Reeve Dunne 19
5    Tyler Moore & Patrick O'Brien 19
6    Mike Holt & Carl Smit 22
7    Nick Nelson & Kelsey Averil 33
8    Henry Amthor & Dustin Romey 33
9    Arnie Heubner & Ted Heubner 35
10   Lin Robson & Stephen Long 45

Full results at http://www.505tanktalk.com/2015/02/2015-505-midwinter-championship-final.html

 Above: Macy Nelson drives with Reeve Dunn on the trapeze, training before the 2015 505 Midwinters

 Above: 505 Midwinters Champions Mark Zagol (skipper, right) and Drew Buttner (crew, left.)

Above: 505 Midwinters Champions Mark Zagol and Drew Buttner on a fast reach while training before the event.

Howie Hamlin finishes 3rd at 2015 J.J. Giltinan Championship

Reigning 505 NA Champion Howard Hamlin sailing with his crew of Daniel Phillips and Skip McCormack have finished in third place at the 2015 J.J. Giltinan Championship. This is Howie's first podium finish since he won the event two years in a row in 2002 and 2003. Howie continues to show the world that he has no intention of slowing down his winning was in his 60's; he continues to sail at a very high level in a variety of classes which is an inspiration to us all.

The coverage of this event was absolutely spectacular; all races were broadcast live and the video/commentary was fantastic. If you have some free time, I suggest you watch some of the race replays to see for yourself: http://www.18footers.com.au/sailing/_route-v2/jj-giltinan/2014-15.html

Below is an interview with the team following their Race 6 win.

Full results: http://www.18footers.com.au/pdf/race-results-2014-2015/20150222%20series%20points.pdf