And that’s why the Class continues in such a strong and professional way. Perhaps there are not so many boats racing at club level now, but international events still attract over 100 boats; there were over 170 team entries at the World Championships in Kiel 2014!
Over the years there have been a number of builders, each with updated specifications for hull and deck mouldings. For years G.W. Parker dominated the 505 Class internationally, but then the hold was broken by Rondar Raceboats, who really never let success slip away.
Technically Advanced
Just occasionally an opportunity arises for a dramatic rethink about the boat, the design and the whole way that the construction process is approached by the builder. This opportunity came along in 2014, when Paul Young, managing director of Rondar Raceboats, with 17 world championship successes with his Rondar version wanted to make new moulds. He started by throwing away convention and instead, analysing how the rig would best support and control the sailplan and therefore how the hull would need to support it.
Rondar's new 505
Over recent seasons, more and more rig tension has been used and rake is now a critical performance factor. These loads needed to be controlled and by analysing the live loads Paul quickly concluded that the construction of the hull had to be changed in a big way. Instead of just building frames to support athwartship loads, the hull needed to be much stronger fore and aft. Twisting movement in the hull needed to be controlled and reduced.
However, the boat still had to be produced at a competitive cost; it was not viable to invest extra man hours producing an expensive hull that would not sell.
So he set about redesigning the internal structure, by designing a monocoque hull with frames from the bow to the stern. The centreboard box sides were strengthened to lock them with the new hull construction. By completely redesigning the deck moulding, he could also incorporate a double skin hull in the cockpit area, making the hull dramatically stronger. Whilst creating the deck moulding he also took the opportunity to widen the spinnaker chute entry, ensuring an easier and quicker sail recovery.
He has managed to incorporate numerous additional features into the new 2015 Rondar version. Some are already on the water in preparation for the 2016 Worlds in Weymouth.