505 National Championships at Rock Sailing and Waterski Club

by Pete Mallaband 29 Jun 2011 17:32 BST 23-26 June 2011

Ian Pinnell fights off all challengers for another fabulous win

Rock Sailing and Waterski Club provided the perfect conditions for the 40 505’s that came to the South West for this year’s UK national championship. Plenty of wind and big waves welcomed the fleet, including the 2 American teams, Mike Holt with Carl Smit and Bruce Edwards with Matthias Kennerknecht. Both fancied their chances as the wind throughout the series was mainly 20kts and upwards!! However at the end of the series it was only Mike Holt who had managed to beat Ian Pinnell & Ian Mitchell, in a couple of races, and even then Ian Pinnell finished 2nd in those races.

The first day's racing set the tone for the regatta, a nice sail out of the estuary and then into the wind and Atlantic swell with waves that made this pond sailor’s eyes water! Mike and Ian were within a few boat lengths at the end of race 1, with Ian taking the honours. In race 2, the positions were reversed. A slightly tense Ian Pinnell was to be found in the bar that night following the daily prize giving which was sponsored by Gul.

Andy Smith with Tim Needham put in a strong series not only trying to beat the two front runners, but also battling off Terry Scutcher with Christian Diebitsch, the other American team (Bruce & Matthias) and an amazingly consistent performance by 18 year old Harry Briddon, crewed by his Dad, Simon.

The second day provided slightly less wind and Ian started to put his mark on the championships with 2 bullets including the ‘Race of the Year’ (which was another two laps of an already large sailing course). Ian was now looking a little more relaxed, so the prize giving again sponsored by Gull rewarded those who had exceptional stories to tell on the race-course!

Day 3 dawned with 28kts+ in the estuary and mist. Racing was put back to the mid-afternoon by which time the visibility had improved a little and the wind in the estuary seemed to have dropped. During the morning the local fishermen had clearly decided it was a great time to put down their lobster pots, so the start of race 5 saw Charlie Walters and about 5 other boats all surge off the start behind the gate boat to come to a grinding halt with lines all around centre boards and rudders!! Dennis Cartwright, crewing for Tim Bird managed to fly completely around the forestay and onto the leeward shrouds when they hit a line on one of the faster parts of the course!!

The two Ians managed to keep clear of all this excitement and claim another 2 bullets with Mike Holt second in both races. At the end of the 3rd days sailing, Ian was now starting to look a little more relaxed, possibly helped by the absent Neil Fulcher putting a serious amount of money into the bar kitty!! Today’s prize giving for races 5 & 6 was sponsored by Gull & Simon Briddon.

The last day saw Ian finish his series with another 2nd place in race 7, behind Mike and then he was able to sail in with a job superbly done. The last race was won by Bruce Edwards who clearly wanted to show his class and preparation for the ‘Pacific Championships’ which the American teams were flying back home to San Francisco for this week.

As the week progressed, Martin Hodgson with Adrian Miles, along with new to the fleet Chris Lewns with Dan Parsons, both put in improving performances including a 4th and a 3rd for Martin and a 3rd and a 5th for Chris. Jim Hunt and Norman Byrd, also with a brand new boat also put in a 7th and a 10th, but also had some bad luck with gear failure.

Jez White crewed by Matt Isherwood, put in a strong performance in a 20 year old plus boat, finishing all the races.

The quality of the field at the front of the fleet was incredible and this year has seen some serious big hitters joining the fleet. With next year’s Worlds at La Rochelle and the following year’s at Barbados, the 505 is definitely the class to be in at the moment and the competition is absolutely fierce.

For those of us mere mortals nearer the tail of the fleet, the racing was just as fierce, although many of the ‘club’ level sailors struggled with the wind and wave combination and found the conditions of the last 2 days just too much with many deciding that discretion might be a good move!! However the sailing back into the estuary was still a blast as the waves became less.

The writer can confirm that fortunately the quality of rescue cover was outstanding.

Thanks must go to our sponsors for their continued support:

• Gul (Performance Apparel) for all the daily prizes
• Infracast (Enterprise Messaging) for £000’s P&B vouchers
• Pinnell & Bax for clothing & vouchers
• North Sails for their continued support & training during the year
• Briddon Builders for gloves which saved hands in the windy weather
• And Neil Fulcher for supporting the evenings festivities on Saturday night

Also Rock Sailing and Water-ski Club for being superb hosts. The pasta and pint of Doom at the end of racing each day was gratefully received by all. The race organisation was excellent and hospitality superb with the highlight being a fabulous Curry night on the Saturday.

So another 505 Nationals has come to a close and Ian Pinnell along with Ian Mitchell claimed another National title to their credit. But it wasn’t as simple as that. High quality, exhausting races really meant that whoever came out on top was a thoroughly well-deserved Champion.

The detailed results can be seen below, with our next event on the European calendar is the French Championships in La Rochelle in a couple of weeks, so we will have more news for you then.

For more information on the 505 Class, please go to www.sail505.org

More photos on the Peter Glaser Photography website.

Alternative Report from George Dale, Rock Sailing Club

There was a 40 boat fleet for the 5o5 National Championships, held this year at Rock Sailing & Water Ski Club. There was an international flavour to the fleet with two boats from the US, two from Ireland and two from France. Included among them were Mike Holt and Carl Smit from the States, runners-up in the Worlds. The event was sponsored by North Sails One Design, Pinnell & Bax and Infracast.

Race Officer Martin Hough set Olympic courses out in Padstow Bay where on all four days of the event there was a swell of some one to two metres ensuring a bumpy ride for the race committee and patrol boats!

On Day 1 sunny weather and a Force 3-4 wind greeted the fleet. Race 1 was won by Ian Pinnell and Ian Mitchell who posted their challenge to win early in the series. World number two’s Mike Holt and Carl Smit were second, while Andy Smith and Tim Needham took third place. In the second race the first two places were reversed and Terry Scutcher with Christian Diebitsch were third.

Day 2 was cloudy with wind increasing from 2-3 in Race 3 to 3-4 in race 4. Race 3 saw Ian Pinnell’s boat once again in first place with Andy Smith second and Chris Lewns with Dan Parson taking third. Race 4 had the same result as Race 1: Pinnell, Holt, Smith.

Day 3 started misty, resulting in a postponement until visibility improved. Wind strength was Force 3-4. Once again in Race 5 the Race 1 order was repeated but in Race 6 third place was taken by Martin Hodgson and Adrian Miles. Additional obstacles in the form of some drifting lobster pots on long lines added interest to the day’s sailing!

On the final day of racing the fleet was greeted with sunshine and Force 4-5 wind strength. Race 7 was won by Mike Holt from the US from Ian Pinnell, while in third place was Bruce Edwards and Matthias Kennerknecht,, another US boat in third place. The final race of the championships was won By Bruce Edwards with Terry Scutcher second and Mike Holt third.

Overall winners and National 5o5 Champions for 2011, with consistent sailing throughout the series, were Ian Pinnell and Ian Mitchell. The runners-up were the American pairing of Mike Holt and Carl Smit and Andy Smith with Tim Needhan took the third spot.

Chef Henry Waterworth put on a great curry menu for the championship’s dinner and with a much needed pint of Sharps Doom Bar provided by the Club for all sailors at the end of each day’s racing, the meeting was deemed a great success for the first time Rock had hosted the event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Nat	R1	R2	R4	R3	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	9032	Ian Pinnell	Ian Mitchell	UK	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	DNF	7
2	9002	Mike Holt	Carl Smit	USA	2	1	2	4	2	2	1	3	10
3	9012	Andy Smith	Tim Needham	UK	3	4	3	2	3	8	5	5	20
4	9006	Terry Scutcher	Christian Diebitsch	UK	5	3	4	7	5	6	4	2	23
5	9009	Bruce Edwards	Matthias Kennerknecht	USA	4	5	5	9	8	10	3	1	26
6	8906	Harry Briddon	Simon Briddon	UK	6	6	6	10	9	4	7	6	35
7	8963	Martin Hodgson	Adrian Miles	UK	12	11	8	6	4	3	9	7	37
8	9057	Chris Lewns	Dan Parsons	UK	11	8	9	3	6	5	16	14	42
9	8887	Richard Williams	Paul Davies	UK	8	9	15	22	7	11	8	4	47
10	8935	Russel Short	Andrew Short	UK	9	7	7	8	10	12	12	8	49
11	8835	Charlie Walters	Dougal Cram	UK	10	14	10	5	13	7	6	12	50
12	9013	Tudor Owen	Nolan Forward	UK	15	10	DNF	14	11	14	13	9	71
13	8694	Matt Hart	Daniel Hart	UK	14	12	DNF	13	12	9	17	13	73
14	8905	Stuart Turnbull	Jason Lunn	UK	13	18	12	11	DNS	DNF	14	11	79
15	8945	Neil Rabbtts	Adam Kenney	UK	16	13	13	20	14	13	11	DNF	80
16	8686	Richard Sims	Robert Burdekin	UK	17	15	17	18	17	17	15	10	91
17	8701	Rob Napier	Kimball Morrison	UK	18	16	11	19	16	15	22	15	91
18	8474	Chris Thorne	Mike Priddle	UK	31	21	18	21	15	16	18	16	104
19	8881	Roger Deane	Tim Williams	UK	21	26	16	16	18	19	DNF	DNF	116
20	8650	Terry Selfe	Alan Montague	UK	26	23	19	25	19	DNF	20	17	123
21	8749	Alistair Milton	Laurance Milton	UK	23	19	21	31	22	20	DNF	DNF	136
22	8780	Martin Wright	Arthur George	UK	29	25	22	27	20	21	DNF	DNF	144
23	901	Jez White	Matt Isherwood	UK	30	28	30	33	26	23	21	18	146
24	8925	Martin Wedge	Scott Allen	UK	19	22	20	26	21	DNF	DNF	DNF	149
25	8526	Ewen Barry	Russ Hopkins	UK	20	20	14	17	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	153
26	7771	Brian Jones	Gary Frost	IRL	DNF	DNS	25	23	27	18	19	DNF	153
27	8860	Bobbie Johnson	Tony Merry	UK	34	33	27	15	25	22	DNF	DNF	156
28	8497	Tim Bird	Dennis Cartwright	UK	28	27	23	12	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	172
29	8300	Mike Pickering	Robin Tooz-Hobson	UK	27	29	29	29	DNF	DNF	23	DNF	178
30	8955	Ben Ififfe	Simon Lake	UK	24	24	DNF	24	24	DNF	DNF	DNF	178
31	9063	Jim Hunt	Norman Byrd	UK	7	DNF	DNF	DNS	DNS	DNF	10	DNF	181
32	8331	Richard Lord	Alex Cull	UK	22	17	DNF	DNF	23	DNF	DNF	DNF	185
33	8552	Mick O'Brien	John O'Gorman	IRL	33	30	28	35	DNS	DNF	DNF	DNF	208
34	9010	Gilles Carvallo		FRA	DNF	32	24	34	DNS	DNF	DNF	DNF	213
35	8419	Pete Mallaband	Darrel Samanjoul	UK	32	31	DNF	28	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	214
36	8583	Patrick Moore	Paul Barnbridge	UK	DNF	DNS	26	30	DNS	DNF	DNF	DNF	220
37	8907	Jim Berry	David Barnes	UK	25	DNF	DNF	32	DNS	DNF	DNF	DNF	221
38	8457	John Wilson	Adrian Howe	UK	DNF	DNS	31	36	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	231
39	8700	Iain Christie	Walter Doule	UK	35	DNS	DNF	37	DNS	DNF	DNF	DNF	236
40	9050	Herve Kergariou		FRA	DNF	DNS	DNF	DNS	DNS	DNF	DNF	DNF	246