505 UK National Championship and Pre-Worlds at Hayling Island Sailing Club - Overall

Wind changes but quality remains constant

The second day of the 505 UK National Championship gave the fleet of over 80 boats a variety of conditions for the final three races of the series.

The fleet departed the shore in light winds under an overcast sky, but all made it out to the racetrack in south Hayling Bay in good time for the start of Race 4. The Pathfinder, AJ Conrads and Jon Bell, from Tahoe in the USA, led the fleet away in about 12 knots of breeze. However, by the time the leading group was approaching the first mark the wind was beginning to falter, forcing the competitors to make the decision on the downwind leg between reaching higher and faster but travelling further or taking the shorter route by going low and slow. At the end of the first lap the German pairing of Tim and Finn Bolger had worked their way to the front, closely followed by the UK's Harvey Hillary and Archie Massey. By the end of the next upwind leg Hillary and Massey had found their way past the Bolgers, a lead which they held to the finish. With a degree of inevitability, the indefatigable Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn claimed another third place.

The wind had clearly decided it needed a lunch break. For a time it dropped below 5 knots and showed signs of backing to the south, enforcing a delay to Race 2. After 40 mins the cloud was clearing and the wind steading to 10 knots so the party could resume. The tide direction was also changing, a point that had clearly not escaped the UK pairing of Paul Brotherton and James Fawcett, who made sure of being first out of the gate to hit the left side of the beat, which got them to the windward mark first, a lead they held throughout, in spite of a further wind change necessitating a 15 degree swing to the south for the second lap. Next were Conrads and Bell with Hamlin and Zinn in third, thus ensuring them the UK title so they could return to base and begin their recuperation ahead of the Worlds.

The wind had not only settled but increased to 15 knots. Because of this the Race Team increased the number of laps for Race 6 to three. The Pathfinder was sailed by locals Roger Gilbert and Ian Mitchell, and clearly this did them no harm as they hit the top mark in the lead and in spite of challenges caused by the wind increasing to a very solid 18 knots and close attention from the German pairing of Jan-Philipp Hofmann and Felix Brockerhoff and from local rivals, Ben McGrane and James Ross, they held on until the end.

The World Championships starton 6 July, sponsored by WIP, Ovington Boats and Allen. Are the results of the UK Nationals a reliable indicator for Worlds? Some potential contenders have not sailed the whole of the UK event, others have been experimenting with their set up and tuning, and there is always scope for surprises, but few would lay bets against any those close to the top of the UK leaderboard.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the 505 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information