505 Worlds

5O5 Prizegiving Images

19 April 2015

Received a bunch of images from the 2015 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships Prizegiving that was held at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club on the evening of 3 April 2015.

The images were courtesy of Glen Meyburg. Catch Glen at work – Imagio – or at home – Meyburgh.

My favourite has to be this one below of a smiling Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Executive Mayor – Oom Ben Fihla – getting a hug from Alan Straton whilst Marion Harning applauds. Click here or scroll down to see all of Glen’s photographs.

Marion Harning, Alan Straton and Oom Ben Fihla — Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Executive Mayor – Oom Ben Fihla – gets a hug from Alan Straton.

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ABYC can be proud

4 April 2015

A letter received from Mark Biagio:

Hi Guys

What a job, well done!

I thought I would give you my 2c from a distance on the event. I must say going into the event I was a little in the dark as to what would happen. With the passing of Glynnis, I was even more concerned. As the pre worlds event unfolded it was evident that all was falling into place.

So here are some bullet points:

SAP – wow that sponsorship was key! It looked like they rolled in, and brought the whole enchilada.
Tracking was good, better than previous worlds, less technical issues.
Live commentary was great! They could not talk better about the venue, people and the sailing! I bet this made many internationals grumpy that they missed out.
Live sailing feed from Thursday was perfect.
Photography was nice, from Favreau and others.
Facilities, there was no complaint on any forum or about the launching area, the busy port etc. So well done ABYC, maybe it would have been crazy with 100 boats – but hey!
Websites, we found a way for all the websites (SAP, ABYC and Ours) to live together which was interesting and I think worked. Thanks Alan for assisting us with ours.
SAP Daily video clips , were cool, maybe not as polished as other worlds but great none the less.

So I’m not sure how the rest worked out, measuring, catering etc. But from here I must say I could not help thinking “Damn this is really happening in SA and its working nicely, without SAP I don’t think we could have done it”. We’ve set the new standard for worlds in SA.

So enjoy the break, hopefully your families will take you back now. Well done and in my opinion it was better than previous worlds, because we had the SAP tech, great people and a great place to sail.

Oh, well sailed Funkes … and Richard your last race was epic! Now if you guys can just share the secret of why Holt is 1.5 knots faster than anyone else – I’d appreciate it.

Regards
Mark

Thriller of a last race in Port Elizabeth

3 April 2015

Pinnell Tellen — Ian Pennel (skipper) and Johannes Tellenn (crew) sailed to first place in Race 8 and second overall on 3 April 2015. Image – Christophe Favreau

Port Elizabeth, 3 April 2014 – Race 8 of the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships sailed in Algoa Bay was a humdinger with places changing regularly due to differing pressure and wind shifts of 10 degrees in a race to determine second and third place. Mike Holt and Carl Smit sat out this race as they had already won the World Championships yesterday with their 5th of 7 bullets.

2008 World Champion, Ian Pennell with crew Johannes Tellen – from Great Britain were the pathfinder for this race and sailed out on port tack for the prescribed two minutes watching a rather messy start from the rest of the fleet. After being released they continued sailing out on the right hand side of the course and enjoyed a decent lift in around 10 knots of breeze half way up the course.

With the wind increasing in pressure Howard Hamlin and Jeff Nelson moved into the lead on the first beat and, in great excitement for South Africa, we saw James Largier and Richard Hutton-Squire move in second place for a hundred metres or so – the highest placing for an SA team thus far – as they charged up the middle of the course approaching the windward mark.

But it was not to be for the South Africans as Hamlin/Neslon were first around followed by Largier/Hutton-Squire trailing by 30 metres with Higgins/Marsh third around.

Even greater excitement in Leg 3 as SA’s Largier/HuttonSquire moved into first place and were going strong at 12.2 knots on right hand side of the the downwind leg. The internationals showed some snappy gybes and overtook the South Africans with Terry Scutcher and Christian Diebitsch from Great Britain showing a clean pair of heels to the fleet first around the bottom mark.

Back up to the top again most boats went right whilst the battle for Lady Helm carried on in the middle of the course between Tina Plattner (RSA) and Nicola Birkner (GER). Before the start of today’s race Nicola said of Tina; “Her strength is that she has David on the wire which gives us a disadvantage” whilst Tina said that Nicola’s strength is; “She has sailed longer than me and is great in the light stuff!”

Up at the second rounding of the top mark Higgins was overtaken by Pinnell closer to the zone with Largier snapping at their heels eager for the reach. Largier lost places on his previous roundings as the internationals performed faultless smooth maneuvers.

Onto the first reach and Largier/Hutton Squire were pushing hard to catch up averaging 13.2 knots for the first burst from the offset mark.

2015 World Champion, Mike Holt sat out this race and was out on the course watching the racing and his comments on the days conditions were that big shifts and pressure changes were making for some great and challenging racing. Port Elizabeth has presented some varied conditions for the World Championships from light and sunny to big and choppy and for today – grey and shifty.

Onto the tight reach Higgins pulled ahead of Pinnell with Largier suffering from the direction change after rounding.

The last downwind was to be the decider with both Higgins/Marsh and Pinnell/Tellen experiencing great and then terrible gybes in the race to the bottom mark. Higgins’ bad gybe was just before the mark, allowing Pinnell to attack and grab the favoured right hand gate mark to go into the lead, gain 70 metres on Higgins and win Race 8 to secure second place in the World Championships on 13 points.

Great news for Team South Africa in Race 8 was two top 10 finishers – Peter and Thomas Funke in 7th place and James Largier and Richard Hutton-Squire in 5th place, the highest placing for a South African boat in the championships.

Top 3 overall after 8 Races:

Mike Holt and Carl Smit – USA (8 points)
Ian Pinnell and Johannes Tellen – GBR (13 points)
Ted Conrads and Brian Haines (17 points)

Top 3 South Africans overall after 8 Races:

Peter Funke and Thomas Funke (8th place on 46 points)
James Largier and Richard Hutton-Squire (12th place on 57 points)
Ricky Robinson and Brennan Robinson (13th place on 72 points)

Trophy List:

First – Mike Holt/Carl Smit (World Champions Trophy plus Pewter Running Cheetahs)
Second – Ian Pennell and Johannes Tellen (Pewter Running Cheetahs)
Third – Ted Conrads and Brian Heines (Pewter Running Cheetahs)
Fourth – Michael Quirk and Luke Payne (Pewter Running Cheetahs)
Fifth – Sandy Higgins and Paul Marsh (Pewter Running Cheetahs)
First Ladies Skipper – Tina Plattner (Pewter Sitting Cheetah)
First Junior Skipper Euan Hurter (Pewter Sentry Meerkat)
First Classic Boat – Bronwen Klaas (Pewter Leopard)

Full overall results from the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships, Port Elizabeth.

Pure crew joy from Johannes Tellen as he and Ian Pennel cross first in Race 8. Image – Christophe Favreau

Conrads Haines — 3rd place overall went to Ted Conrads and Brian Haines sailing here with the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in the background. Image – Christophe Favreau

Haines — Ted Conrads celebrates third place overall Santa Cruz Yacht Club style. Image – Christophe Favreau

5O5 Live Stream 3 April 2015

3 April 2015

Today’s live stream feed from the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships being sailed out of ABYC from 23 March to 3 April 2015.

11h50 – 16h30.

Day 5 Highlights of the 2015 SAP 5O5 World Championship

3 April 2015

Mike Holt and Carl Smit win the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championship in South Africa with one race to spare. The final race today will see the battle for second place between Ian Pinnell and Johannes Tellen from Great Britain on 17 points and Michael Quirk and Luke Payne from Australia on 19 points. Watch this video to see the clash between the pathfinder guide boat and South Africa’s Ballantyne and Groenewald that resulted in a broken mast.

Today’s wind forecast is for 11 to 14 knots south west.

Watch just the rubber duck behind the Pathfinder crashing into the oldest boat in the fleet during the start.

New Champion

2 April 2015

Blimp Plane — The helium balloon that brings all the live overhead shots of the racing at the 6oth SAP 5O5 World Championships

Port Elizabeth, 2 April 2015 – After yesterday’s high wind halted all sailing and vessels out of the port, sailors in this years 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships were rested and keen to resume battle in the Indian Ocean.

The forecast was for a south south west of 7 knots rising to the 22 knot mark with gusts in the region of 26 knots. That touch of south in it brings cold to Algoa Bay. The forecast was spot on and the wind shifted around 20 degrees in the second race.

In the first race sailed again on the classic Olympic course or sausage, triangle the current World Champions and log leaders, Mike Holt and Carl Smit were virtually untouchable as they charged around the course with impunity. Fellow Americans Ted Conrads and Brian Haines shrugged off some dismal earlier placings to finish second with Ian Pinnell from Great Britain in third.

The second race saw the first restart of the championships with collisions on the pathfinder and South Africans Grant Ballantyne and Evert Groenewald breaking their mast on the start line and having to retire. Not a nice day at the office for the 77 year old skipper, who is entering his 50th year as a 5O5 sailor.

The second race started in a rising wind with increasing cloud cover and we started to see upturned boats along the course. One victim of a dunking and extended swim in the cold water was South African sailor Tina Plattner, sailing with David Shelton – they retired from the second race and Tina was taken off the boat to be sped back to the warmth of the shore.

Race 7 was the one to sort the men from the boys as 5 boats retired due to breakages or other reasons.

Back on the course Mike Holt was stamping his authority all over the regatta and at times leading by 250 metres – watching him and Smit keep their boat flat and fast was a salutary lesson for all sailors.

With another discard kicking in tomorrow Mike Holt can (if he likes) sit on the shore, get a Did Not Start (DNS) and still win the 60th SAP 5O5 World Championships as second placed Ian Pennel and Johannes Tellen trail him by 9 points.

The race to watch to-morrow will be between Ian Pennel/Johannes Tellen – on 17 points – and Ted Conrads/Brian Heines – on 19 points. But Pennel/Tellen have one 5 pointer to discard whilst Conrads/Heines have two 5 pointers to discard.

It certainly looks like the top three will be Holt/Smit, Pennel/Tellen and Conrads/Heines. But, sailing can dish up a left field result so don’t start the celebrations just yet.

Top 3 overall after 7 Races:

Mike Holt and Carl Smit – USA (8 points)
Ian Pinnell and Johannes Tellen – GBR (17 points)
Michael Quirk and Luke Payne – AUS (19 points)

Top 3 South Africans overall after 7 Races:

Peter Funke and Thomas Funke (10th place on 51 points)
James Largier and Richard Hutton-Squire (12th place on 65 points)
Ricky Robinson and Brennan Robinson (13th place on 75 points)

Jay D'Engleand De-Wet Nel — Thumbs up from Jay D’Engle and De Wet Nel reveling in the stronger breeze at the leeward mark. Image: Alan Straton

Grant Ballantyne and Evert Groenewald survey their broken mast and contemplate being out of the regatta. Image: Alan Straton

Holt and Smit — The new 2015 5O5 World Champions – Mike Holt and Carl Smit with 5 bullets from 7 races and one to go. Image: Alan Straton