505 Class Training at the WPNSA
by Dougal Henshall 22 Mar 2016 19:30 GMT
19-20 March 2016
In winning the 505 Worlds in style, Mike Holt has shown a mastery of both the technical and techniques that define the modern boat. Even though the defence of his title will soon be on the line, Mike was ready to share his hard earned knowledge © SAP / Christophe Favreau /
www.christophefavreau.com
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In recent years, the powerhouse that drives the 505 Class may have moved across into Europe, but here in the UK there remains a great deal of interest in the boat. Be it with front running crews, or in the area of technical development, the UK 505 scene continues to grow. Evidence of this was seen at the weekend at the WPNSA when, with the World Championships scheduled there in just 4 months time, the interest translated into a great weekend of intensive training for 18 keen crews. This timely surge in activity bodes well for the UK fleet, who in the past have been able to produce a true championship contender when the main event comes 'home'. The last time the Worlds were held in the UK, in 2006 at Hayling, Mark Upton-Brown would come through from behind for a final day victory!
Given a choice of sunshine or breeze for the training, the FiveO crowd would go for breeze every time, so although the conditions were overcast and distinctly chilly, the north-easterly breeze was brisk enough for the boats to be fully powered up, though only rarely over powered. Even though rigging the boats had made it clear that it was on the chilly side of brrrrr, there was an impatience to get afloat and to get on with the training. With World Champion Mike Holt leading the exercises, ably supported by long time class stalwart Colin 'the firsty ferret' Merrett, it wouldn't do to be late and it wasn't long before the boats were being put through their paces.
From the outset it was clear that Holt and Merrett would be working the crews hard! As a warm up they set some short sharp races, aimed mainly at highlighting the teamwork needed, before setting the fleet some exercises aimed at improving boatspeed. Although the shifty conditions made making assessments tricky, it was clear that training was having an impact on performance. The Saturday session afloat was wrapped up with two final races that would allow the boats to put into practice the lessons that had been learnt. It was then time to head back to the shore, where even more good work was done as the crews exchanged notes. Here, a great deal of attention was paid to the wise words from Ian Pinnell, World Champion in the Class in 2008 (and runner up since). Rig wise, Ian was using a flatter cut jib, which worked well in the flat waters of Portland Harbour. Come the Worlds, when the main fleet will be racing out in the bay, if conditions are that classic Weymouth summer 'chop' Ian has the option of changing up to a slightly fuller cut sail, that would give him a little more power to drive through the 'slop'.
The other interesting change to Ian's boat was in his new high aspect centreboard. P&B have invested a great deal of time and effort into the CNC tooling for the new foils, with the results being that Ian thought that they had set new standards for fairness and symmetry. This fired off a more detailed round table discussion about the advantages of gybing boards and the need for 'height' when coming off the line. Despite the 505 fleet using Gate Starts for all championship races, with some 150 boats possibly coming to Weymouth, getting into a clear lane early after the start is essential if you are not to be mired down into a three-figure score.
The other big factor was teamwork in the boat, particularly when gybing the monster-max sized spinnaker. Even though all of the boats at Weymouth now sported a twin pole system, successfully gybing whilst staying powered up requires a great deal of interplay between helm and crew. Colin Merrett, who had started his 505 sailing career way back in the glory days of the 1980s, was amazed by the rapid surge in development in the fleet of rigs, systems and techniques. This was highlighted in the apparently simple task of tacking; Colin, like most other crews of his day, knew that just as Naval Officers face aft and salute, so trapeze crews face aft to tack. However, with the modern layout of the 505, the crews now find it easier to face forrard when coming into the boat.
Next for the UK 505 fleet is the (in)famous open meeting at Sheppey, which will be followed by a second training session to be held at Hayling Island in late April. Nor is all this activity just limited to the core of the fleet, who are working towards the Championships at Weymouth in July. For the first time there will be a 'classic Worlds' running in parallel, to the main event with this also attracting a great deal of interest, with many boats being brought out of retirement. Certainly the increases in pace seen out afloat at the weekend are being matched by an increase in the tempo ashore as the World Championships draw nearer.
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