505 Worlds at Malmö, Sweden Overall

The 48th 505 World Championship, held in Malmo, Sweden attracted 85 boats from 14 different countries, including strong teams from the USA and Australia. However, the biggest contingent came from Germany, and they had plenty to celebrate as the event was dominated by Wolfgang Hunger and Holger Jess, who duly claimed their second 505 World title.

The championship comprises nine races spread over six days, with two discards allowed in the event of a full series. Although Hunger and Jess were probably narrow pre tournament favourites, other teams expected to figure strongly included Krister Bergstrom and Johan Barne from the host nation and the Danes Hans Joergen Riber and Henrik Buhl. The American pair, Howard Hamlin and Peter Alarie also proved their form by winning the preceding Swedish Open Championship.

Day one saw an offshore breeze that increased from around 8 knots at the start of the first race to over 15 by the end of the second. Hunger and Jess declared their intent for the week ahead by winning both races. In the first they led home Riber and Buhl. The stronger breeze in the second race brought another group of challengers to the fore, but at the end the Germans prevailed ahead of Bergstrom and Barne.

Race 3 started in 24 knots although this soon moderated to around 18 for most of the race. The downwind legs were fast and furious and rewarded those who got their gybing angles and course selection right. Bergstrom, and Barne broke through to head the fleet on the second lap. Although they were able to maintain this lead to the end, Hunger and Jess had been working steadily through the fleet to finish second after a less than promising start. The British pair, Ian Pinnell and Steve Hunt, broke their mast in a collision with a back marker whilst lying third. They were awarded average points, but including their discards, which meant that to stay in contention they could not afford a bad result in the remaining races.

Races 4 and 5 presented a different challenge for the fleet as the wind had changed to the northwest, completely the opposite direction to the first two days. The early leaders of Race 4 were Pinnell and Hunt. However, by the second lap they were under pressure from Hunger and Jess who slipped inside at the gybe mark and proceeded to power through to the finish. In Race 5 the first to show were Riber and Buhl, but Hunger and Jess were proving irrepressible. By astute work on the first offwind leg, the Germans gained the lead and were never headed.

The fourth day of racing saw a postponement of over four hours in waiting for wind. Eventually a gentle north westerly settled to allow the sixth race to get underway. A left shift near the top of the first beat brought the Americans, Howard Hamlin and Peter Alarie, to the front, Hamlin obviously suffering no ill effects from gashing his head badly on the boom before the start. With the wind continuing to back to the south the Race Officer and the fleet spent most of the time chasing the breeze around the compass making the race very processional. Hamlin and Alarie held on win, but for once Hunger and Jess finished outside the top ten.

At the start of Race 7 Bergström and Barne were the closest challengers to Hunger and Jess. They did their best to maintain the pressure by being the first to round mark 1 after a long 30-minute beat against the current. However, the next spinnaker to show behind them was that of the German pair. These two boats gradually pulled away from the fleet, with Hunger and Jess pressing the Swedes hard. On the final downwind leg, Hunger attacked the Swedes on a number of occasions, threatening to break through to windward, but Bergstrom kept his cool to finish ahead by about six boat lengths.

By the start of Race 8 the breeze had filled in to give trapezing conditions upwind. Riber and Buhl had previously proved their speed in these conditions during the Swedish open championships. They duly rounded mark 1 with a commanding lead over Hamlin and Alarie. However, any chance that Bergstrom and Barne had of denying Hunger and Jess the title disappeared when the Germans rounded in fifth place with the Swedes back in the teens. Although Riber and Buhl powered through to win ahead of Hamlin and Alarie, the real celebrations were in the fourth placed boat, with Hunger and Jess realising that whatever the outcome following day’s final race, they could not be caught. Bergstrom and Barne were also secure in second place.

The last race was won by Hamlin and Alarie after an exiting duel on the last beat with the Germans Stengel and Feller. In so doing the Americans clinched the bronze medal position.

Overall Results: