505 Open Meeting at Shoreham Sailing Club
by Peter Bennett 9 Oct 2012 14:30 BST
Thanks are due to Race Officer Alex Jackson & his experienced team who provided an excellent weekend's racing, in tricky light conditions, for an elite fleet. As ever, both North Sails and Pinnell & Bax were well-represented amongst the competitors, who included three former world champions.
The popular team of Tim Rush and Richard Anderton won all three races & became the first winners of the Shoreham 505 Open trophy. Ian Pinnell and Ian Mitchell demonstrated consistency in the variable conditions with three second places.
The first race, in a patchy breeze, was closely fought between Rush/Anderton, Pinnell/Mitchell, locals Peter Bennett and Ollie Toozs-Hobson and the late pairing of Stuart Turnbull and Adrian Howe. These four teams all had a taste of the lead, and eventually finished in that order.
The wind steadied a little for the second race, and the same four pulled ahead. This time, Rush and Pinnell got well clear as the race progressed, with Turnbull holding off Bennett to take third. Sunday initially brought a slightly stronger breeze. The same group of four boats were initially in contention, this time joined by Bobbie Robson and Barry Smith. However, Rush and Anderton again pulled clear and were never headed, though Pinnell and Mitchell got close toward the end, having picked places up through the race.
On the final run, the wind started to disappear completely, but not before class newcomers Phil & Steve Popple took a finely-judged line out to the starboard side, bringing them past several boats to finish third. With a flat conditions now close to a flat calm, only this one race was possible. Turnbull and Howe were unlucky to have left out the windward gate on one lap, thereby losing third place overall to Bennett and Toozs-Hobson, with the Popples fourth.
The club was a very pleased to welcome the 505s to Shoreham for the first time, and the visitors enjoyed themselves despite the uncharacteristic lack of wind. Hopefully the club will be seeing more of the class, with some top names expressing interest in the forthcoming Cooler Series. See www.shorehamsailing.org for more details.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Tim Rush | Richard Anderton | Nottingham | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Ian Pinnell | Ian Mitchell | Hayling Island | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Peter Bennett | Ollie Tooz‑Hobson | Shoreham | 3 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 | Philip Popple | Steve Popple | Shoreham | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| 5 | Ben Iliffe | Simon Lake | RYA | 6 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | Stuart Turnbull | Adrian Howe | Burton | 4 | 3 | 11 | 18 |
| 7 | Martin Wright | Jeff Powell | Northampton | 9 | 7 | 5 | 21 |
| 8 | Stewart Scarff | Robin Hobson | Shoreham | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 |
| 9 | Bobbie Johnson | Barry Smith | Thornbury | 5 | 11 | 11 | 27 |
| 10 | Katie Sellar | David Seller | Burton | 11 | 9 | 8 | 28 |