RSA 505

The 2019 505 National Championships were sailed at the Saldanha Bay Yacht Club and a total of 13 boats entered the event. The enthusiasm in the boat park was electric as teams spent time to get ready, indicating that this was going to be one of the toughest events on the calendar in 2019. A number of teams made the trip from JHB, while the Cape teams also put in a great turn out with 5 entries. Excellent. 

Racing on Friday got under way in the Bay, right in front of the Calypso Beach Estate. This area offered the best wind as it swung south and conditions settled at around 2pm for some tight racing. Race 1 indicated that the fight for the gold medal was on. The Funkes set the pace and won 2 of the 3 races on the day with a fourth in Race 2 but led that day overall, narrowly from the Ham brothers, who managed three 2nd places and in third, Progli and Hutton-squire with a 4th, 1st and 3rd. The battle for 4th was on with world champions D Rae/S v Rensburg and M Robinson/W Ham battling it out in the tight contest. Former National Champion K Klaas, who teamed up for the event with F Holm, was also in the running and managed to a podium finish in race 1. After day one, all was still open and the fight for the top spot could go either way. 

Saturday dawned and the forecast was not very positive. As a result the race officer, Brian Sutherland, postponed racing while waiting for the wind to fill from the north. The course was laid inside the Iron ore jetty, in the interest of time, and racing got underway at midday, but with major swings in direction, had to be postponed until it settled and was sailable. Again, tough and tight racing prevailed, with the top three teams fighting it out during the day. Choosing a side on the race course, and committing to it proved to be the best strategy and if done right would win races. Progli and Hutton-Squire did that the best, and managed a 2nd and two first places on the day, followed by the Ham brothers with a 1st and two 3rds and the Funkes with the 3,2 and 5. in the light winds, many teams had a taste of the podium with Mic Robinson and Warwick Ham chasing first place, for most of the last race. This put them into a great position and they finished the event in 4th overall. The heavier teams struggled in the light and switchy conditions, while the lighter teams had a field day. Racing ended at 4.45 and was followed by a true West Coast Oyster and Seafood Dinner, simply amazing!

Sunday dawned and the wind forecasts where indicating tough conditions for both sailors and race management. Racing was again postponed as gusts of up to 38 knots were recorded by Port Control. At noon the race officer called off racing and the results of Saturday evening were final. 

Highlighted below!