Report by Peter Scannell, IRL 8987
The Sakonnet Point Club hosted the second ever 505 Open Regatta on July 17-18.
7 boats assembled on Saturday morning, in what can only be described as a spectacular location for 505 racing. Boats rig on the breakwater and after a 5 min sail are in wide open Atlantic water.
Saturday began with fog and light winds. The PRO did the best he could with the conditions, and after a brief postponement started the fleet in about a 7 knot southerly. Local team, John and Luke Ingalls were quick out of the blocks, but were closely chased by Ted and Amy Huebner and Peter Scannell and John Dunlea. Conditions were shifty, with lot’s of pressure differences. John and Luke managed to hold on to win by a very narrow margin, with Ted and Amy less than a boatlength behind.
The second race was similar, with John and Luke doing the best job of picking the laylines and pulling out a healthy lead that never looked threatened. Behind them, the positions were decided by who could find areas of pressure, with some big gains to be made with the right calls. Following the second race, the PRO rightly called it a day after the fog closed in further and the fleet was herded to shore with very little visibility.
Sunday dawned with similar conditions but the forecast was more promising.
Two races were sailed in 8knots with chop. The sea breeze finally made an appearance for the final 3 races and the fleet were treated to typical Sakonnet summer conditions of about 15knots and sunshine. John and Luke continued their good form and were never challenged in the lead while all other boats took turns in every position from 2nd to 7th. Notable exception was Duane Delfoss and Mike Hull who managed some consistency with 3s and 4s.
All in all, it was a clean sweep by John and Luke, who showed all the signs of spending a little more time on the water. The rest of us each had moments of brilliance but lacked consistency. One feature of this regatta, which will definitely be repeated, was a real effort to condense the fleet for the gate start. All 7 boats were started within 15 seconds which pushed us all to up our starting game.
Special thanks to PRO Cushing Anderson and his brother for running a great event
1st US8786 Ingalls Ingalls (1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 6
2nd US8930 Delfosse Hull (4) 3 3 3 4 4 3 24 20
3rd IRL8987 Scannell Dunlea 3 2 (7) 2 7 2 6.0 DNF 29 22
4th US8851 Huebner Huebner 2 6 5 4 3 5 (7.0DNS) 32 25
5th US9005 Kivney Russell 6 4 6 (7) 6 3 2 34 27
6th US8083 Tang Wolnikowski (7) 5 2 5 5 7 4 35 28
7th US9186 Longson Bjerregaard 5 (7) 4 6 2 6 5 35 28
Next up on the Region 1 calendar is Buzzard’s Bay Regatta on 8/7 & 8, one of the class’s favorite venues and a stone cold lock for some great breeze. See you there.
