1993 505 North American Championship

Reprinted from the "Year End 93" Tank Talk
The 1993 505 North Americans were held at the Crescent Sail Yacht Club, in Grosse Pointe Michigan, August 30th through September 3rd. John Dohan and Bill Beardslee put this event together by themselves, doing an outstanding job. Five races were sailed, with winds mostly light and medium, and somewhat shifty. The second race was the windiest, at 15-17 knots. 31 teams participated, with competitors from the East Coast, California, Eastern Canada, the Midwest, and England.

It was a very close regatta, with 4 boats able to win the NAs going into the last race. Macy Nelson/Peter Alarie sailed a great race, and won, putting enough boats between them and the two boats that had been ahead going into the last race, to win the NAs. Ali Meller/Ethan Bixby were 2nd overall. This gives Fleet 19 the top two places in the NAs! Mike Punnet/Scott Ikle were 3rd, Howard Hamlin/Steve Rosenberg 4th, Jeff Boyd/Gord McIlwham 5th, Mark Mendelblatt/Flynn 6th. The top placed "co-ed non-Olympian team", prize was won by Marg Hurley/Peter Wood of Ottawa, with Fleet 19's Bob and Betsy O'Brien just 4 points behind. Guess which Olympic gold medallist excluded from the above prize, finished 12th?

I would write a tack by tack, blow by blow description, but Ethan had me completely focused on the jib telltales, the waves, and the weeds; I have no idea what was going on during the races. Ask Macy if you want more details. I've included some notes.

Everyone who asked was billeted. Great T-shirts were provided. Good Race Committee was provided. The RC did a great job of getting some races in between squalls. Crescent Sail is a nice club - lots of one-design racing, a large new addition, showers, and a snack bar, bagged lunches were available. Free beer after racing every day! Lots of kids and racing moms and dads! (We could market ourselves as a family racing boat)! There were seven women in the fleet; Allison Jolly, Marg Hurley, and Clarissa Bush helming, Teresa Schulz, Betsy O'Brien, Penny Estabrook, and Carol Alexander crewing.

Day 1

Measurement and registration followed by two practice races. The Race Committee was not familiar with gate starts, but saw how simple and easy it was (we may have some converts here). Racing was adjourned in favor of the party at Mrs. Beardslee's (Bill's mother) home. Nice place (our kind of people), great party, too bad it rained. Most of the fleet appears to be billeted here, but it is so large they do not see each other much. Happy birthday to Ethan!

The Last Race

Four boats could win the regatta. Major rain, delayed start until within ten minutes of the time limit. Wind off the shore. Held after squall, several teams swam during the squall. Windy at the start, got lighter and lumpier. Shifty. Breault/Hartman led early, Trotman sailed a good race and finished 2nd. Englert/Melton were up with the leaders. Nelson/Alarie punched through for the big win. Hamlin/Rosenberg were 3rd, Breault/Hartman were 4th, Punnet/Ikle 5th, Boyd McIlwham 6th and Englert/Melton 7th.

Thanks are due to the Crescent Sail Yacht Club, John and Bill and the other members of the committee (John and Bill), the Midwest fleet, and all those who opened their homes (and boats) for a bunch of basically weird sailors. When can we come back for another regatta?

Other Highlights

Changing demographics; the class has more XL people and more kids than before, as demonstrated by T-shirt sales (oh, wow, are we growing up, growing fat, and having kids?), Terry Neff finishing a race without a rudder. Punnet/Ikle's AC/DC 505 - bags or launcher and heavily raked rig with Pinnel & Bax sails. They have even gone to the European in-out adjustment on the jib lead. Meller/Bixby's North 3DL mainsail, a see-through molded sail with no seams, probably the only one-design 3DL sail in existence. North's new version of the watermelon spinnaker. Weed stick technology - Kai Kaiser's rig was something to be seen! - to deal with the weeds that make Hampton look weed free! Lake St. Clair is shallow (mud on your sail if you capsize), and choppy.

One of several personal highlights was having my two 505s finish 1st and 2nd in the 3rd race. 7772 was 6th overall.

Participants had an impressive background:

NA Results 

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	1	2	3	4	5

1	USA8191	Nelson/Alarie	.75	3	6	6	.75
2	CAN8263	Meller/Fry	2	6	.75	3	8
3	USA8013	Punnet/Ikle	6	.75	7	.75	5
4	USA7201	Hamlin/Rosenb.	3	4	4	5	3
5	CAN8264	Boyd/McIlwham	10	2	3	4	6
6	USA7772	Mendelb./Flynn	9	7	2	2	10
7	USA7318	Trotman/Mills	5	5	10	31	2
8	USA8060	Breault/Hartman	4	17	12	7	4
9	USA8439	Dohan/Beardslee	8	8	9	10	11
10	CAN8442	Morrin/Yates	7	9	8	16	12
Ali Meller
ameller@mcimail.com