The 505 Class returned to Hayling Island for the fourth and final leg of our 2021 Euro Cup. Special thanks must go to the overseas visitors from Ireland, France, Germany and Australia who braved the current challenges and red tape of international travel to compete against some of the best teams in the UK.
We shared the venue with the Fireball Class National Championship which seemed to work out well and certainly kept the bar full each night.
Hayling Island Sailing Club made us extremely welcome with a Commodore’s Reception on the first night where Commodore Andy Partington reminded us all what a history Hayling has with both the 505 and Fireball Classes having hosted so many Euro Cup, National and World Championships for each class over the years.
We had a couple of days blown off but the races that did take place were in Hayling Bay under sunny skies, with plenty of waves and strong winds – perfect 505 conditions – enough to keep big grins in the bar each night. There were plenty of wipeouts from front runners and back markers alike to keep the talk and bar karate going long into the night.
The race team did a great job to give us 5 races in the bay over what were some really quite daunting forecasts and sea states.
The final lap on Sunday was epic as the forecast gale started to make its presence felt a couple of hours earlier than expected. We finished the day’s sailing with a screaming mile long two sail reach back into the harbour.
Here is a short clip of the day’s racing: https://youtu.be/QsoFO0nSTv8 complied by Christophe Favreau
There are loads more fantastic pictures of the event taken by Christophe here: https://www.christophefavreau.com/portfolio/G0000L2n1E8D6jJA
European Champions Roger Gilbert and Ben McGrane from Netley won with Tynemouth’s Nathan Batchelor and Sam Pascoe second and Hayling’s Ian Pinnell and Tom Pickles solid in third.
Multiple Olympic medalists Stu Bithell and Simon Hiscocks borrowed the UK Class Association boat for the event and really enjoyed themselves. Tokyo 49er Gold Medallist Stu Bithell commented “That was my first time in a 505 and it didn’t disappoint. It was fast and great fun in the waves.”
Please visit https://www.int505.org/ for more info on 505 racing around the world.
All images were taken by Christophe Favreau https://www.christophefavreau.com
