dburchfiel

I can't sail on crabtree. Most of the time the average depth is under 5'. The HS Team sails there and we are limited on where we can set up a race course because even the 420's will run aground in many areas.

Lake wheeler is ok if the wind is blowing down the lake /East or West and not across it. It's a very quick ride from one end to the other if there's more than 10kts. It also gets shallow quickly s you go west.

My 505 can take anywhere from 20-90 minutes. 20 minutes when I'm with a crew familiar with my boat who's done it a few times. 30 minutes if I do it myself and 90 minutes if it's with someone new and I'm explaining everything. This includes top and bottom covers. I keep as much rigged as possible and have lots of dedicated bungies to hold things in place. Rig and de-rig exactly the same way every time so nothing is twisted tangled etc.

Just to let you know Racing has been cancelled on the 25th due to flooding at Jordan Lake. Next race day is Dec.2.

Here’s the link to the Carolina Sailing Club. We have a very active Thistle fleets well as several others. Our next race day is Sunday the 25th. 2 weeks ago we had 17 boats out. If your boat isn’t ready to race there is a scratch sheet where you can sign up as crew. I’m also PRO that day and you can sit on Race Committee if you would like. In the winter we sail out of Crosswinds Boating Center, the one owned by 2 thistle sailors. If you race actively during the winter you can keep the boat there mast up. In the summer we race out of Vista Point on Jordan Lake and Henderson Point on Kerr Lake. Regardless I hope to see you on the water soon. http://www.carolinasailingclub.org/

When I talked about the build quality of the 505 I wasn't thinking of the early fiberglass boats. For a well built boat you need one with cored construction. I think the first well built boats were Lyndsay's but I'm not sure. In my experience a real bargain boat costs more in the long run than a reasonably priced good boat. https://usa505.org/advert/1978-lindsay-tuttle-6821-san-diego-ca/

While it's true that the 505 crews are usually quite big there are several lighter teams competing, especially on the East Coast. The boat is easily depowered. Take a look at the results from the 2017 Worlds. I doubt the team in 62 place weighed #230 combined. Finished every race and never capsized while several heavy teams swam.https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4206

I've owned both and have been in the 505 class for the past 12 years. 505-Much more expensive, much better built, more tunable and can handle a wider range of crew weights. With double poles I've had several people out in 15kts. who had never been on ANY sailboat and flown the spinnaker without a problem. I find the boat more difficult to capsize going to windward than the 470. On a reach or downwind it's easy to go swimming without practice. 470- Poorly built, simpler, capsizes easily going to windward in gusty conditions. It has a very low boom compared to the 505. I could sail single handed in 20kts. with a long tiller extension so I could get on the wire although I swam alot. Much easier to right from a capsize and it comes up dry. The 505 is reasonably dry after a recovery but has about 4" of water in it.

The 505 is ultra tuneable. There’s nothing out there comparable. There’s an active 505 team of college Sophmore women, out of Hampton Va. who I doubt weigh 220# combined and they finished mid fleet at the Worlds and the smaller of the 2 crews! For the record I sail 505 8822. However the boat rigging is usually quite complex but I have seen some simplified. 420 is ultra slow except in a blow. Laser 2 Portsmouth rating is slower than a laser. 470 if you can find one would work as well as a Coranado 15 or a 29er.

I don't even know what other clubs have Portsmouth racing. I've wanted to attend the HPDO for years but it's always been at our busiest time of year at work and haven't been able to.

Whoops forgot those.

Surprising huh! Our club's largest one design fleet and we seldom get them out in the winter even though we can keep our boats mast up for FREE for our winter series. If you're ever in town you should come out and sail with us. We miss you since you set off to New Bern.

I travel all over the country to sail in 505 regattas but sail Portsmouth with our club.

Another 14 boats on the water yesterday. Thistles, Flying Scots, Lasers, Sunfish a 420 and a 505.

We send all of our scores into the black hole of US Sailing. There is no committee to keep things updated and the sad thing is they don't care. Lets face it the money is in big boats and like most things in this country US sailing has gotten to the point where that's all that counts. We use the published portsmouth numbers when available and sign them when they are not often using the RYC numbers as a benchmark. Regardless no handicap system is perfect but it has had the intended affect of getting more boats on the water, increasing competition and sailing skill. During our winter series we wave Rule 41 so that experienced or skilled sailors can help out those less so. We'r even discussing waving it for our Championship series. I have talked to many sailors in the area trying to get them to come out and race with us. A big deterrent to their participation is intimidation. Many are self taught, don't know the rules etc. We have been able to convince several new sailors to join us by waving the rule. I tried for several years to get a local Laser sailor to join without luck. I would see him on the lake whenever the whitecaps showed up but he had never raced. He finally joined a few years ago where he was at the back of the fleet. He's now at the front and one of our biggest recruiters. At the club level I think whatever it takes to get more boats on the water and increase everyones skill is what needs to be done. The majority of our sailors travel to OD regatta's and our club hosts some as well.