SAP 5O5 Championships 2015 – Racing Images

Mike Holt and Carl Smit (USA) won the SAP 505 World Championships with a day to spare.

The breeze built throughout the day and gave the fleet some spectacular sailing in winds of predominantly 12-18 knots. The first race didn’t start well for Holt, who was focused on covering his main rival, the Anglo-German team of Ian Pinnell and Johannes Tellen. But somehow the Californian crew picked their way up a difficult windward leg to round the first mark just in the lead.

The reigning World Champion had a battle keeping another Californian team at bay, the lightweight but smooth-operating Ted Conrads and Brian Haines, who briefly stole the lead from Holt/Smit. But by the end of the three laps, Holt and Smit were too strong and crossed the line in first place, ahead of Conrads/Haines, with Pinnell/Tellen in 3rd.

From here on, Holt was in a very strong position. Pinnell would need to win the remaining two races in the series if he was to stand any chance of toppling the 2014 World Champion. The second race saw the first restart of the championships due to a collision with the pathfinder and South Africans Grant Ballantyne and Evert Groenewald breaking their mast on the start line and having to retire. Not a good day at the office for the 77 year old skipper, who is entering his 50th year as a 505 sailor.

Once the second race got underway, it didn’t take long for a similar pattern to establish itself, with the two leading Californian crews taking up their positions at the front of the fleet. Pinnell was back in 7th, and managed to climb to 5th by the finish, but Conrads/ Haines were again 2nd, with the untouchable Holt/Smit high-fiving their way across the finish line in 1st place. Holt had secured his second world title, with his long-term crew Smit claiming his first 505 world crown.

“It was amazing to win with Rob Woelfel last year in Kiel,” said Holt, “but it’s really special to win with Carl this year. I’ve sailed with him a long time, and it’s great to win with him today. Five wins out of seven isn’t bad, a bit easier than last year. We’ve had our ‘two beers a night’ rule this week, but not tonight!”

Holt and Smit enjoy the luxury of not having to race tomorrow’s final race, but will watch the weather before they decide. The strong-wind sailing has been some of the best of Holt’s long 505 career, and the urge to go sailing on spectacular Algoa Bay might be too strong to ignore.

Meanwhile, two 2nd places put Conrad and Haines within striking distance of Pinnell and Tellen for 2nd overall tomorrow, with two Australian crews not too far behind. The big prize has been secured, although the battle goes on to determine the other podium places in South Africa.

Racing concluded on 3 April 2015.

Results from the 2015 505 World Championships:

	Regatta Rank	Competitor	Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Σ
	1	USA 9072	Holt / Smit	1	1	5	3	1	1	1	DNC	8
	2	GBR 9136	Pinnell / Tellen	7	3	3	1	2	3	5	1	13
	3	USA 9091	Conrads / Haines	13	5	2	5	3	2	2	3	17
	4	AUS 9134	Quirk / Payne	3	4	1	4	9	4	9	4	20
	5	AUS 8946	Higgins  / Marsh	2	6	4	2	5	7	7	2	21
	6	GER 9135	Bohm / Roos	8	2	15	7	6	6	4	8	33
	7	AUS 8890	Higgins / Johnston	14	7	13	8	4	8	3	12	42
	8	RSA 9094	Funke / Funke	5	12	8	10	8	13	8	7	46
	9	GBR 9124	Scutcher / Diebitsch	6	8	7	12	10	10	10	6	47
	10	USA 9153	Hamlin  / Nelson	10	9	11	6	7	11	6	9	47
	11	DEN 9118	Saugmann / Karbo	4	11	9	9	RET	5	11	10	48
	12	RSA 9063	Largier / Hutton-Squire	11	10	16	11	11	9	13	5	57
	13	RSA 8486	Robinson / Robinson	9	14	6	15	16	15	RET	13	72
	14	RSA 8719	Ham / Ham	12	15	14	13	12	12	12	11	72
	15	RSA 9026	Plattner / Shelton	16	13	18	14	14	14	RET	15	86
	16	GER 9043	Birkner / Stenger	15	17	10	18	19	18	23	14	92
	17	RSA 8520	D’Engle  / Nel	18	18	12	20	25	16	17	18	99
	18	GBR 9125	Deane / Deane	20	19	28	30	13	17	15	16	100
	19	USA 8084	Ross / Waterman	17	16	30	16	15	20	16	24	100
	20	RSA 8675	Hurter / May	19	20	17	17	17	19	14	20	103
	21	RSA 8445	Klaas / Von Gruenewaldt	22	22	19	21	22	26	20	17	121
	22	AUS 8637	Cronin / Whitbread	23	DNF	24	19	18	29	18	22	124
	23	GER 8988	Mittermayer / Barteldt	24	21	29	24	20	30	19	27	135
	24	RSA 7822	Klaas  / Tellen	25	24	22	23	21	31	24	21	135
	25	RSA 8537	Foreman / Van Der Ploeg	26	23	20	28	RET	24	21	25	139
	26	RSA 8948	Parker / Holm	21	DNC	25	27	27	25	22	23	143
	27	RSA 8789	Ham / Robinson	30	DNC	21	32	RET	22	30	19	154
	28	RSA 8584	Rogotzki / Roos	29	26	31	22	23	28	RET	26	154
	29	RSA 8707	Holm / Fourie	28	25	26	29	28	23	RET	29	159
	30	GER 9000	Menge / Wilts	33	27	27	26	24	34	27	28	159
	31	RSA 8091	Snyman / Ballantyne	DNS	29	23	25	DNS	21	25	RET	160
	32	AUS 9018	Bowden / Bath	27	28	33	RET	DNC	27	28	31	174
	33	RSA 8121	Holtshauzen  / Kirchner	32	DNF	32	31	26	35	26	32	179
	34	RSA 7608	Bailes / Isaac	31	30	34	RET	DNC	33	29	30	187
	35	RSA 4437	Ballantyne / Groenewald	34	DNC	35	33	RET	32	DNC	DNC	208
	36	RSA 6266	Arthur / Anderson	DNS	31	RET	DNS	DNS	36	RET	33	211