2014 505 World Championships Report & Results

The SAP 505 World Championship had 173 entries competing in Kiel, Germany this past week, making it the third largest world championship for the class in the past 60 years of racing. The regatta concluded on August 22 when two-time runner up Mike Holt finally completed his nearly 30 year quest to conquer a World Championship.

The high number of entrants did not disappoint, as the racing was some of the most competitive that the class has ever seen. This regatta was also a prime example of just how popular the 505 class is in international competition, with competitors from 16 different countries gathering in Kiel to compete in the trapeze dinghies.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had anything like this,” said Holt before the final day of racing. “Six teams gunning for the title says how competitive it has been this year.” Holt and his crew Rob Woelfel were one of those six hopefuls, and after a fierce day of sailing they were finally able to snatch the coveted title of 505 World Champions.

Going into the final day of racing, Holt and Woelfel had only a marginal lead of two points over the Great Britain pair of Andy Smith and Tim Needham. It was early starts out of the gate that allowed Holt and Woelfel to hang on to their first place lead throughout the final competition. Smith and Needham fell to a final place finish of fourth, with the Australian duo Peter Nichols and Luke Payne taking second and German pair Dr. Wolfgang Hunger and Julien Kleiner eclipsing them for third.

Just now in their mid-20s, the Aussies were very pleased with their second place finish. Payne says that going into the regatta, their personal goal was for a top 10 finish. As the runner-ups, Payne and Nichols are setting their future sights on a world title.

The podium was nothing new to third-place finisher Hunger, who has accumulated a total of five World Champion titles in the 505 class. He and Kleiner were able to utilize their legendary speed sailing downwind to make it into the top three.

Rounding out the top five teams was another German duo, skipper Stefan Böhm and crew Gerald Roos.

The 505 World Championships was not just about cutting down race times, but also integrating cutting edge technology into the sport of sailing. Sponsor title SAP provided the race committee with a state of the art app as well as broadcasting live streaming of race updates so that families, friends and fans around the world could stay up-to-date on what was happening out on the course.

The technology used in the 505 World Championships is among other apps and mobile tracking integration that sailing regattas are beginning to test out and introduce. A longstanding challenge of the sport is how to bring the action onto the shore, and now with updates and breakthroughs in technology, the world of sailing is becoming more accessible than ever.