Mike Martin and Jeff Nelson representing Newport Harbor Yacht Club clinched the North American 5o5 Championship Thursday after dominating three days of racing on the Berkeley Circle. Their score was so good (three first places and two seconds) that they sat out the last of the six races, which became their throwout.

The SAP 5o5 World Championships are up next, starting on Sunday, with racing running through Saturday except for a day off on Wednesday. A noteworthy feature of the Worlds, typical of 5o5 championships, is the ‘Gate Start’. Rich Roberts explains: “It's an evolved version of the ‘rabbit start’ in which all boats start by crossing on starboard tack behind a single ‘Pathfinder’ boat sailing on port tack from the pin mark, closely followed by a small ‘Gate Launch’ power boat. 

 

“The SIs state: ‘Approximately 10 seconds prior to the starting signal, the Pathfinder will begin a close-hauled port tack from the Port Limit Mark with the Gate Launch close astern of the Pathfinder… The Pathfinder shall sail its close-hauled course until it is released by the hail from the Gate Launch, after which it ceases to be a starting mark and may continue or tack onto starboard tack. After the release of the Pathfinder, the Gate Launch will continue its course and speed until the gate has been opened for the posted period in Sailing Instruction It will then stop, make a long sound signal, drift for three minutes, and finally signal the close of the gate by lowering flag G with a short sound signal. Thereafter no boat shall start.’"  

For more on this month’s racing, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club, see www.505sapworldchampionship2009.com. For more on the 5o5 (5.05 meters long), see http://int505.org. Thanks to Erik Simonson of Marine Media Alliance for sending the photos.