I got the chance to see the last race of the 505 North Americans, and wouldn’t you know, it was the worst of the series, or so I’m told. The light wind everyone feared had held off pretty much the first three days, but this last penultimate race was the kind of Bellingham Bay Race that leaves a little to be desired. It was, however, fun to watch. Douglas Hagan got off to a commanding lead after being the starting rabbit and getting all the way out to the favored right side of the course. Carl and Carol Buchan worked from a disastrous start and you could almost hear the drums beating as they moved their way up through the fleet. In the end they came up a bit short and Hagan held onto a well-earned victory.
In the end, young Riley Gibbs and Reeve Dunne edged Howie Hamlin and Jeff Nelson for the top overall spot. Hamlin couldn’t be too disappointed or surprised, as he set up Gibbs with a boat and a great deal of mentoring along the way.
But the bigger aspect of this event was its success as an event. 50 boats (well, 49 on the water but who’s counting) competed, and by all accounts it was one of the best regattas in a long time.
The Bellingham Yacht Club faithful got it all right. They promoted early and got the club and class excited about the event. They lined up sponsorship without sponsorship being the focus of the event. The race committee did a great job. There were plenty of shoreside activities. They set up a spectator boat. Kudos to Mike Poulos, Paul Pihl and I’m sure man others who pulled this off.
For those of you who don’t know, not only is the 505 the sexiest (IMHO) boat around, it’s one of the most cohesive set of sailors around. 
They love helping each other find new speed, they love promoting the class to other (including new) sailors, and they appreciate the spark plugs in the class that keep it going. Any class that has annual food fights as part of its history has got to be a lot of fun.
I’ll be writing up a short piece for Sailing World on this event, which will appear in the magazine sometime later this year.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.