The 5.5 Class goes South,read the article...

Finland: New President for the finnish 5.5 class:

Address: Anders Nordman Säynävätie 4 C 02170 Espoo Finland mob:+358 45 6576747 email:55_anders.nordman@veritas.fi (remove the 55_ before sending mail !)

Secretary and treasurer of the finnish 55class: Kimmo Kienanen email: 55_Kimmo.Kienanen@a-lehdet.fi (remove the 55_ before sending mail !)

New look for 5.5 Columbia ex-Drummer

Adam Sadeg reports: "Well after countless hours of hellish labor, panda and I have just about finished our 5.5 meter. We went out this past Sunday for our first race since April when we broke a spreader. I included a few before shots to give you some prospective. The boat was blue with six coats of paint over the original gel coat. We stripped all the paint and sprayed white gel coat and Put some LPU on the Deck. When, we went out on the race Sunday, the Alameda Co. sheriff pulled us over for no CF numbers, he asked us if the boat was brand new (it was built in 1966), we got a good chuckle and told him we'll put them on before we go out again. She used to be called drummer but we're searching for a new name now. Got any ideas?"

ISAF: Security rule postponned to 2009...
A rule requiring a device for releasing the trapeze or the hiking vest from the boat due to take effect next year has been rescheduled for 2009. See note from the ISAF.
The committee of the 5.5 Class strongly recommends to apply this rule in all circumstances for obvious safety reasons!

Switzerland is very dynamic again
Many boats have changed hands this fall in Switzerland. Bruno Marazzi sold his black Ali Baba to Alfred Marti on lake Geneva and has ordered a new boat from Wilke. She will be fitted with a new keel design, the mast will be modified to match with the new sails girth all of this under the supervision of Jean-Claude Vuithier his personal coach. Philippe Kolly builder of Zen and Lafayette is selling his boat and will start building a new design from Seb Schmidt. On lake Thun, Elisabeth & Heinz Saurer sold their Nina SUI-193 to a local sailor and bought World champion SUI-205 from Daniel Schenker.
The Swiss annual general meeting will be held on January 14, 2006 in Bern

Picture right: SUI-205 surfing duringstrong wind gusts on lake Neuchâtel during the Swiss championship held there in 2001.

Swiss Open Championship -Rolle
No wind, good winds, too much wind The unbelievable scenario has happened, the Swiss championship came to no conclusion after only three races were sailed on friday. On saturday and sunday, the 'bise' a wind caused by a high pressure over northern Europe and a low on the Mediterranean seas, started blowing in gale forces. There was no other choice for the committee to cancel the championship on sunday lunchtime. The boats couldn't even be lifted out of the water !
In the lead after three races was Hans-peter Schmid with Pungin followed by Peter Erzberger, Ralph Junker, Marazzi and Haissly. Favorite Jürg Menzi and 7 time Swiss champion pointed in 8th place having to suffer a DSQ in the second race.
The Swiss championship could be re-sailed again in October with the Gstaad Yacht Club Trophy.

Dutch Open 2005 - Muiden
Kristian Nergard is back ! (a report and pictures from Linda Rijkuiter)
On Friday two races where sailed in 6 knots light weather conditions and shifty winds. We had 25 Competitors and 5 nations on the start with the Bahama's represented by Gavin Mc Kinney and his two Norwegian crews. After two races Hans Nadorp was in the lead with a first and second place, closely followed by Juerg Menzi with a 1 and 3 place.
Saturday brought a bit more wind and three races. Kristian Nergard got his gun and so did Christian Wahl on Blade runner and Juerg Menzi. After five races and one race to sail on Sunday there was still 5 boats competing for the championship title:
Kristian Nergard with 9 points, Hans Nadorp 10 points, Juerg Menzi 11 points, Christian Wahl 12 points and Arend Jan Pasman 15 points.
Sunday the wind was a bit stronger about 12 knots. The first start was a general. The second start was an OCS for Hans and the first over the line was Nergard awarding him the winning points of the Dutch Open Championship. More pictures on: www.yourphoto.nl

Lake has reach a new height record
Heavy rain falls hitting central of Europe in August have also affected the central area of Switzerland. A new height record was set for lake Thun flooding the well known club of the Thunersee Yacht Club. On the 22nd the waters went up by over one meter in less than 24 hours.

Video from the Europeans in Attersee is now available !
Video and picture (printable definition) are on the same CD, cost is 30 Euros, Please put your direct order to:
Sport Consult, Ing. Mag. Gert Schmidleitner
International Race Officer, International Judge
Abtsdorf 137, A-4864 Attersee, Austria
Homepage: http://www.sportconsult.at
E-Mail: schmidleitner@sportconsult.at
Tel.: +43 (0)7666 / 72 07
Mobil: +43 (0)664 / 512 88 03
Fax: +43 (0)7666 / 72 07 14

Swiss Open Championship -Rolle
No wind, good winds, too much wind!
The unbelievable scenario has happened, the Swiss championship came to no conclusion after only three races were sailed on friday. On saturday and sunday, the 'bise' a wind caused by a high pressure over northern Europe and a low on the Mediterranean seas, started blowing in gale forces. There was no other choice for the committee to cancel the championship on sunday lunchtime. The boats couldn't even be lifted out of the water !
In the lead after three races was Hans-peter Schmid with Pungin followed by Peter Erzberger, Ralph Junker, Marazzi and Haissly. Favorite Jürg Menzi and 7 time Swiss champion pointed in 8th place having to suffer a DSQ in the second race.
The Swiss championship could be re-sailed again in October with the Gstaad Yacht Club Trophy.

Dutch Open 2005 - Muiden
Kristian Nergard is back ! (a report and pictures from Linda Rijkuiter)
On Friday two races where sailed in 6 knots light weather conditions and shifty winds. We had 25 Competitors and 5 nations on the start with the Bahama's represented by Gavin Mc Kinney and his two Norwegian crews. After two races Hans Nadorp was in the lead with a first and second place, closely followed by Juerg Menzi with a 1 and 3 place.
Saturday brought a bit more wind and three races. Kristian Nergard got his gun and so did Christian Wahl on Blade runner and Juerg Menzi. After five races and one race to sail on Sunday there was still 5 boats competing for the championship title:
Kristian Nergard with 9 points, Hans Nadorp 10 points, Juerg Menzi 11 points, Christian Wahl 12 points and Arend Jan Pasman 15 points.
Sunday the wind was a bit stronger about 12 knots. The first start was a general. The second start was an OCS for Hans and the first over the line was Nergard awarding him the winning points of the Dutch Open Championship. More pictures on: www.yourphoto.nl

Lake has reach a new height record
Heavy rain falls hitting central of Europe in August have also affected the central area of Switzerland. A new height record was set for lake Thun flooding the well known club of the Thunersee Yacht Club. On the 22nd the waters went up by over one meter in less than 24 hours.

Video from the Europeans in Attersee is now available !
Video and picture (printable definition) are on the same CD, cost is 30 Euros, Please put your direct order to:
Sport Consult, Ing. Mag. Gert Schmidleitner
International Race Officer, International Judge
Abtsdorf 137, A-4864 Attersee, Austria
Homepage: http://www.sportconsult.at
E-Mail: schmidleitner@sportconsult.at
Tel.: +43 (0)7666 / 72 07
Mobil: +43 (0)664 / 512 88 03
Fax: +43 (0)7666 / 72 07 14

The second ever built 5.5 is sailing in Finland
The second ever built 5.5 is sailing in Finland. Her name is Bloss and she was built in 1950 by Wilenius in Porvoo City. Her designer Gösta Kyntzell initially called her Inga-lill like all the other boats he built. He kept her one season like he did with all the his designs to race her before handing her over to her owner who eventually gave her her first official name. The Deb which is officially the first 5.5 maybe lost but at least the 5.5 Class still has the second built boat.
This shows how a 5.5 can be a good investment in 55 years...! (Check the Gallery for more details)

L-2 Bloss 55 years of age is sailing in Naantali, Finland

5.5 Columbia Nationals canceled !
Alameda (CA). Adam Sadeg, fleet captain from the 5.5 Columbia decided to cancel the Nationals to sailed in Alameda after seven boats only registered for this event. "We shall organize new dates with the Alameda Yacht Club at a more convenient period" says Adam...

Blueprint best 5.5 in Flensbürger Förde
After a constant series of 4 up-and-downs and a long distance race, Lutz v.Meyerinck's Blueprint made it in front of Fram II skippered by Kiel yachtsman Rouven Rademacher during the Meter Cup sailed at the Robbe & Berking Classic event. After discussions with the organizers, Singora in the lead with three wins, pulled out of the series (not a Classic contestant). The 5.5 fleet put up a great performance on the race course while sailing in various wind conditions even reaching 6 bf. Kaspar Stubenrauch 's Lotten experienced a few crew issues. He lost his fordeck man on the spinnaker run and eventually the captain threw himself in the water during harbor maneuvers…all this was largely commented during the beer drinking session that followed on the pier.
All the sailors agreed this was a great weekend although cold, and was giving a hint how the German Championship would be like with a lot more 5.5 already registered !
Results

Silver Fox (NOR-58) win King Oscar Cup in Risor (report by Steffen Ousdal)
"Saturday 21.may, we successfully arranged our first 5.5 cup here in Risor; King Oscar cup. The cup was named after the Swedish/Norwegian King Oscar II, who signed Risor`s city seal. He was also a sailing enthusiast. And since the 5.5 have royal traditions in Norway, we thought it was a good name for a cup. Six local evolutions raced for the trophy. Since most of us in Risor are rookies with the 5.5, the cup this year was a "local arrangement" but next year we hope to gather all the boats from Norway,(and other who wants to visit us).
The winner this year was Tom Nysted in his Nor 58 “SilverFox”. His has been sailing his boat 8-10 years and be prepared for more competition next year! "

Tom Nysted and his crew winning King Oscar's Cup in Risor

Hamerhaai like a sub (Report from Linda Rijkuiter)
This weekend (20/21 May) seven competitors raced on the Braassem lake.The committee scheduled 3 races a day and that is what we got ! On Saturday wind started out with 15 knots but in the afternoon the sun started shinning and the wind dropped down to 6 to 10 knots which made conditions difficult. Hans Nadorp had three first places followed by Arend Jan Pasman.
On Sunday the wind had increased to 20 to 25 knots. At some point during the race a strong gust from a freaking direction surprised some of the sailors and Hamerhaai went in a broach hitting the bottom of the Lake Braassem. Luckily this was in a spot where it didn’t completely disappeared. Isis assisted the crew of the Hamerhaai until rescue arrived while the WildCat and Maitresse assisted some of the youth boats who got into trouble. Maitresse eventually resumed racing because the youth got assistance. Ned 16-Isis and NED 31 Wild Cat retired and asked for redress. On the same afternoon with the help of divers and a ship with a crane, the Hamerhaai was floating again. None of the crew or the boat got hurt. Even the electronic is still working.
Hamerhaai will be racing again next Tuesday evening.
Final standings: 1. Maitresse, NED-35; 2. NED-26

A Red Lady in Stockton Jim Coddington and Chris Shepherd just got done restoring this beautiful 5.5 Columbia. Her hull number is around 35-37 and her name is Red Lady. There are now 9 5.5 Columbia at the Stockton Sailing Club and 11 in Alameda actively sailing. Left: Red Lady re-launched in Stockton (California)

Risor 5.5 fleet rising (a report from Steffen Ousdal)
Her is a little status report from Risor Norway. Since last time, we have successfully arranged a 5.5 evening (kickoff) in our yacht club. 40 people showed up, and we all watched the DVD from Torbole with great interest.
Since last Friday two more 5.5 have joined us. One beautiful Classic from 1966 and one Evolution 82-83 model.
In Risor we now have seven 5.5 ready for this sailing season. We have heard that this is triggering the 5.5 bunch in Oslo to put all their boats in racing condition, to meet the new “threat” from Risor!
If you consider the total population in Oslo is 500'000 compared to the 7'000 in Risor, this will look like a “David against Goliath” battle!.

5.5 Columbia Nationals 2005
The Columbia 5.5 Nationals will be sailed on July 23rd and 24th. from Alameda Yacht Club, Alameda, Calif. Contact: ML (Marylouise) Higgins at 510-748-0289 or mlhiggins2000@yahoo.com

NED-26 with new owner & Hans Nadorp's new NED-35 "Maitress" Left: Ex-Maitresse NED-26 now belongs to Arend-Jan Pasman, pictured by Peter Parmentier, sailing on Brassemermeer during the sunny weekend 2/3 April. Right is Hans's new 5.5 : NED-35 Oranje Express in front of Wilke's shipyard in Switzerland. She is sister ship to Menzi's SUI-217.

SUI-217 first time sailing and first win ! (25 March)
Juerg Menzi and his crew resumed sailing in 2005 like they had ended their previous season with SUI-204, but this time with their new Schmidt/Wilke 5.5 SUI-217 they won the Easter series on lake Thun in front of five other competitors taking four firsts out of five...
Results

SUI-217 named Marie-Françoise XVII, is the latest 5.5 produced by C.Wilke and designed by S. Schmidt. There is hardly any doubt she will be as successful as her predecessor... (pic. C. Wilke)

Sunglasses mandatory!, NED-35 is under completion at Wilke

Spikes on deck (Report from Linda Rijkuiter)
Last Sunday on the 27th of February the Hiswa Boatshow Trophy was sailed. One boat of each class enters the race by handicap on a small lake in the centre of Amsterdam . The 5.5 Class was represented by Jan van Gelderen, Carsten Verwaard & Jan Kossen sailing NED 33. They wanted to try there new Van Vliet sails, but the gusty conditions made it difficult to get a proper feel. While the clubhouse was covered in snow, 24 till 28 m/s gusts came from all directions. They needed spikes on the deck and a lot of boats had to give up.

Killing time during long winter days...
(March 05) In the Netherlands far away from the skiing slopes and the warm sandy beaches, the Dutch 5.5 fleet is preparing for the after regatta party during the winter time. These models will serve for playing at sailing but from the clubhouse terrace with a cool glass of beer in hand !
(pic. Linda Rijkuiter)

King Olav Cup 2005
Royal Norwegian Yacht Club, Hankø Yacht Club and the Norwegian 5.5 association invites all 5.5 sailors to Hankø Race Week 2005 and the King Olav Cup
The sailing starts 30th of June and ends on the 3rd of July. Four days of racing on open courses outside Hankø. We have noticed interest from several foreign sailors and we look forward to see you again. If there is any questions regarding the event, please e.mail Petter Fjeld, NOR 61 at 55petter@stormevent.no

Addam Cube competing against Blade Runner (Hankö, European champ. 2004)

Sailing on the America Cup ground in 2007
The AGM 2005 held in Sydney, voted for the world championship to be sailed in Valencia (Spain) home of the 32nd edition of the America Cup. The worlds should take place somewhere in June between the end of the Louis-Vuitton Cup and the beginning of the America Cup races.

Taking care of 'Little Sister'
US-52 known as 'Little Sister' will soon be restored by Joe Gelsomino. She is not in very good condition he says, the keel is delaminated, many frames/ribs are broken and seems are opening between the planks. She was launched in 1963 from Bjarne Aas shipyard.