Please select your home edition
Edition
Sydney International On-Water Boat Show 2025

SAP 505 World Championship form guide

by Jordan Spencer on 20 Jan 2007
As any good sailor knows, the most common heard phrase at any major regatta is, ‘the conditions are never like this’.

Adelaide, the host of the SAP 505 World Championships, has been experiencing it’s worst drought on record. Level 3 water restrictions apply, meaning residents are only able to water their gardens once a week and our beautiful parklands have been left to die.

The organiser’s have even had to buy in water so competitors can wash their boats after sailing. Yet the day the containers lobbed, and the international competitors started to arrive, we experience four days of monsoonal showers.

There are six year old kids in Cooper Pedy, a town North of Adelaide, who had never seen rain before and it has been over 200 days since we have had anything meaningful. With the rain has come either no wind or gales, so our visitors have no idea what to expect. Typical conditions remain absent.

Already the club is a hive of activity, with containers being unloaded, boats being prepped and old friends becoming re-acquainted.

So far we have seen Mike Holt, the American with the Pommy accent, Peter Alarie – Hasso Plattner's man on the ground, Adrian Finglass – super coach and former Australian Champion and Bill Cuneo and John Warlow from Queensland.

Today (Sat 20/1) there is a local club race scheduled and we may have our first chance to see the early form. However severe thunderstorms are forecast and I suspect the prudent may stay ashore.

The Australian Open (an invitational regatta, not the Australian championships) was held two weekends before, with several boats visiting from interstate. The winner there was the form boat in South Australia, Hawaii 5 0, sailed by Sandy Higgins and Paul Marsh.

For the local media, Sandy and Marshy have been tipped as the favourites for the Worlds. The last time they sailed the Worlds was Santa Cruz 05, where they finished sixth and won a heat the day Sandy’s father in law passed away.

Since then, they have stepped up their performances enormously. Our first true form guide comes Tuesday (23/1) with the start of the Pre-Worlds and Australian Championships.

The Pre-Worlds will be over three days, with two races a day, to complete a six race regatta. The first Australian boat will be the Australian Champion.
V-DRY-XAllen SailingMaritimo S Series

Related Articles

52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 3
Sled lead in Porto Cervo and have slashed American Magic's circuit lead in chase for the title The strong Mistral breeze on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda dropped away nicely today and three good, highly competitive races were completed, bringing the 52 SUPER SERIES - Porto Cervo - Range Rover regatta back to schedule.
Posted today at 7:52 pm
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 3
Light winds compress the standings in Trieste The 2025 Melges 24 World Championship, organized by Yacht Club Adriaco in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association and with the support of the Italian Melges 24 Class, continues in something of a slow-motion rhythm.
Posted today at 7:02 pm
A true attraction for non-French skippers
Hard work, training, and perseverance in the 56th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec The excellence of the French solo racing pathway is increasingly attracting non-French skippers who want to come, learn, and train in a discipline that, for now, remains very French.
Posted today at 6:55 pm
Last Chance to Complete 2x25 Survey
As Early Results Highlight Inequities Early responses to The Magenta Project's 2x25 survey reveal encouraging signs of progress on representation alongside systemic barriers that continue to hold sailing and the wider marine industry back.
Posted today at 12:26 pm
RS21 Worlds 2025 at Porto Rotondo, Sardinia Day 1
49 boats and over 200 sailors from 13 nations are taking part The RS21 World Championship is back at Yacht Club Porto Rotondo, with 49 boats and over 200 sailors from 13 nations ready to battle it out for one of the most competitive titles in one-design keelboat racing.
Posted today at 10:42 am
2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 3
Bribon and Momo II rise to the top at Long Island A lack of sunshine didn't detract from the sparkle of the International Six Metre fleet on day three of their 2025 World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island.
Posted today at 4:52 am
America's Cup: Ray Davies scouts Naples
Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand recently made a vibrant stop in Naples, Italy Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand recently made a "vibrant" stop in Naples, Italy, ahead of the upcoming Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, and was left in awe of both the city and its sailing conditions.
Posted today at 4:09 am
46th Cannes Royal Regatta day 3
When the planets are aligned... It was a phenomenal day in the bay of Cannes on Wednesday 24 September in a beautiful breeze from the south-west to the west.
Posted on 24 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 2
Epic conditions give Nika the first lead The 2025 Melges 24 World Championship delivered its first results on Day 2.
Posted on 24 Sep
2025 J/70 Corinthian Worlds at Massachusetts day 1
The regatta has moved to the United States for the first time Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts USA welcomed 29 all-amateur teams to the third annual J/70 Corinthian World Championship.
Posted on 24 Sep