International 5o5 Euro Cup Leg 1 at Club Nautique de Saint Raphaël, France

by Michael Quirk, Julius Braun-Dullaeus & Piet Strohm 30 Apr 03:42 PDT 18-20 April 2025

International 5o5 Euro Cup Leg 1 at Saint Raphael, France © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.com

505's from seven countries descended on St Raphael in the South of France for event 1 of the 505 2025 Euro Cup circuit. Many boats arrived early to knock off the winter rust and enjoy the warmer weather and good food the area has to offer.

The racing was run over the Easter weekend and hosted by the Club Nautique de San Raphael over three days. Day 1 was sailed in light to moderate conditions, races started as usual for 505's with a gate start. The day was dominated by the German team of Jan-Philip Hoffman and Felix Brockerhoff with a 1,2,1. The only blemish was allowing Jan-Philip's brother, Nils-Henning and Matthias Weidenbach to win race 2, which they led from start (as the Rabbit) to finish. Rounding out the German domination of Day 1, the teams of Timon Treichel and Morten Roos and Alexander Holzapfel and Arne Wittier who both scored a 2 and 3 on the day to sit second and third.

All change on Day 2 with a moderate breeze at the start, ending up in the high 20's by the end of racing. This however didn't slow down Jan-Phillip and Felix who posted a 1,3,1 to be in total control. Timon and Morten started the day with a 2nd, but slipped back in the next 2 races but managed to hold onto 2nd With the USA team of Mike Holt and Rob Woelfel having a better day to move up to 3rd.

Day 3 saw another change, with the sun out and a light breeze that slowly built to around 10 knots by the end of racing. Mike and Rob started the day with a win with UK team of Ian Pinnell and Charles Dywer in 2nd, however Jan-Phillip and Felix finished 3rd to tie up Round one. Not content with that, they still went out and won the last race, with Mike and Rob finishing 2nd to secure 2nd overall ahead Swiss team of Caroline and Philip Jacot. The team of Timon and Morten did enough on the day to take 3rd overall. Rounding out the top 5 was Howie Hamlin and Jon Bell of the US and Ian and Charles.

A great weekend of racing in all conditions, well won by Jan-Phillip and Felix, Next up at the end of May is Round 2 in the iconic Riva Del Garda.

The following is written by the two young guys (Julius Braun-Dullaeus & Piet Strohm) borrowing the German Class association boat for the recent Euro Cup Event in Saint Raphael, France:

Saint-Raphaël. Sun, breeze, swell - and a carbon rocket that accelerates faster than your parents' car. Over Easter we got to jump into the (well, mildly) cold water and sail our very first laps in a 505. And what can we say? We're still buzzing, soaked, and a little bit in love.

International 5o5 Euro Cup Leg 1 at Saint Raphael, France - photo © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.com

Monday: Surfing, French-style

Right out of the gate the Med ditched the kid gloves. Fifteen to twenty knots, a punchy chop, and us smack in the middle - for the first time in THE high-performance dinghy. 5.05 metres of carbon with twin spinnaker poles wasted no time showing us who is the boss. Sure, we spent more time submarining than sailing, but we've rarely grinned this wide.

Tuesday-Thursday: Yanking strings - but which ones?

The next few days? Sun, sails, and system overload. Anyone stepping up from a 420 looks into a 505 cockpit and thinks, "What on earth are all these lines for?" (Spoiler: they make the boat wicked fast.) Luckily a squad of seasoned 505 veterans had our backs - with advice, hands-on help, and chocolate. Special shout-out to our Düsseldorf friends: your tips were pure gold!

Friday: Regatta time - aka the moment you realise four days of training ? an Olympic campaign

Tactics? Erm... patchy. Technique? Work in progress. Boat speed? Outrageous. Classic pitfalls still caught us, though: shaky starts and the occasional spinnaker spaghetti. But hey, it's all about speed - and when the horse is galloping, you ride it. And our boat galloped: quick, solid, epic.

Saturday: Thirty knots and free beer at the finish

Thirty-five knots in the last race? We opted for the safety of the harbour - knowing a 505 can fly, but we're not jet pilots just yet. A bit of safety culture never hurts. The others reported 20-plus knots of boatspeed downwind.

Sunday: Sunscreen, spinnaker-speed, and finally some tuning

Final race day - wall-to-wall sunshine, perfect breeze. And we finally knew which string to yank when. We could keep up, plan ahead, grin along. Boat and crew have definitely started to click.

Takeaway: Adrenaline, learning curves, and one very cool community

The 505 isn't a dinghy; it's a state of mind. Fast, technical, demanding - and, thanks to the class association, even free for motivated newcomers. What do you need to bring? Drive, a taste for speed, and zero fear of post-sail beers with the old hands.

Huge thanks to everyone who made this adventure possible! Saint-Raphaël was a blast. And to anyone thinking of joining the class: Do It. The boat's waiting. The crew's waiting. The people are amazing. And the beer is cold.

P.S. Big congrats to our DYC heroes: