Mike Martin and Adam Lowry Win 5O5 Pre-Worlds
The 5O5 Pre-Worlds, held this past weekend, were just a warm-up for the big show: the 5O5 Worlds, which start tomorrow on San Francisco Bay. But that doesn’t mean that the preceding regatta was any less competitive. At stake was the new Howard Hamlin Perpetual Trophy, as well as the North American Championship trophy. The St. Francis YC race team ran six races over this past weekend for the Pre-World regatta to get the teams warmed up for the big show.
At the end of the Pre-Worlds it looks like the 2019 Worlds, with Mike Martin and Adam Lowry being the team to beat.
On Saturday, the 5O5s raced west of Alcatraz Island, with Martin and Lowry leading the pack of 60 teams with a 2-2-1 score line. Racing was very tight, with boats up and down the fleet gravitating toward each other at the marks. The leading duo favored the south side of the course for most of the day.
On Sunday, the 5O5s sailed west of Treasure Island with a mild crosscurrent and more champagne conditions for San Francisco Bay. Three races were completed on windward-leeward courses, with the final race finishing to windward to help the sailors return to the harbor at St. Francis Yacht Club.
Martin and Lowry continued their lead, finishing first and winning both of the aforementioned trophies. Nic Baird and Eric Anderson scored two bullets on the final day, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Martin and Lowry’s lead. Third place for the Pre-Worlds went to the British team of Nathan Batchelor and Sam Pascoe, and the third-place North American team was Howard Hamlin and Jeff Nelson.
The 5O5 Pre-Worlds and Worlds have drawn a diverse field of competitive teams from the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Poland, including several past world champions: Howard Hamlin (1999) and Jeff Nelson (2009); Mike Holt (2014, 2015, 2017) and Carl Smit (2015, 2017); Mike Martin (1999, 2009, 2016, 2019) and Adam Lowry (2016, 2019); and Ian Pinnell (2008). California has long held a very strong position in the class, with Morgan Larson and Trevor Baylis also being world champions in 2004, racing as team Waterat. Larry Tuttle, who finished sixth in the 1981 Worlds (shown below), is owner of Waterat in Santa Cruz, the go-to shop for fast foils in 5O5 racing.
On Sunday evening, trophies were awarded at St. Francis Yacht Club, and race organizers officially opened the 5O5 World Championships. Racing begins on Tuesday, September 26, with first warning at 12 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The 5O5 Worlds will run from September 26 through October 1, with five days of racing and one lay day.
You can see complete results and information here.