The International 505 states were held last weekend at Fremantle Sailing Club in light but surprisingly consistent conditions. As is traditional the regatta was the stimulus for the class to come out of hibernation and rush around madly the week before trying to get everything working in time.

The 10 boat fleet hosted some tough competitors with last years champion Nick Davis and Michael Duffield recently placing 8th in the Worlds on Tenzing Norgay, Peter Chappell with bowman extraordinaire Graeme Spence up front on The Fish and Murray Smith sailing with the German 49er champion Florian Kemper on Project. There was also a new addition to the fleet with Brett Sharpe and Anthony Gaunt taking delivery of the first Fremantle 505 built by XSP.

Once the racing began Nick and Duff made it clear why they finished 8th in the world with a comprehensive display claiming 8 out of 8 races over two days. This left Lego, The Fish and Project to fight it out for the minor placings with the dark horse of the regatta, newcomers Scott Sharpe and Rees Howell on Knock Shop. Borrowing a new secret design main and laughing in the face of conventional crew weight for the class, the boys on Knock Shop showed unbelievable speed and consistency including claiming a 2nd place in Race 7.

The states were the first trial for Lego, the brand new XSP Fremantle 505 with the boat only being sailed a couple of times before the event. Given the limited race time, the boat was outstanding on debut with good speed finishing 2nd to Nick and Duff and holding off Peter Chappell in 3rd.

The XSP Fremantle 505 is now being manufactured by Xtreme Sailing Products (Singapore), who are the 3rd biggest dinghy builder in the world. If you would like more info about these great boats or how you can get a brand new 505 on the water for under $18000 then speak to Mark Stowell ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Finally thanks to Mark Robertshaw and his team at FSC who ran a fantastic event and Mark Stowell and Michael Duffield for organising the event.