Quest for Hayling Island! Episode 5 "Elvstrom Zelerbach Regatta"

In this new series of The Rogue Rigger I take you along on our campaign to go to the 5o5 World Championships in Hayling Island, England. The worlds start in July of 2026 so we have just a year and a half to go. Follow Mike and I on our journey to get to the world championships, from boat upgrades, practice days, regattas, debriefs and some shenanigans along the way. In this episode we take you onboard our 505 for this years Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club. Among the 505 fleet there is ILCA 6 and 7's, Melges 15's, Club 420's, RS Tera's and RS Fevas. The wind gods showed up for this event... Saturdays racing was cut short as the breeze was in the mid to high 30's with gust to the low 40's. Only half of the 505 fleet was able to complete the race. The rest of the fleets stayed postponed on shore. Saturday we were treated to four races in more typical San Francisco City Front conditions, the breeze was mid teens to low twenties. Solid flood tide with the usual reverse current close to shore. We had our moments with the top half of the fleet, as the day went on we kept making more mistakes. Our conditioning is not there yet and that is something we need to work on. Overall we made big gains. Finally able to hold our lane upwind and downwind we were able to consistently pass boats. Good times!