EDITORIAL

The Open 5.00 is on the water …Test sailing began in February and the sailors were litteraly frozen… In spite of difficult conditions, we can assure you that they had fun and that all the theories of the tandem Finot & Conq as well as the expectations of the first owners have been met.
The boat is magical, fast and stable, gliding and simple. The keel system works perfectly well, the spinnaker retrieving system simplifies the handling for the crew and all the problematic rigging arrangements that you may have seen at the boat show have now been solutioned.

After the praises, let's protest a bit. Everybody knows the quest of perfection of our achitects Jean Marie Finot and Pascal Conq, as well as the obstination of the Phileas manager Bruno Hervouet. As serial perfectionnists, all three found that mast exhibited at the boat show was too solid and too heavy. So, Phileas decided to invest (once again!) in the developement of a new "wing" profile. So the results may well overpass the expectations, however this concern of doing well will delay the first deliveries and the numerous impatient Openists will have to wait a few weeks longer until Spring (15th of April).
The improved quality is not too expensive and this will guarantee that the 2007 model will be identical to the first boats delivered and, last but not least, that the performance and stability will be even better.

Consequently our event planning has been modified, and you will find the new schedule below.

The most important point, after the reliability of the boat, is to create around the Open 5.00 the friendly user sport spirit, that I am, and certainly you too are, attached to. We will build together the first serie destined for families, couples, and all people who want to sail for fun on an affordable keelboat. Its genuine design as well as its state of the art construction will allow unknown performance while sailing safely.

The extraordinary venue of Salagou will host our first event and we will all join together in order to make this first event a model for the Open 5.00 spirit.
See you soon on the water and on the Open 5.00

Hervé VERROUST
Animator of your serie

SOME BRIEF NEWS ............................................

WWW.OPEN500.ORG Gilbert Sifre, the creator of the Open 5.00 website (www.open500.org), is awaiting the delivery of his Open 5.00. If he has as much talent with the stick as with the mouse, we will only see his stern. The serie specification, although brief, is on line. Practically no modification is authorised. Only bridle and sail wind indicators, as well as compass (magnetic or mini Tactick) are allowed. Safety equipments are mandatory. The number of crews is free, according to the number of life jackets on board and to the boat homologation, with a minimum of 2 persons. Be careful of speed traps : luckily not on the water, (taking into account the speed of the Open 5.00) but on the road! The Open 5.00 is so easy to tow, even with a small car, that you must control your speed.

You don't need to pay a membership fee to your association, the ASOPEN. You become member when you buy your boat or simply by asking to become member as a friend of the serie. To function, the association needs of course subsidies from the factory -thank you !! but we also propose some merchandising article at a decent profit margin. A good quality polo with embroided Open 5.00 logo is available in 4 sizes (S, M, L, XL). Send a cheque of 30 Euros to the ASOPEN and you will shine on the pontoons.

NEW 2006 PROGRAMME 16-21 April : Jan Schurink in Vevey Switzerland will have a boat. Make apointment with him for a trial. Tél. Windtech : 00 41 21 922 28 94. 1-8 May : François Dautremont at Der en Champagne, France will have a boat. Make apointment with him for a trial. Tél. Service loisirs : +33 (0)3 26 72 62 13. 24-28 May : First event in Salagou near Lodève (50 Kms west from Montpellier). A fabulous venue that we described in our previous newsletter. Ask for the programme . Reservation bed & breakfast urgent by sending to ASOPEN a cheque of 50 euros (beneficiary " la maison du lac "). 10-11 June : St Etienne at Gilles Gueritte. The notice of race will be posted on the website. Previous experiences with the Open 5.70 have always proved to be fantastic. Warm welcome and legendary fun athmosphere. Fantastic landscape and on top of that the cherry of Velay! 22 - 23 July : VEVEY in Switzerland . After that, we schedule a meeting at the end of September in the perthuis Rochelais and for the All Saints Day in Cannes, Hyères or Maubuisson, as you wish and according to the club availability. We will discuss this together, either on the site forum or on the water. The next edition will be published in June with the first tuning tips and the rest of the programme. See you soon and fair winds.