Contender class - Bart's Bash and Youth
by Mike Murley 11 Dec 2014 07:12 GMT
10 December 2014
The Contender 2014 Travellers Series recently concluded at Rutland. 62 boats competed with Gary Langdown from Highcliffe just beating young Tom Hooton at the final event. Gary had a recent sabbatical in the Laser fleet but has returned to Contenders after getting fed up with sitting out.
Maybe that's the attraction of Contender for all ages – young sailors love the performance and us older guys just prefer trapezing to hiking. Yes Gary, you're old.
Contenders haven't generally been recognised as a great handicap boat unless it's seriously windy, but maybe this season has seen a new trend. At Bart's Bash, Contenders claimed a number of places at the top of the massive fleet of 16,870 boats. 11 Contenders in the top 50. Overall there were 56 Contenders competing, 20 of which were at the Weston Open which coincided with Bart's Bash. Top three were Gary in 9th, Simon Mussell in 11th, and Martin Frary in 21st. While competing at the 2011 Contender Worlds in Weymouth some of us were treated to a personal tour of Bart's Star boat by the great man himself. Really friendly and enthusiastic. Great memory for me.
Another recent trend has seen the arrival of a lot of new younger sailors into the Contender class. No doubt the young guys are attracted to the class by inexpensive boats. Where else can you get a competitive boat with carbon rig for £2-3k? It will be interesting to see if the UK fleet can emulate our European colleagues in Germany, Denmark and Italy where they have a high youth participation. Maybe we'll finally be challenging for the Youth Trophy at the Worlds in Medemblik next summer.
Down in Plymouth, 19 year old Contender sailor and student Alex Shaw filmed his Bart's Bash day on board with his GoPro/Muvi (other personal cameras exist). Take a look...
It's a great example of the competitive fun our amateur sport can give. Really nice smooth tack at 4:52 Alex.
A self-declared club sailor, Alex chose a Contender last Easter as a good stable boat for shifty inland sailing at his home club, Manor Park SC, and because it would also provide a good fast boat for the sea while away at Uni in Plymouth. So far so good and hopefully we'll get to see Alex on the circuit soon.
Take a look at the 2015 circuit on www.sailcontender.org.uk