Sailed a contender today.

Ross, if your finding yourself overpowered upwind in a Contender the thing to do is foot off a few degrees and inch out main at the same time to keep the boat flat.

This is quick in a Contender as the foils are huge and the resulting increase in speed when you foot off means that they produce more lift, so you will not lose out on pointing either. It seems odd at first as it feels like your being out pointed, but its faster. When I went to my 1st meeting some of angles the top guys were sailing upwind in breeze were huge and very fast but they did'nt lose very much in height.

when you feather the sail to windward the foils stall and you will go sideways alot, this happens more in the Contender than say a Laser as again the centreboard is big. It also helps not to put it fully down in trapezing winds, 3/4 down is enough.

Of course this is only what I have found, others Contender sailors will have their own ways of getting upwind fast.

Last steep learning I had to do: the technique I used was, on the way home after each sail (or in the bath later!), think about what manoeuvres etc went wrong. Then I'd picture it back in my mind and try to work out where it was exactly that it was going wrong - helps focus the mind not just on "god my tacking was awful", but why it was awful and what specifically to concentrate on improving on next time. This probably sounds obvious, but simply spending some time properly thinking back on the various cock-ups really did help. Equally important is to contemplate the things which went well and again, understand why they went well so you know to repeat next time.

All this was, as it happens, on a Contender! (I suspect I'll be going thru it again in the 'ball soon, once I get on the water)