Contender

I've not sailed a 600, but I believe (partly from knowledge of how the Blaze rig was improved) that the large roach gives a sail which is always keen to get itself powered up. The hull is also pretty narrow - surprisingly so when you look at the underneath.

I have sailed a Contender, and tho' I'd trapezed before, I found it reasonably forgiving *. Certainly a good boat to learn helm+wire, I'd say. It does fairly poor on handicap against things like Lasers in lightish wind - you need to be on the wire with full power to get the better of them. I was probably about 65kg when I sailed one, and did find I was slightly lightish. But a lot of it is about technique, needless to say. If you want something new, a bit of fun, and can get one fairly cheap then its def a boat worth trying - great fun to sail and get really cracking along, and so elegant with it.

* - forgiving enough to be able to teabag yourself, floating there with feet a foot or so from the gunwhale and yet still possible to save it and not result in windward capsize!

the contender is easier to sail than the 600 in my opnion, I have had 3 600s, 630, 652 and 655 they are good boats and as long as yo go for the super spars rig you will have no problems.

If you are learning to wire though it may be best to go for a contender as they tend to be cheaper than a 600 if looking at the lower end of the market.  Also you are wiring of the gunwhale rather than racks which may make the learning curve easier

I picked my contender up for £250 hell of a boat for the money in my opinion.

I've never sailed a 600 but, if you believe Prince Buster who's in that weight range, lighter guys on a 600 face quite a challenge (even with the small rig).

There are plenty of very competitive Contender sailors who weigh hardly 60 kgs (I saw a few tall slim ladies who knew exactly what they were doing at the Worlds last year).

Of course, it's going to be a bit tricky to handle the boat in a real blast and/or in strong gusts but I think the Contender is far more forgiving than the 600, and definitely cheaper!

Contender443 might be able to help if you're looking for a second-hand boat, he's got a few these days! 

All sorry for staring a up an old thread again but I am picking up my first contender this weekend fingers crossed but it hasnt got a road base. My question is will russ's 300 road base do the job. If it helps the boat is on a standard contender launching trolley