©Adam North

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Issue 4

UK Contender Sailing Breaking News...

• Only 2 weeks to the 2009 World Championships!

• UK Nationals at Highcliffe in September - Put it in your diary now and fill in the entry form from the link provided!

Its becoming a busy year on the Contender scene with the World Championships taking place in a couple of weeks time in Denmark followed in September by the UK National Championships at Highcliffe. Then it will be the 2010 Worlds in January in Brisbane. Good luck to all British sailors taking part!

We have 5 remaining travellers trophy regattas on the UK circuit including the Southern Area Championships this weekend at Porthpean, the Northerns at Burton in September and then the Inlands at Rutland in October!

New Contender sailing venues this year on the travellers circuit include Thorpe Bay in August and Restronguet in October.

Contents for this issue...

Chairman's chat
RYA Volvo Dinghy Show 2009
2009 UK Contender National Championships
Contender Sail maker Graham Scott gives us an update
2009 World Championships
2009 Travellers Trophy
British Contender Association Fixtures 2009
News from Chris Somner Dinghy Services
Looking for a new sail - a few suppliers that maybe able to help

See you at the Nationals!

Cheers

Duncan Ellis
GBR718
duncan.ellis@progressivetechnology.co.uk

©Racing at Halifax - Adam North

©Racing at Halifax - Adam North

Halfway through the TT season already! Turnouts have so far been good with an average of 24 boats showing at the meetings and an excellent 32 boats at Castle Cove. Don’t forget the new system for scoring in the TT series. You only need to be in the top 10 overall at the end of the year to be in with a chance of winning some goodies (as well as the glory of course!). So get to as many events as you can and climb up the score sheet.

Don’t forget also to check out your handicap rating via the web page. This is a highly technical calculation that only Stu Jones understands but makes interesting reading all the same. Whilst checking you own ranking remember to scroll down the page to see the event handicap winner etc – you never know, you’re name might be up there in lights!

The world Championships in Denmark are now not far away which is ramping up attendance to opens with people getting in some practice in now while they still can. Good luck to all those off to Denmark – bring back some silverware!
 

You will see the Notice of Race for this years National Championships at Highcliffe elsewhere in this newsletter.

After listening to the BCA membership this event is being held much later in the year then normal and a great turnout is expected. Highcliffe is an excellent sea venue which can deliver some awesome Contender conditions.

The club have worked hard to put together an attractive package which at £95 represents great value for money. As well as the sailing you’ll get fed on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday evening, all in the clubhouse, together with good value beer available at the bar.

In addition they are laying on a band for the Saturday night (open to HSC members as well) so this could turn out to be a messy night.

©Adam North

We are lucky enough to have secured continued sponsorship for this event from Magic Marine and Craft Insure – a big thanks to them - which should enable us to dish out some goodies across the fleet (we don’t just give stuff to the top guys). Also, we plan to run the buddy system again this year. This pairs off the top half of the fleet with the bottom half with the 2 boat scores being added together to get an eventual “pairs” winner. The idea is also that faster helm spends some time with the slower guy checking the boats over and giving tips etc. We will of course be running the Silver and Bronze fleets within the main fleet, with perpetual trophies for each, so everyone has something to sail for.

There is plenty of accommodation in the area neither (see NOR for phone numbers of tourist Information etc). In addition you could try Sandhills holiday park (0845 815 9710 – www.ParkHolidaysuk.com) or Hoburne Naish Holiday park (01425 273586 – www.hoburne.com) for static van type accommodation, but you need to crack on as I believe places are filling up. If you have never attended a Nationals before and are a little unsure, please feel free to contact me direct with any question. (nick.grace@virgin.net ).

If you only attend one event this year, make it the Nationals!

Looking further afield, the container for the 2010 Worlds in Aus now has just one space remaining (at time of writing). If you are interested in attending this event please contact Simon Mussell direct (SMussell@lsh.co.uk).
 

Finally – looking even further ahead – preparations for the 2011 Worlds to be held at the Weymouth Olympic venue are now well underway. It looks like the event will be early July (TBC) so start the ground work with the missus now. I called into the venue a couple of days ago and a lot of the work for the 2012 Olympics have already been completed so the venue will be complete by the time we visit. Another “not to be missed” event!

That’s it for now.

See you on the water

Nick Grace
BCA Chairman
GBR 700

©Adam North

Thanks to everyone who helped with the Contender stand at this years dinghy show in March. We had lots of interest from sailors looking for a fast single hander to sail and we had lots of enquiries for good used boats to buy.
 

©Progressive Technology Systems Limited

The event is being generously sponsored by Craft Insure and Magic Marine.

The entry form and notice of race can be found by clicking here.

If you would like a poster to put up in your club to advertise the event then click here.

10 races are planned over the 4 days with food at the club each evening so should have a great championship feel day and night!!

Highcliffe Sailing Club have a new website which can be found at www.highcliffesailing.co.uk

This is going to be great event and one not to be missed!!

See you there!

The winter has proved to be a busy and successful one at Wavelength Designs. Firstly, congratulations to John Browett and his Wavelength rig for winning a close Inland Champs at Rutland. A normally quiet November then turned out to be busier than usual with the weak pound boosting orders from Australia in time for their season starting in December.

Now that Marcus Hamilton (current Contender World champion with Wavelength sail on CST mast) has changed to a Musto Skiff it has been left up to his 24 year old Victorian club mate to take up the reins. After taking delivery of his first Wavelength sail he travelled to Perth to win 9 out of the 10 races to take the 2009 Australian National Championships in style.
 

However he was beaten at the Victorian State titles by one Andrea Bonezzi, now of course living out there (and using a Wavelength sail on an Avantgarde mast).

Jono will be travelling over for the worlds in Denmark with Chris Peile .

Back in the UK the season is well underway with either very light or quite strong winds (often on the same day) emphasizing the need to have a sail that performs equally well throughout the wind range. The Nationals are later this year which seems to be helping open meeting attendance as it gives people a chance to ‘ work up’ to the September event. The British entry for the Worlds in Denmark is quite low but the overall entry is over 120 which shows the strength of the fleet in central Europe.

©fotoboat.com

The update on the reduction in mast tip weight is that it seems to have been delayed and –‘may’ be applied by Denmark. If you have removed your tip weight correctors in anticipation of the new rule then I would put them back immediately!

Finally please note that the Contender tuning guide at www.wavelengthdesigns.com has been updated to reflect the current rake and spreader settings used on the latest carbon masts.

Good racing ,

Graham Scott
Wavelength Designs

So far 128 competitors on the entry list from all corners of the globe.

Measurement will take place on the 25th and 26th July with racing kicking off on the 27th July.  Two races are planned each day with 10 races in total.

To find out more checkout the Worlds website on www.contenderworlds2009.dk

Thanks to this years sponsors Boat-Bits of Huddersfield, as well as North Sails, HDS and other companies.

Current standings after 7 events as follows...

1st GBR2421 Gary Langdown Highcliffe SC Gold 265 points
2nd GBR700 Nick Grace Castle Cove SC Gold 238 points
3rd GBR713 John Browett Datchet SC Gold 228 points
4th GBR2314 Rodger White King George SC  Gold 224 points
5th GBR694 Chris Boshier Thorpe Bay YC Silver 220 points

Click here for full positions to date
 

©Adam North

©Action from Oxford - Chris Howe

British Contender Association Fixtures 2009


TT R 8 & Southern Area Championships
11th & 12th July — Porthpean SC

TT R 9 22nd & 23rd August — Thorpe Bay Yacht Club SC

TT R 10 & Northern Area Championships
5th & 6th September — Burton SC

TT R 11 10th & 11th October — Restronguet SC

TT R 12 & Inland Championship
24th & 25th Oct— Rutland SC
 

Click here to view and print a PDF of the 2009 Fixture List for 2009.

AND DON'T FORGET....

If you come 4th at an event overall or 4th British boat at an overseas event don't forget your prize of writing the report for the various publications!

News from Chris Somner Dinghy Services...

The Contenders we built over the winter period have been appearing at the front end of the fleet at various opens so far during 2009 which we are delighted with.

We now have an extensive inventory of spares as well so if you require any items for your Contender then please call us - I'm sure we will be able to help.

If you are considering a new Contender  then give me a call to discuss your requirements so that we can fit you in the building plan. The number is 01202 736704 or visit our website at www.cserve.co.uk

Chris Somner

©Adam North

www.northsails.co.uk

UK Contender Sailing Today is brought to you by Progressive Technology Systems Limited