UK Contender Sailing Today



Issue 7 Previous editions:		\| Issue 1 \| Issue 2 \| Issue 3 \| Issue 4 \| Issue 5 \| Issue 6 \|


Startline action at the 2011 Worlds...	©championmarinephotography.co.uk

UK Contender Sailing Breaking News... First regatta for 2012 is the Winter Championships at Datchet on the 11/12th February Record busting 2011 season with huge turnouts at both the Worlds and the Nationals! 2011 Singlehanded Yachts and Yachting Class of the Year award!

Welcome to the seventh edition of UK Contender Sailing Today... Welcome to the 7th edition of UK Contender Sailing Today. Thanks again to the contributors of this issue and to the various photographers for allowing us to use their images for this eNewsletter. Chairman chat... From our Secretary... BCA Officers for 2012... Thanks Nick... What the BCA does for you, and some reasons why you should join if you sail a Contender... How to join or renew your membership for 2012... RYA Volvo Dinghy Show 2012... Yacht and Yachting Awards... Weymouth Worlds Review... The Top 10 Contender Sailors in the World... Some words from our sponsors... 2011 Worlds website stats... Record 95 entries for Contender Nationals... Update from Wavelength Designs... 2012 UK National Championships... Contender Worlds 2012... 2012 Contender European Open Championships... International Contender Boat Bits Traveller's Trophy – 2011 Season Review... Final Travellers Trophy 2011 Results... Settings for Rooster Contender Main... British Contender Association Fixtures 2012... Shortage of boats for sale... Looking for new gear for your Contender - a few suppliers that maybe able to help

Chairman chat...
Hello Contender sailors, I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce myself; Having come through a rigorous selection process I find myself in the post of BCA Chairman; (Commiserations to the dozens of others who wanted this coveted position but failed to meet the exacting standards). Many of you will already know me, I’ve sailed Contenders on the circuit for 6 years with varying degrees of no success, those who don’t please feel free to stop me in the boat park for a chat; it’s the bright blue boat. I’d like to thank Nick Noble the outgoing Chairman for the graft he put in over the duration of his tenure. I hope I can make the job look as effortless he did. Nick has decided to take a year away from Contenders now to compete at Cycling and recover from the stress of Chairmanship. He promises to come back though when fully rehabilitated, no doubt with a shiny new and subtlety coloured boat. The biggest event of the last 12 months was clearly the Worlds at the Sailing Academy which can only measure as a success and one that has enhanced the perception of the Contender Class. A large thank you goes to Nick Grace, Ben Holden, Chris Boshier and the rest of the team for their efforts in providing the rest of us with this spectacular event. The large numbers of entries coupled with the smooth running of the event will give the class a good reputation over the next few seasons and will hopefully be something that we can build on. There were lots of new British Contender Sailors competing at WPNSA many of whom were attracted to the class because of the Worlds, it is important that we retain as many of our newcomers beyond one season as possible. For this reason I have some favours to ask all of the membership;
Pass on your thoughts- The position of chairman does not come with a set of terms of reference, the only way the Committee will know what the class wants is if you tell us. We will keep things ticking over, but we need information to make sure the class is easy to use. Feel free to poke me or the rest of the Committee in the chest if you’re not happy or if you have a good idea. Nothing is set in stone; anything can be changed if it works for the class.
Promote the class- The boat will sell itself, but we need to provide potential recruits with assistance in realising how good it really is. The only people that can do this at club level are the membership, I want you to actively point people in the direction of the open circuit or local fleets. Another important factor in class promotion is the humble race report. If you find yourself lucky (or unlucky) enough to take the coveted 4th place at any Contender open meeting please make sure you put a report into the BCA website and yachtsandyachting.com. Doing this shows that we have an active class to potential future members. This is so important that the committee has its own publicity member (or enforcer) Si Mussell who will give the 4th placer a nudge when this doesn’t happen. Be warned, the man is very focused on his role. Duty- Every year it’s a running battle to get people to take on Committee positions, and for no good reason as none of them are hugely time consuming, they just require that you are interested in the Contender Class. So if you have had a couple of good years sailing around with us give some thought to what you would like to do. You may as well, we will wear you down eventually. That’s it for favours for now, I’m sure I’ll need more as we get in to the season. Chris Boshier is putting together a packed one this year, having two international events always puts pressure on the available space for domestic opens so we can expect some intense periods of sailing mixed with large gaps, but that is just how it has to be. Chris is always on the lookout for new and exciting venues for the class and would love to hear from anyone who has a good idea. That is pretty much all I want to say, if any one wants to discuss Contender stuff with me or pass on interested parties to a committee member; my email is ejpsails@hotmail.com and my number 07876715340. See you out there, Ed Presley

From our Secretary...
Hi everyone I hope you’ve all had a great Christmas and New Year! Looking back at 2011 it’s been an incredible year of sailing, from the Winter Championships at Datchet in February, National Championships and World Championships in Weymouth in June with a record 95 entries and 144 entries and finishing with the Inland Championship at Rutland in October. Not forgetting the many events in between, there has been something for everyone. I hope you all have had a chance to get the sailing in that you wanted and have enjoyed contender sailing as much as i have over the last year. If your contender is a little dusty in the garage right now, don’t worry because we have an action packed year ahead!!! Kicking things off on 11th / 12th February is the Winter Championship at Datchet Water then its onto the Dinghy Show on 3rd / 4th March at Alexandra Palace. Where you can catch up on the gossip, see old mates and make some essential sailing purchases. Then the Boat Bits traveller’s series begin in style and sees us visiting some old haunts and a few new venues finishing with the Inland Championship in November. Remember for more information you can keep up to date with all the news and events on the website and also check out your 2012 fixtures flyer printable from the newsletter. Enjoy your International Contender Sailing this year! Ben Holden BCA Secretary

BCA Officers for 2012...
Chairman – Ed Presley GBR 2406 Secretary – Ben Holden GBR 2315 Treasurer – Tim Holden GBR 2503 Fixtures Secretary – Chris Boshier GBR 694 Membership Secretary – Stuart Backhouse GBR 2448 Technical Officer – Chris Howe GBR 2477 BCA Webmaster – Jerry Driscoll GBR 695 Sail Measuring – Rodger White GBR 2314 Newsletter / Web site – Duncan Ellis GBR 718 With great regret Tim Holden who has been on the committee as treasurer for century’s and Ben Holden who has done a 5 year sentence will be standing down at the 2012 Nationals AGM and replacements have yet to be identified (for want of a better word !). If you fancy a go at either of the jobs please give the chairman a call (in confidence and with no obligation) and he can talk through what’s involved. You have a great team working on the BCA committee who all look after their areas without fuss.

Thanks Nick...
The BCA would like to give a big thank you to Nick Grace (GBR 2484) for all his hard work in organising the 2011 World Championships and National Championships. Also a big thank you to all of the other volunteers who helped run and organise the championships in Weymouth. If any member see Nick in the bar with an empty glass, please buy him a pint as he deserves it!!!		©championmarinephotography.co.uk

What the BCA does for you, and some reasons why you should join if you sail a Contender...
The BCA is the British section of the International Contender Association. Without a strong and active class association a class dinghy would have but a short lived life. The Contender has thrived as a class over the last 40+ years because an active class association has been working hard behind the scenes to help it prosper. The BCA and the ICA are entirely voluntarily run members organisations, and the only financial resources they have to look after the class and its interests comes from the annual membership subscriptions. Membership subscriptions are used to organise and fund the following:- Administer the class association at national and international level Class publications Class website British championships Travellers circuit Dinghy Sailing Exhibition ICA fees Plus many more areas Membership of the class association is £30 payable from 1st January each year – payment after the last event of the year is rolled over to next season unless you have sailed in a BCA event.

How to join or renew your membership for 2012...
You can renew your membership via one of two methods - Which ever is easier for you.
Option 1 Fill in the 2012 pdf entry form which can be found by clicking here. Please enclose a cheque made payable to ‘British Contender Association’ for the amount of £30.00 and then send by post to the address on the membership form.

Option 2 Visit the British Contender Association website and click the Buy Now button to pay by credit or debit card.

RYA Volvo Dinghy Show 2012... RYA Volvo Dinghy Show 3-4th March 2012... Come to the RYA Volvo Dinghy Show – the home of British dinghy sailing, and experience all that’s great about the sport. The contender association has its regular spot C22 in the Great Hall (Hall 3). We will have two boats on display as well as all our advertising and IT displays. The stand will be packed with contender experts from past and present so please come and see us for expert advice and information. The stand is ran by BCA committee and volunteers so If you can spare a few hours either day to help promote the class drop Ben Holden an email at ben@holdendesignservices.co.uk

Yacht and Yachting Awards... The Contender has been chosen by Yachts and Yachting this year as "Singlehanded class of the year". As quoted in the magazine,"A bumper year for the fleet saw a record 95 entries for its nationals and a near record entry of 144 boats for the worlds at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. One of the most popular single handed trapeze classes in the UK at the moment" We were class runners up to the Class of the Year award which was won by the XOD keelboat.

Weymouth Worlds Review...
So that’s it – the Worlds are all done and dusted. It was the culmination of many man-hours of work by your BCA and hopefully those of you that attended had a great time. With 144 boats taking part this really was a mega event, only 2 boats short of the record entry at Lake Garda a few years ago. It’s just a great shame that the breeze didn’t decide to attend as well!! Many of you will know how great the sailing is at Weymouth when the breeze is up and my biggest regret is that all those visitors didn’t have a chance to experience the venue at its best. But then that’s sailing I guess. Congratulations to Bjarke Johnsen from Demarks on being crowned 2011 Contender World Champion and commiserations to Graham Scott who finished second on equal points but losing it on count back. (It would certainly have made for an interesting last day if we had sailed!). Whilst it would have been great for a Brit to win the event I think it’s good for the class to have a new name on the trophy and, with Soren Andreasen coming in third, shows just how strong the Danish fleet is at the moment. Overall the British fleet did well with 8 boats in the top 15 and claiming a number of race wins. Particular congratulation to Neil Ferguson who won Race 1 in his group. With a good start and the roll of the dice up the first beat many of us mid fleet guys are capable of rounding the windward mark first (if only!) but to carry that through and win the race was an excellent achievement – nice one Neil.
As I have said, a lot of effort went into this event and I would like to particularly thank Chris Boshier, Ben Holden, Tim Holden and Duncan Ellis for all their hard work and support. Thanks also to Jennie Cooper, David Davis and Richard Buttner for their help with sponsorship, Ron Duffield and his team for the excellent measurement and to all those others who helped with the many jobs that needed doing. A special thanks also to Patsy (the other half) for all her patience as I disappeared into the office yet again to do some “sailing stuff”.
Finally thanks again to all those companies and individuals who provided some sponsorship. I am sure the prizes were appreciated by the many recipients – particularly the free Physio sessions! I really enjoyed being involved in the organisation of this event and was touched to be presented at the prize giving with a C flag signed by all the competitors – thanks to all for that. However, to quote Tony White after he organised the Plymouth Worlds – “I won’t be doing the next one!!” Happy sailing Nick GBR2484

The Top 10 Contender Sailors in the World...	All Photos ©championmarinephotography.co.uk
1st Bjarke Johnsen DEN	2nd Graham Scott GBR
3rd Soren Andreasen DEN	4th Christoph Homier GER
5th Stuart Jones GBR	6th Andrea Bonezzi ITA
7th Ben McGrane GBR	8th Michele Benvenuti ITA
9th John Browett GBR	10th Tim Holden GBR

Some words from our sponsors...
Ocean Motion Physiotherapy
Ocean Motion Physiotherapy was proud to support the 2011 Contender Worlds in conjunction with Crew Fuel, sports nutrition provider. Competitors in the Contender Worlds were able to benefit from the same treatments provided to the world’s best Olympic sailors at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue. We hope that all those who tried out our services felt the benefit and wish the Contender fleet all the best for their next worlds in sunny Florida. More information about our service can be found on our website: www.oceanmotionphysiotherapy.co.uk
RB Sport & Travel
Congratulations to Bjarke Johnsen on becoming the International Contender World Champion 2011. It was nice to meet up with ‘old’ friends, share Contender tales of great winds, big seas & good camaraderie. Measurement Day started out very damp but luckily the Sun broke through to dry out the site in time for the Après Measuring Happy Hour (or 2,3…) hosted at the ‘Red Van’. It was a great success so a second Cocktails evening was held later in the week prior to a run ashore to sample the delights of the local restaurants. Thank you must go to Plymouth Gin Distillery & the East Kent Contender Sailors for supplies of liquid refreshments.
Winter is now upon us so RB Sport & Travels’ attention is now drawn to making the ferry travel arrangements for this new year’s championships & sporting events. We are looking forward to putting together the various itineraries for the British Contender Association Members wishing to travel to Gottskar Sweden for the European Championships 2012. Popular routes are Hull ~ Rotterdam; Harwich ~ Hook of Holland; Dover ~ Calais / Dunkirk or if one fancies less driving Harwich ~ Esbjerg. Further ferry / bridge crossings from Germany / Denmark to Sweden are required. RB Sport & Travel has accounts with the leading UK & European ferry companies and endeavours to secure the best deals for those wishing to attend sporting events here in the UK & abroad.
RB Sport & Travel wishes to thank those who used our services in 2011. We made ferry travel bookings for UK & EU sportsmen/women as well as those from afar e.g. Australia ~ USA. We hope that you have had a safe & pleasant voyage and an enjoyable event. Now that you have found out about our superb fares & service we look forward to making your next travel booking, your custom is appreciated. A special note of thanks is extended to the following ferry companies for allowing RB Sport & Travel access to very competitive prices and their generous donations of travel vouchers for this event: P&O Ferries SeaFrance Stena Line For further information please visit www.rb-sport-travel.co.uk or email sales@rb-sport-travel.co.uk
Congratulations to all the recipients of RB Sport & Travel & ferry companies’ Vouchers. In all there were 5 travel prizes awarded for ferry crossings on the Dover ~> Calais & Harwich ~> Hook of Holland routes, with P&O Ferries, SeaFrance & Stena Line. The tickets are valid for use next year so should prove to be very useful in getting to Gottskar Sweden for the Contender European Championships 2012 (28th July - 3rd August). Contact RB Sport & Travel for your next ferry trip abroad ~ we are sure that you will be pleasantly surprised!

Congratulations to all the recipients of Kingfisher Yacht Rope Vouchers. Kingfisher Yacht Ropes generous sponsorship of the event included £30 vouchers for rope to be spent at Bussells Yacht Chandlers. They are pleased to announce that the majority of these vouchers have been redeemed. Many thanks also to the Khazana Indian Restaurant in Weymouth.

2011 Worlds website stats...
We had 7,146 unique visitors to the 2011 Worlds website who visited in total 16,150 times with over 33,576 page views. More than half of our visitors came back again.
By Country, 1st UK 8,424 visits 2nd Germany 1,733 visits 3rd Australia 1,235 visits 4th Italy 1,156 visits 5th Denmark 793 visits 6th Netherlands 653 visits 7th United States 572 visits 8th France 461 visits 9th Canada 234 visits 10 Switzerland 123 visits


©championmarinephotography.co.uk	©championmarinephotography.co.uk

Record 95 entries for Contender Nationals...
Andrea Bonezzi is crowned 2011 British Open Champion and Ben McGrane is crowned 2011 British National Champion. The Contender Nationals has now come to a close with a record 95 entries taking part at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. 7 races were sailed in light to medium conditions over 3 days as a warm up for the upcoming Worlds with 143 entries confirmed for the start line on Monday.
Race 1 saw newcomer Ben McGrane take his first win of the series in a light breeze followed by Stuart Jones and Soren Andreasen. Race 2 started in similar conditions and dropped below 3 knots at the finish. The race started with an individual recall and a few boats were OCS including the leader Jones who led the entire race to the finish. Richard Gimmler should have taken line honours as he was just behind Jones until the last 100 yards to the finish when the wind shut off. The really light wind at the end allowed only 1/3 of the fleet to finish within the 20 minutes time limit. First was Jesper Nielsen winning his first major race followed by Christoph Engel, McGrane and Andrea Bonezzi.	2011 UK National Champion Ben McGrane ©championmarinephotography.co.uk
Race 3 was held in the harbour, with a building sea-breeze allowing high trapezing. A group of 7 boats got away after the first lap, headed by Jones and McGrane, who then had a dingdong battle down the run. Jones just won the race to the leeward mark, but up the final beat McGrane showed outstanding pointing ability to take the win, followed by the hapless Jones, Matt Aston, Gimmler and Stacey Bray.
After three recalls Simon Mussell dominated Race 4 in a solid trapezing breeze. Neil Furguson had a strong first beat following Mussell round the windward mark. Andreasen and Bonezzi pulled there way through on the reaches to finish in that order behind the disappearing Mussell. Race 5 saw a slightly lighter breeze which became patchy as the race progressed. Bonezzi took line honours followed by Graham Scott and McGrane. Race 6 was raced in a steady force 3-4. Andreasen took line honours followed by the Bonezzi brothers Luca Bonezzi in 2nd followed by Andrea.	2011 British Open Champion Andrea Bonezzi ©championmarinephotography.co.uk
Going into the final race McGrane still held first spot from Andrea Bonezzi so it was all to play for in the final race. Scott won followed by Luca Bonezzi then Neil Wilson. Andrea recovered well to finish 4th and to give him the Open Championship title while McGrane became 2011 British National Champion missing out overall by just 1 point when finishing 9th. 1st Andrea Bonezzi ITA11 and 2011 British Open Champion 2nd Ben McGrane GBR2497 and 2011 British National Champion 3rd Soren Andreasen DEN 1 4th Stuart Jones GBR2465 5th Graham Scott GBR720 6th Neil Wilson GBR685 7th Michele Benvenuti ITA 69 8th Jesper Nielsen DEN2352 9th John Browett GBR713 10th Simon Mussell GBR2420


Update from Wavelength Designs... Yet more outstanding results for Wavelength in 2011 ! Obviously the main event of 2011 was the World Championships held at the Olympic venue in Weymouth. This turned out to be a brilliant regatta with a huge entry and challenging and varied conditions. Congratulations and thanks must go to Nick Grace and his assistants for all their hard work in setting the event up – it was a great success. From a Wavelength point of view it was also a triumph with the first four places taken by our sails. Congratulations go to Bjarke on his first Contender World title, just beating me on countback with Soren taking third.
With racing held in a variety of wind speeds and wave conditions the all-round ability of the Wavelength dacron sail was proved once again . During the winter and early season I had incorporated a few small alterations to the design of the standard sail to try out myself and by the end of the Castle Cove open meeting I was fairly happy that the changes were in fact improvements. Bjarke and Soren were thinking along similar lines so ordered identical versions . There may well be a certain amount of coincidence involved but with the new design filling the first three places I am now making it the standard sail for 2012.
One thing that stood out (to me at least) was the growing number of mast manufacturers offering Contender masts since the change to carbon . No one make is really dominating and CST, Avantgarde , Selden , Harprecht and Superspar are all achieving top results. With the problem of shipping masts it is obviously good that each country has a competitive mast supplier. Obviously Bonezzi wood boats dominated the front of the fleet again but Andrea and Luca turned up with their all new vinylester FRP version. Although Andrea did not have the best of regattas (by his high standards) he had good speed. Luca, however was transformed and his performance should generate a lot of interest . The other big talking point was the decision at the AGM to allow a vote on the use of epoxy in the construction of ‘plastic’ hulls. The worldwide ballot is currently taking place and it will be interesting to see which boatbuilders take up the challenge if it goes through. Good sailing, Graham Scott Wavelength Designs

2012 UK National Championships... The Royal Torbay Yacht Club are our hosts for the 2012 UK Contender National Championships. The event will run over 4 days from the 1st to 4th September 2012. Format Day 1—2 races BTB Day 2—3 races BTB Day 3—3 races BTB Day 4—2 races BTB Course Olympic Triangle / Sausage Social events and parking included in entry fee. Contact Matt Aston matt.aston@costain.com Sailing Club Web — www.royaltorbayyc.org.uk

Contender Worlds 2012...
The World Championships in 2012 will be sailed under the burgee of the St Petersburg Yacht club in Florida, from 22nd April to 28th April, there is also a pre world and North America National Championships from the 19th to the 21st St Petersburg Yacht club is an historic yacht club (for the Americans anyway) having been founded in 1909 and having a history in both Yacht and dinghy racing (they founded the SORC race which was originally called the Havana race way back in 1930) The club has a broad experience of running regattas from local to National and World championships. Situated in the Gulf of Mexico, St Petersburg in April has an average temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit and the driest season, combine this with sea temperatures of the mid 70s and an average winds peed at that time of year of 10mph before any sea breeze kicks in we should be looking at some great Spring sailing. The sailing will be from the beach by the Tradewinds Beach Resort situated by Clearwater harbour and the containers will be shipped directly to their car park right next to the beach. The hotel is approximately 25 miles from Tampa International Airport and accommodation is available either at the resort or via short term rental around the area. With an average tidal fall of one and a half metres you won’t have far to pull the boats up the beach either.

Contenders rigging for training last year.
There is still some room available in the container and if you’re interested in some Spring sun and sailing, or perhaps add a family holiday into the bargain and do Bush gardens, Disneyworld or what ever else takes your fancy out there, then drop Chris Boshier an email (chris.boshier@lloyds.com) to see what can be arranged. Official website http://www.spyc.org/Contender
Additional Information Nationals NOR : http://www.spyc.org/files/NOR~Contender%20USA%20OPEN%20Final.pdf Worlds NOR : http://www.spyc.org/files/NOR~SPYC%20Contender%20Worlds%20Revised~10_10_11.pdf St Petersburg Yacht Club: http://www.spyc.org/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=323168&ssid=216645&vnf=1 Tradewinds resort http://www.tradewindsresort.com/

2012 Contender European Open Championships... July 28th – August 3rd 2012 SS Kaparen in Gottskar, Sweden The 2012 European Championships Notice of Race is now available. To access the pdf click here . The event website can be found at www.contendereuropeans2012.se Click here to view a pdf about the venue.

International Contender Boat Bits Traveller's Trophy – 2011 Season Review...
This years Boat Bits Contender Travellers Trophy Series ended with a bang at Rutland where 45 boats battled it out for the Inland Championship in winds gusting over 25 knots. After 13 events stretching from Restronguet in Cornwall to Yorkshire Dales “up north” and with 88 contenders taking part in the series, Stuart Hudson from Keyhaven emerged as the this year’s worthy winner with 337 points from his 6 best events narrowly beating Tom Hooton of Burton SC who is a future star in the making under the kind sponsorship of B Hooton International. Chris Boshier from Thorpe Bay finished 3rd with out of retirement Tim Holden from Halifax finishing fourth, with Bill Hooton from Burton in fifth place. Top traveller in the Silver Fleet was Chris Boshier from Thorpe Bay and winner in the Bronze fleet was Peter Hayward from Eastbourne. Both Chris and Peter can look forward to promotion to the next fleet up in the forthcoming season – onwards and upwards boys! The Class would like to thank all of the Clubs that have hosted events for the class this year for their hospitality and for the superb sailing that the class has enjoyed in such a wide range of conditions. With several opens having attendance of 30 or more the class continues to go from strength to strength. There are new faces continually joining the fleet and with the record turn out at the 2011 National and World Championships hosted here in the UK at the 2012 Olympic sailing the future is bright for the Contender in the UK.

TT R1 19th & 20th Feb—Datchet SC Winter Championship		1st Ben McGrane (Netley SC) 2nd Graeme Wilcox (Netley SC) 3rd Mike Murley (Weston SC) 4th Roger Gates (Datchet SC) 5th Stuart Hudson (Weston SC)

TT R 2 19th & 220th March — Burton SC		1st Tim Holden (Halifax SC) 2nd Tom Hooton (Burton SC) 3rd Martin Metcalfe (Killington SA) 4th Chris Boshier (Thorpe Bay YC) 5th Allan Orton (Porthpean SC)

TT R 3 2nd & 3rd April - Oxford SC		1st Graham Scott (RYA) 2nd John Browett (Datchet SC) 3rd Stuart Jones (Datchet SC) 4th Tim Holden (Halifax SC) 5th Dan Taylor (Mengeham Rythe SC)

TT R 4 30th April & 1st May - Highcliffe SC Southern Championships		1st Graham Scott (RYA) 2nd Simon Mussell (Highcliffe SC) 3rd Stuart Jones (Datchet SC) 4th John Browett (Datchet SC) 5th Nick Grace (Castle Cove SC)

TT R 5 14th & 15th May - Castle Cove SC		1st Graham Scott (RYA) 2nd Stuart Jones (Datchet SC) 3rd Simon Mussell (Highcliffe SC) 4th Ben McGrane (Netley SC) 5th Ben Holden (Halifax SC)

TT R 6 28th & 29th May - Eastbourne Sovereign SC		1st Nick Noble (Portishead SC) 2nd Ed Presley (RAFSA)

TT R 7 25th & 26th June - Restronguet SC Western Championships		1st Graham Scott (RYA) 2nd Martin Frary (Weston SC) 3rd Mike Murley (Weston SC) 4th Nick Noble (Portishead SC) 5th Stacey Bray (Porthpean SC)

TT R 8 6th & 7th August - Lyme Regis SC		1st Dan Taylor (Mengeham Rythe SC) 2nd Stuart Hudson (Weston SC) 3rd Peter Hayward (Eastbourne Sovereign SC) 4th Rodger White (King George SC)

TT R 9 3rd & 4th September - Porthpean SC		1st Stacey Bray (Porthpean SC) 2nd Stuart Hudson (Weston SC) 3rd Nick Eggett (Restronguet SC) 4th Allan Orton (Porthpean SC) 5th Stuart Backhouse (Burton SC)

TT R 10 17th & 18th Sept - Weston SC		1st Matt Aston (Datchet SC) 2nd Carl Tagoe (RYA) 3rd Stuart Hudson (Keyhaven SC) 4th Martin Jones (Wilsonian SC) 5th David Bate (Weston SC)

TT R 11 1st & 2nd Oct - Yorkshire Dales SC Northern Championships		1st Tim Holden (Halifax SC) 2nd Tom Hooton (Burton SC) 3rd Stuart Hudson (Keyhaven SC) 4th Ian Smith (Yorkshire Dales SC) 5th Martin Metcalfe (Killington SC)

TT R 12 15th & 16th Oct - Mengeham Rythe SC		1st Stuart Hudson (Keyhaven SC) 2nd Keith Paul (Weston SC) 3rd Iain Horlock (Weston SC) 4th Tony White (Lancing SC) 5th Rodger White (King George SC)

TT R 13 29th & 30th Oct- Rutland SC Inland Championships		1st Ben McGrane (Netley SC) 2nd Tim Holden (Halifax SC) 3rd Nick Grace (Castle Cove SC) 4th Ben Holden (Halifax SC) 5th Stuart Jones (Datchet SC)



Final Travellers Trophy 2011 Results...
1st Stuart Hudson (Keyhaven SC) 2nd Tom Hooton (Burton SC) 3rd Chris Boshier (Thorpe Bay YC) 4th Tim Holden (Halifax SC) 5th Bill Hooton (Burton SC)		6th Dan Taylor (Mengeham Rythe SC) 7th Peter Hayward (Eastbourne Sovereign SC) 8th Stuart Jones (Datchet SC) 9th John Browett (Datchet SC) 10th Nick Grace (Castle Cove SC)

Settings for Rooster Contender Main...
I've been using the current Rooster Contender main since the end of 2010 and have achieved some good open meeting results with the following setup. I'm using a standard Wavelength mast and am 118cm (6ft 2in) tall and weigh around 80kg (12st 9lb).
The settings I'm using are really fairly standard for a contender but with the mast just a little straighter. My settings are :- Mast rake 6490 (21ft 3.5in) - I can still get under the boom on a good day with full kicker on. Rig tension - 136kg (300lb) - On flat water or in semi-trapesing winds I put the tension on a bit more, one hole down on the forestay. Lowers - tension taken up on wires just before the forestay lever is level with the deck. One turn less on the staymaster adjusters if the conditions look like you’ll be sitting in the boat or overpowered. If in doubt then leave alone. Spreader angle - 13cm (5in) from the mast track to a straight line between the shrouds, to give around 25mm (1in) prebend when the lowers are at the mid setting above. The prebend is measured at the spreaders from the mast track to the halyard pulled down to the back of the mast on top of the gooseneck. The spreaders and lowers should be adjusted to give a prebend plus or minus 13mm (1/2in) for lighter or heavier helms respectively. Now for a rough idea of use.	©championmarinephotography.co.uk
I'm generally finding that a little less kicker is required for the Rooster, this maybe that as the mylar cloth is stiffer than dacron and tensions up more easily, but I may be wrong! I'm just talking about upwind here, but for downwind generally ease everything so that there are no nasty creases anywhere. On trapesing reaches keep the kicker pretty tight but watch out for boom drag and accompanying visit to the spreaders. Really light winds. Just enough kicker to give an airfoil shape. No cunningham. Outhaul to cause sail to touch the boom. The foot inhaul about 40mm from the mast.This gives a flat sail to enable some airflow. Light winds, up to semi-trapesing. Use mainsheet to control leech tension. Just take up the slack in the kicker. Cunningham to just take out the horizontal creases. The foot inhaul about 30mm from the mast. Outhaul about four fingers width between the boom and middle of the sail foot. The aim being to be fully powered up. Fully trapesing. If overpowered keep pulling on the kicker until not overpowered or it can't be pulled anymore! Beware though that you can pull it on too much and find yourself then underpowered. Cunningham, take out the horizontal creases induced by pulling on the kicker. Outhaul about four fingers width between the boom and middle of the sail foot but start to tighten more if overpowered until the clew is at the boom band. The foot inhaul should be progressively tightened until it's against the mast. The aim being to be progressively powering the rig down. Overpowered in survival conditions. Ease the kicker off a touch to allow the top third of the sail to feather. The top batten may even be inverted. Cunningham very tight. Outhaul at the boom band. The foot inhaul against the mast. The aim being to let the top flap away and get round or home. The key thing then is to be able to recognise when you need to change gear which is largely achieved by adjusting the kicker. Also don't forget to raise the centreboard as it gets windier, as much as halfway back. Then ease the sheet in the really light and breezy stuff and foot off a touch. Then it's head out of the boat to see what's going on. What could then go wrong? Stuart Jones GBR 2465

British Contender Association Fixtures 2012...
Below is the 2012 UK Fixture List. We welcome some new clubs to the 2012 Travellers Trophy series. So put the dates in your diaries and enjoy the season! Click the sailing club website links to help you find more information on each venue.
TT R 1 & Winter Championship 11th & 12th Feb — Datchet SC TT R 2 17th & 18th March — Burton SC TT R 3 24th & 25th March— Oxford SC TT R 4 12th & 13th May — Paignton SC TT R 5 19th & 20th May — Pevensey Bay SC TT R 6 & Southern Championship 26th & 27th May — Porthpean SC TT R 7 2nd & 3rd June — Highcliffe SC TT R 8 16th & 17th June — Eastbourne Sovereign SC TT R 9 30th June & 1st July — Stone SC TT R 10 & Northern Championship 18th & 19th Aug— Halifax SC TT R 11 15th & 16th Sept — Weston SC TT R 12 29th & 30th Sept — Mengeham Rythe SC TT R 13 13th & 14th Oct— Castle Cove SC TT R 14 & Inland Championship 3rd & 4th Nov— Rutland SC National Championship 1st to 4th Sept — Royal Torbay YC - Click here for Poster. World Championship 19th to 28th April — Florida European Open Championship 28th July to 3rd August — SS Kaparen in Gottskar, Sweden
Click here to view and print a PDF of the Fixture List for 2012. 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!

Shortage of boats for sale...
We currently have a shortage of used boats for sale. If you are aware of any boats for sale that could be added to the classified list on the website please encourage the owner to do so. They do not have to be a member of the association to use the classifieds section

Looking for new gear for your Contender - a few suppliers that maybe able to help...







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