Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The ultimate souvenirs!

The Worlds are over, and now is a great time to pick a Contender. We've got the following boats for sale (all boats are located in Buffalo, NY):

1. Rondar (GBR 473) for $2,500 (US) + import. See pics at: http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll113/Contender473/

2. Ridge (1995; GBR 621) for $5,250 (US) + import. Comes with a new sail and carbon boom.





3. Bonezzi (1995; GBR 1771) for $7,850 (US) + import. The top spec includes a current Cassidy rig and Superspar.






We also have cheaper boats available that would be great for learning. For more information, contact Neil Smith - contenderkc62@yahoo.com.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Pictures from Gil!

Clicky HERE!

Proving once again that he's the biggest fan of the fleet, Gil made the drive to Kingston from the West coast of the USA, and took some great shots both ways.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

And MORE pictures!

The mother of all collections has arrived, courtesy of Geoff Webster (contact info is on the last image if you want to order a high res shot).

CLICKY HERE!

Enjoy!

Monday, September 1, 2008

More pictures!

Thanks to Jo Roesler for high res pics of the competitors and their friends and family. If anyone has a shot of Oliver Brandt, please pass it along.

http://picasaweb.google.com/JoeRoesler/ContenderWorlds2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

Au revoir until next year....

Some pics have arrived from Rick Needham (CAN68). I'm also going to post pics on the Contender Facebook page, so join up!

(The Thorburg brothers get an award for being the best looking siblings at the 2008 Worlds)


Sunday, August 24, 2008

Final results!

Official results are on the CORK webpage HERE.

And video from the awards are HERE.

he last day of the Worlds started out looking like we would have the same conditions as the Canadians. The wind was up and the bay was whipped with whitecaps. By the time competitors hit the racecourse, the rollers were big (boats would disappear beneath the six foot swell), but the wind was diminishing steadily, so by the third and last race it was marginal trapezing. Marco, Marcus and Chris Sutherland each scored a bullet, and with nine races, two drops were allowed. Demonstrating he is both an ace in light and heavy air, congratulations go to Marcus Hamilton who won the 2008 Velocitek Contender World Champions (and who announced he's taking a break from racing the Contender for a little while). Marcus acknowledged it was not an easy regatta to win, with Marco Versari and Soren breathing down his neck. Apparently the cure for stress relief is finding a lot of jagerbombs post-racing.

Marcus' fellow Aussie, Chris Sutherland, was the recipient of the Master's trophy, Cristoph Engel won the Youth, and yours truly barely squeaked by Vanessa to win the Women's trophy (which I've already slightly damaged but will repair in short order). I would like to extend a huge thank you from the North American Contender fleet to all of the competitors who came to Kingston and made this such a great event. Travelling here was not an easy feat, so we really appreciated the time and expense you incurred to take part. A special thanks to Schappi and Vanessa who stepped up to get the containers from Europe and the UK packed up. I don't think anyone hasn't learned a lot from watching the competition and talking to the international sailors post-racing. I would also like to say thanks to all the local boys and girls who really pulled this all together behind the scenes. While I was sitting on my butt sending out emails, keepers were being made, boats were being imported and towed to Kingston, events were being coordinated, and the competitors were being helped in every way possible. Also, none of this would have happened without the great help we got from CORK. Thanks to their experience with world class regattas, we didn't have to worry about any of the racing logistics, there were no issues with the courses that were set, there were lots of crash boats out keeping an eye on everyone, and they've certainly inspired more of us to volunteer to run these kinds of events.

Neil Smith, who in a moment of weakness agreed to be the 2009 ICA Chairman, has been doing an outstanding job of taking video of the Worlds and sending it out so everyone can follow the regatta. If anyone else has any photos to share, send them to me and I'll post them on the blog.

Thanks again and safe travels home!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Day 4 of the Worlds

Champion 505 sailor, Ethan Bixby, scored another bullet in very light wind, even though the day started out looking very promising. By the time the RC killed it, everyone had to rock, pump, and air row back to the harbour. And some sailors sucked up their pride and accepted tows, yours truly included. Right now it looks windy outside, so here's hoping we can get three races in.
Video of Day 4 can be found HERE.

POS SAIL SKIPPER RACE RACE RACE RACE RACE RACE TOTAL NET
1 2 3 4 5 6 POINTS POINTS
Tue. Tue. Wed. Thu. Thu. Fri. AFTER
1235 1415 1412 1300 1445 1200 1 DROP

1 AUS2323 * HAMILTON, MARCUS 15 1 1 7 4 2 30.00 15.00 AUS Melbourne,BRYC
2 DEN44 * ANDREASEN, SOREN 2 2 OCS 2 5 7 53.00 18.00 DEN Hellerup,HS
3 ITA99 VERSARI, MARCO 12 6 7 1 2 3 31.00 19.00 ITA Milano,CNB
4 GER531 HARPPRECHT, JOACHIM 7 5 5 3 3 10 33.00 23.00 GER Molfsee,TSS
5 USA2396 BIXBY, ETHAN 9 14 3 10 1 1 38.00 24.00 USA FL St Petersburg,
6 GER53 BRANDT, OLIVER 5 3 OCS 5 6 6 60.00 25.00 GER Hamburt,HSC
7 GER488 BILLERBECK, MAX 4 8 2 8 15 4 41.00 26.00 GER ,WSVK
8 AUS2443 SUTHERLAND, CHRIS 3 7 10 14 7 5 46.00 32.00 AUS WA Swanbourne,RFBYC
9 GER551 HOMEIER, CHRISTOPH 1 9 4 18 21 9 62.00 41.00 GER Kiel,TSVS
10 NED212 THORBORG, BART 11 4 13 9 8 19 64.00 45.00 NED leiden,WB
11 2398 SMITH, NEIL 13 13 12 4 13 14 69.00 55.00 CAN ON North York,OHCC
12 NED232 THORBORG, MARK 6 10 8 19 17 18 78.00 59.00 NED haarlem,KMJC
13 473 WHITE, RODGER 21 23 9 6 22 8 89.00 66.00 GBR ,KGSC
14 CAN2397 SMITS, MICHAEL 20 20 16 11 11 12 90.00 70.00 CAN ON Toronto,OHCC
15 GER540 ENGEL, CHRISTOPH 14 11 11 16 18 20 90.00 70.00 GER ,KYC
16 CAN2399 MARTIN, ROGER 8 18 18 21 16 11 92.00 71.00 CAN ON Toronto,OHCC
17 2372 ANOSOV, ARTHUR 10 12 20 17 12 23 94.00 71.00 USA FL Ruskin,
18 GER425 ROESLER, JOACHIM 16 16 19 13 9 22 95.00 73.00 GER CT New Canaan,
19 NED218 THORBORG, RIK 19 15 14 23 10 15 96.00 73.00 NED NH Bergen,WSVH
20 GBR1771 MOLLAT, ALAN 23 19 15 15 14 13 99.00 76.00 GBR Deal,SBSWC
21 NED233 HAANSTRA, JAN 17 17 24 12 19 16 105.00 81.00 NED ferwoude,GWS
22 CAN2428 MARTIN, PETER 30 27 6 24 24 17 128.00 98.00 CAN ON Toronto,OHCC
23 CAN84 MAGNAN, JOEL 18 25 21 20 23 24 131.00 106.00 CAN ON Etobicoke,OHCC
24 CAN1599 WHITTINGTON, FRANK DNF. 22 27 22 20 21 147.00 112.00 CAN ON Toronto,OHCBC
25 USA2117 WOOLLEY, GIL 22 26 17 27 27 30 149.00 119.00 USA CA Palo Alto,SCYC
26 967 CHIDDY, JOSHUA 24 24 23 28 26 27 152.00 124.00 CAN ON Hamilton,OHCC
27 CAN68 NEEDHAM, RICHARD 25 29 22 26 31 28 161.00 130.00 CAN ON Toronto,OHCC
28 81 BIEBER, BERNIE 28 21 26 29 29 29 162.00 133.00 CAN ON Hamilton,OACC
29 CAN80 MAH, STEPHANIE DNF. 31 25 30 25 26 172.00 137.00 CAN ON Richmond Hill,OHCC
30 USA192 CAMERON, BRAD 26 28 30 25 30 31 170.00 139.00 USA CA Tracy,SSS
31 GBR621 WEEDON-JONES, VANESSA 29 30 28 31 28 25 171.00 140.00 GBR Eaton Bray,OSC
32 USA200 MASHI, MIKE 27 32 29 34 34 33 189.00 155.00 USA TX Seguin,SAYC
33 CAN726 JANIDLO, TOM 31 33 DNF. 32 32 DNF. 198.00 163.00 CAN ON Ottawa,
34 CAN61 WOOD, STEVEN DNC DNC DNC 33 33 32 203.00 168.00 CAN ON Toronto,OHCC