Craftinsure Contender National Championships at Highcliffe Sailing Club

Craftinsure Contender Nationals 2013 at Highcliffe © Jackie Lawton / www.jacquelinelawtonphotography.com

Craftinsure Contender Nationals at Highcliffe © Jackie Lawton / www.jacquelinelawtonphotography.com

Craftinsure Contender Nationals at Highcliffe © Jackie Lawton / www.jacquelinelawtonphotography.com

The Contender fleet is no stranger to Highcliffe SC, in fact it is one of the favourite venues for the fleet so returning to the scene this year for the Craftinsure sponsored National Championships was a pleasure. The last instalment turned out to be one of the closest finishes in recent years with Stuart Jones just popping out ahead as he is want to do.

With varying forecasts leading up to the event no one was sure which end of the lard scale would pay, but going to the first day the form book still had World number 2 Simon Mussell pitched against the seasoned campaigners of Jones (again), Graham Scott and Tim Holden. 40 boats made their way out for the first start in 15 knots with lots of lumps; just the right conditions for a big Contender showdown. Si Mussell put down an early marker by gaining a 200yd lead on the 1st lap which he maintained until the last leg where the decision to go left instead of the favoured right side cost him dearly putting him down to 7th at the finish. Stuart Jones made use of this bad luck to pull in a 1st place in wind that would normally suit 2nd and 3rd placed Neil Wilson and Tim Holden.

The next race with building breeze would again see Jones win well against the odds, disconcerting those who would have expected to overhaul him. All this led to much conversation at the bar for the Commodore's reception.

As day two dawned it was clear that the wind had was now coming more from the north and would not build as nicely as it had on day 1, however a very unstable 12knots with extra holes did show and this meant the PRO Paul Walker would need to be on fire to get the starts away. Naturally the Contenders helped him in this by false starting as soon as they could, and our old friend the Black flag was required. In these nasty, shifty, difficult conditions everyone expected Stuart Jones to keep on nicking 1sts as this is his natural habitat, but it was not to be; instead Tim Holden and Si Mussell showed the vision to hold him back to 2 2nds. The front 4 were staying consistent as only Mike Murley had managed to prize a top 3 position from them. A night of BBQ, bar-wrestling and live music allowed the athletes to relax.

Day 3 dawned light, and with a short postponement the RO got the boats out in just enough wind that was slowly building. Tim Holden, a master in big wind, was showing that the lighter stuff is equally appealing to him a took the first race but again Jones got in there with 2nd refusing to capitulate. For the first time local hero Gary Langdown showed his talents by gasping 3rd but was frustrated by inconsistency, as many were in the changeable conditions. Si Mussell refused to be taken out of the equation by storming the next race and proving that he has worked hard to fix his light wind weakness.

Slightly poorer results for Wilson, Holden and even Jones meant the Championship dinner was enjoyed in the knowledge that the championship could be won all 4 sailors, Jones had an advantage and 1 more good result would seal it.

Bleary eyed the fleet set out into very little breeze but all keen to get racing and witness the majesty of our top yotters trying to outwit each other on the field of glory. That was up until Jones scored another bullet and ended it, as he describes. "without really understanding how". Typical.

So well done Stuart you deserved it, and well done for competing the last race even though he had it wrapped up; risky manoeuvre as some devious types were assessing how to get him a non-discardable DSQ, but instead of that he took the last bullet anyway.

The top 4 pulled away all event but a new name made it up there too, in 5th Iain Horlock, a relative infant in Contender terms, has made huge gains this year. This year the standard logic of competitive weight was challenged as heavy guys won in light wind and light guys won in the breeze. The bronze fleet was able dominated by David Evans and the Silver goes to Rob Smith. 1st Grand master is Keith Paul with additional bum pads included and the youth prize goes to Andrew Wilson.

A big thank you goes to Highcliffe SC who provided us with a superb venue and slick operation as we have come to expect from them. Thanks also go to our sponsor Craftinsure who provided the generous support to the event. The next big thing for the Contenders is the 2014 worlds in Australia; spaces are still available for those wanting to get to this unrivalled event (details on the Contender website).

The full Jackie Lawton photo gallery from the event can be found here.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Contender nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Craftinsure Contender Nationals at Highcliffe - photo © Jackie Lawton / www.jacquelinelawtonphotography.com