Contender Open at Castle Cove Sailing Club

Castle Cove Contender Open © Richard Weatherburn

Castle Cove Contender Open © Richard Weatherburn

The Castle Cove Contender open meeting was held over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of September on Portland harbour in what would turn out to be glamorous conditions with blue skies, sunshine and around 10 knots of wind that held for most of the weekend.

Race one started with an individual recall flag which saw boats diving back to get behind the line, there was a lot guilty consciences as a number of the fleet returned, but it was Gary Langdown who got away cleanly and lead from start to finish followed by James Spikesley who was showing good boat speed with Stuart Jones rounding out the top three. It was only at the end of the day when the fleet were informed that there was only one boat over the line at the start, with Taylor Harmsworth scoring an OCS.

Race 2, and again Gary was showing his skill starting well and with good pace to take an early lead closely followed by Stuart and Ed Presley to finish in this order.

For race 3, it was Rob Smith who made the best start and took the lead early as he made his way up the first beat and was closely followed around the windward mark by James and Gary. These 3 held onto there positions and order at the front end of the fleet to the finish.

With the first day of racing over, it was time to head back to the wonderful hospitality of Castle Cove sailing club for refreshments and a chat about the happening of the day.

Sunday racing started with race 4 and after forgetting how to start the previous day Tom Hooton finally showed up and managed to win the start at the pin end of the line and after getting a few shifts at the top end of the beat from the right he managed to lead around the windward mark closely followed by Gary Langdown who had been known to be quick in these conditions and a closely fort battle continued for the first triangle but again Tom managed to find some pressure and shifts at the top of the beat and was able to put some distance between himself and Gary to take a big lead from the fleet Tom won followed by Gary and the ever consistent Mr Jones.

Castle Cove Contender Open - photo © Richard Weatherburn

Race 5 and this time it was Ed Presley who won the pin and immediately pressed home an early advantage, he was followed round the windward mark by Carl Tago who was making up for his OCS in the previous race followed by Tom Hooton after a bit of close battle action coming into the windward mark as many competitors were coming from slightly below the starboard lay line with others coming in on port having to perfect some high pressure tacks but unfortunately Gary's tacking under pressure is not what it once was and a capsize saw this race becoming his discard for the event. With the excitement of being in second place, Carls immediate instinct was to match race anyone that came near him to the frustration of Tom who tried to go any other way to get around him on the beats but unfortunately this didn't pay and allowed James to find a way through eventually after the fleet was compressed and with Ed sailing into the distance so it was Ed 1st James 2nd Carl 3rd.

Race 6, the last race of the weekend and again Gary was showing his skill wining the start from Tom and taking an early lead and was able to port tack the fleet, Gary went right earlier than most, Tom carrier on a bit further and the two met again at the windward mark and with a line of good pressure on the first reach they were able to take a bit of a lead over the rest of the fleet. They sailed round in close company for most of the race with Gary eventually taking the win and overall victory followed by Tom and a fast finishing James who had put together an impressive set of results for second overall.

Castle Cove Contender Open - photo © Richard Weatherburn

The Contender fleet would like to say a big thank you to all at Castle Cove who had once again provided the sailors with a great weekend of sailing and socialising.

Just one more event on the Contender Calendar for 2024 (this year has flown by with so many fantastic events) Rutland water Sailing Club for the end of year Inland championships on 12/13th October, another one of those not to missed events.

For 2025 the Contender fleet is already in the process of putting the final touches to a packed year starting with the World Championships in Florida USA in February.

The UK events will start as usual with the Dinghy Show in March and racing starts in early April. The full programme of meetings will be available soon, but includes a number of great events including the National Championships to be held at Shoreham Sailing club in September. For those of you that are unable to get to the Florida event, 2025 also includes a trip to lake Garda in Italy, need I say more.

If you are not already a Contender sailor then 2025 is the year to take up the challenge, with so many great events lined up it is time to join this friendly and competitive fleet. For more information keep an eye on our website www.sailcontender.org.uk

Overall Results: