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* OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE l.C.A. OF S.AFRICA

THE International CONTENDER BULLETIN NOVEMBER 1972 ,·.I ' '

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EDITORS COMMENT,$:

o The regattas this seasoh hav:e shown, that r~i)es are being:_ won by the skippers with several seasons' experi~nce. - Gon~ ares the days when the c_~ap who capsiz~d the -least number of times• won the regatta •. - It proyps ;t;hat :·the- -- "" Contender has plenty of challenge even for the experienced skipper. The time has come for us to emphasize that this is a highly professional piece _of machinery which is headed for -theOlympfcs. The -image we want to push is that of a very professional class sailed by a bunch of really professional amateur skippers. As the Cape boys put it, let us have a 'high key' image.

o We have had an excellent response from the Western Province boys to our request for technical articles - one appears this issue.

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o Some class, club and regatta -news appears in this r- issue. :If tbe~' -boys .- in other .. areas such as Hermanus, Oranjemund, Vaal Dam and &npangeni find it interesting to read what is going on in other centres remember the others feel the same curiosity about you, so let me haye those notes.

GET THOSE CAPE WEST BOATS MEASURED DUJ.UNG DECEMBER

The Contender measurement templates are being railed to Cape Town early in -December and one of the two official SAYRA measurers, Les van Zyl, (the other is . Adrian Gray) will be in Cape Town on holiday for the second half of December. Boats will probably be measured during the week before Christmas. If you own a Contender contact Dick Fof!ter at 5 Exeter A.venue, Fish Hoek for further details. ---

CAPE WEST SCENE from Dick Foster " ::f · .f" ·.

Local News. We have great ~nterest in the Contender at Zeekoeivlei Y.C., with five boats regularly sailing. Not always the same five of the six we have at the club. One boat ,is ,building ,(Ernest van der liaB!n). _ James and Neil Bramwell continue to lead t_~, :fleet, wit;h James having, I think;, a slight ed~e. Neil :seems to have acquired "the habit of indulging in time-wasting capsizes"< tiquote him).' _ recently. Guy Cloete, who bought SA 5, is improving by leaps and' ·bfu.nds. He and , I are about evenly matched at tlE moment. We are still countin~ ' our successes in terms of the reduoed number of capsizes we achieve! The windS;:{:fortunately to·r Guy, mysel_f and a chap called Chris Buys - not a member of lDASA) , have recently been moderate. The real Southeasters haven't got going yet, much to James' annoyance - he's a real heavy weather fiend. We are all doing ou:r best to mai:ntain "a high profile" as the Americans say, and we are gaining ground. I think a lot of people would come into the Contender from the Finn and Extra if' :they thought there would be plenty of competition. We 're not sire whether we should tell them that for the first year tlEy won't be- anywhere near. :the leaders, they'll be too busy learning .to sail all over again. __ _,

Our next publicity visit we hope will b-e Worcester Yacht Cliib for their All Classes Regatta in December. The BIG event in our: '-h~lendar is t~e Easter Regatta at Swartvlei. I hope you will be coming to this. ~

MURRAY PARK YACHT CLUB NEWS from Don McLean

Three Contenders have been sailing at MPYC this season, and all have thoroughly enjoyed the good but gusty winds of September and August.

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Les Bidgood (SA 37) has proved more than a match for Ovens and son (SA 1) and Don McLean (SA42), finishing first in most races he has sailed, except for the number of races he missed while overseas for a month. (Ovens and son comprises . Mike Ovens who sails:· i~.: lig.pt weather, leaving 't;l;te,..heavy stuff to his . old man, Tony.)

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RobbieKolver, who tri~d. to ·sell~ his boat unpainted, is . now painting it_,_and we are trying to persuade him tc) ~fail it before selling as we · are sure tp.:,at . the bug will bite. him again and he will be lgiving: Les Bidgood ·plenty of coiApeti tion •.

There have 1been a small number ~f people frif~/~e.sted iii .sailing Contend~tis ' at Murray Pa:ck and we hope that with a ·.1:Pi t of luck- 'we ~Y ha.y.e five Contenders sailing by the end of this season. .., <' · · "'

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The Contender fiJet 'at · thi~:r'c'lti:b'·''stands a:t 21, although }l:OII!e qf these · are not active or are liTiog far awEi.y, 'or bui'ldit1g, leaving 14 -boats on site at the moment. We sail 8 to 10 regularly on weekends.

The latest new lad at the Club is Glynn Morgan who hails from Pietersburg -he bought SA 32 Spectre. We wish him happy sailing~:,

PSC Contenders do ~« l'ot ' ~ '6!'1 travEllling arid have "showed11 :: the flag at m~IJ,Y . sailing clubs in S. Africa~ · - Micirb.ar Dam-~ ~ Acoliana, Lake Denysj :.Allemanskraal c .. . Lourenco Marques, ' Witbank, Hartebeespoort Dam, Murray Park .and. many o:th~!"l3• This publicity is very good for the Cl9-SS as a whole, even tiough this __ i~ -, p_ot immediately noticed. .. ., ... ·

Our most recent travelling trip to Allemanskraal has been reported elsewhere in this newsletter., _ but I would like to thank Rob Martin for making all the arrangemeiits f'or ''U.'s, we .n-eed more organisers like him.

PSC will be_ the home or'. the ' -'first new glass;..;.fibre Ciontendairs:. by the end of December,, .built .bY . . fhe :teatn;:lof1'Stan anff':Llewe1lyn Riowlanas ~nd:: .John IIµ,~~pn. They ar~ 'at'',pre:sent burrlirig''midnight bi·l ·ttf· make this~:'.pbs_s!Lbl:e: .: . :1 ,,

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An interesting thi~g seefr ;re~ehtly 'was' -Pe:ter How "baptising" himself::.at the side_ of his boat - the reason was ·tv · he was wetting:_; his multi ~hi_ckness blanket jacket'"ror addi ~i 'drla:L w~i.ght (not more than 25lbs we hope) .,. This is one problem we -.don 'ii ''ail; ha17e' ! ·'· ,. '

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Adrian Gray is an6th:er 111ilidni te grafter" and is hard at work on wooden boats, he ha'.:i ~¥4 two 'accidents in his car during :t'ecent weeks - not too serious though.

John deJi il:i,ers we hear is at "fittings" stage now - his new red de~on has kept him busy for almost a year and is a fine piece of work. We wish.he would get it on the water now!

Andrew Preiss has sold his house again!! We were honing to see him on the water more often th.ts y(;)ar, bµ.:t; .. . t,};lere again he will be building, moving, etc. so no sailing - some on Andrew: w~~ need yourJ?Upport. H~ibert Phielix):s also absent quite often - guarding his 11 th place , in the Worlds - not letting the other chaps test their skill against him! - he has no house problems any more -what is keeping him away we wonder!

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TRANSVAAL cHAMPIONSHIPS ...

The 1972 Trans~aal Championships were held at Lake Deneys Yacht Club end was the most successful Contehder regatta held to .date, both from the number of boats (twenty ·duly rolled ' up} and the qu:ality 'bf' -.:the competition point of view. This was also the first race in the Contender! Worlds series. Particularly -appreciated were the entries of the ruiode$ians, Brian Pierce Fleming KR 1 and Ian Watson KR 4, who had trailed theirboot.s 800 miles from Salisbury, as well as Piet Bakker. SA 6 who came up from DUrban ;to take part.

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The regatta was planned as a seven race seri:ei:I . over four day~ '. ;wi. th two discards and no tune up race. This . somewhat unusual ~rrangement was 'mlide to give those chaps who had -to work Monday, which l(l;!.S not a public holid;ay<~ -- the same chance as their more fortunate brethren .•.. . Ali '·cour~ei ' were ' a triangular Olympic course wi. th the windward mark No.l, some ~t~5 Km from the ·· start (No. 3), ~he interior . angle at No. 1 being about 45 • The Co11tenders thus . _sailed a. triangle, a sausage and a third beat to the finish. · '· · ·- • · ,. ··· · · ,: · ..

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For the real fanatics I have tried to gather the history of each race from the . chaps after the race, but as this was done between cans of beer, there is no vouching for accuraeY:. ThEVnumbers<of>rthe1·boats as they rounded.,_:the marks is given. . -~ . :

Race 1 . . . .- · ... ::: .. : . , , r ' · ;. ;. .. ,.. . . • Saturday llhOO, Wind NW E:lbout,: ·5 . knots with snort :gusts of a minute or so up to 10-15 knots: .. · ::. · · · · ! _ ., · · · ·

SA 14, 4, 33, 34, 25, KR 1 -' ·: As you can .see, the only dramatic SA 14, 33 ·, 4, 34, 25, KR l ~ -'48 changes were. Huibert Phielix who

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 1 No. 3 Finish

SA 14, 33 ~ 4, 34, 25, KR 1, 30 dropped to 4th.,:p!ace after capsizing SA 34, 4, 14, 40, 30, 25, 33 twice and : Adri~I!. Gray who lost out SA 34, 4, 14, 40, 30, 25, 31 1 . 20, .KR 1 badly on the 2nd beat, but fought SA 34, 4, 14, 33, 40, 30, 25~ · 31, 20 back to finish 4th.

Race 2 Saturday 14h00, Wind W still 4-6 knots with gusts to 1,0,-..15 knots and occasiol_la.l short sharp blasters. . .. ,_· ·

No. 1 SA 37, 48, 33, 25, 4, . 31, 34, 40 Adrian Gray SA 33 subsequently retired No. 2 SA. 37; ··33 ,--- 34- ~ 48, 25·; 31, 4, 40, KR-·l · as a result of a problem at tbe No. 3 SA 37, 33, 34, 48, 25, 4, 40, 30 f . second leeward mark and everyone moved No. 1 SA 34, 33, 4, 40, 37 .. up one place. This .mistake cost No. 3 SA 34, · 33, 4, 40, 37 Adrian the regatta. '· Finish SA 33, 34, 4, 37, KR 1, 48, 40, 20, 28

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The second beat was again decisive and tended to favour the chaps who took the starboard tack. Les van Zy.1 had the most spectacular ·capsize when as Brian Pierce Fleming said, ''he was full out on the wire when the water seemed to develop little white foamy caps, appeared to boil and Les hit the, sail somewhere near the numbers".

Race 3 Sunday lOhOO, Wind E 4-6 knots steady.

No. 1 SA 28, 6, 25, 30, 33~ 14, 4 The first major change occurred on the No. 2 SA 28, 6, 25, 33, 30, 4, KR l, 14 run from 2 to 3, which was close to the No. 3 SA 33, 30, KR 1, 28, 6, 20, 25 dam wall. The chaps sailing close to No. 1 SA 20, KR 1, 14, 6, 33, 25, 34, 38, 31 the wall found considerably more wind No. 3 SA 20, KR 1, 14, 6; . 33, 25, 34 than those some 50 me tars upwind. Finish SA 20, KR 1, 14, 33; ' 6, 31, 25, 34, 48 Again it was the second beat which

brought Mike Linton and Brian Pierce Fleming to the front, .,.J$er~ . they stayed.

Race ~ Sunday 14h00, Wind SE 3-5 knots steady ·-No. 1 SA 20, KR 4, 25, 37, 14, 33, 31, 32 This was really Mike Linton' s raoe. He No. 2 SA 20, KR 4, 25, 37 , · 14, 33' 31, 32, 48 got well into the lead by the first No. 3 SA 20, KR 4, 25, 14, 33, 37 mark and nobody got within 100 meters No. 1 SA 20, KR 4, 37, 14, 33, 25 of him after that. A ding dong battle No. 3 SA 20, 14, 33, 37, KR 4, 25 then ensued for the next 5 places with Fini!:1h SA 20_ ~~- ~7- ld_ 2~- KR LI._ LI.EL 4_ ICR.1 the~P. bo~t~ fini~hiru:r with not more

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than 100 meters between the 2nd and 6th boats. Once again it was the course chos 0 ·

on the second beat that was decisive. This time the NE side seemed to be better.

Monday lOhOO, Wind 8-10 knots NE varying to NNW soon after-start.

A most peculiar race. The wind started swinging round from NE to NNW soon after the gun. Those who had started from the port side of the line found themselves out on the wire on a fast close reach to No. 1. Thereafter it turned into a soldiers' course when if you didn't capsize or run head on into a 505, nothing much happened. Llewellyn Rowlands was unfortunate to capsize on the final reach and dropped 5. places. · A fast but disappointing, race. The finishing order was:

Finish: KRl, 33~ 30, 34, 4_, 48, 20, 37, 32 .

The over o.11 position before Tuesday's r .ace .wns now •J::tr cb.ely inter esting . Allowi:ng for the double discard the point position was: Wi th only 9,4 points separating the first 6 boats, i nterest and excitement couldn't have been greater for Tuesday's races.

Place l 2 3 4 5 6

~ · S1L34 ·. KR 1 SA 20 SA 33 sA' 4 SA 14

Points 8 . ·

11 13 14 16 17,4

Tuesday 09h00, Wind SE 3 knots dropping to nothing and then coming through at 4-8 knots W.

An extremely frustrating race with the wind dying down ~fter the start so that t he leading boat took over 80 minutes to reach No. 1. There it freshened and a whole .assembled mass ot; about ·50 505's, Tempos, Spea.rheads and Contenders t ook off for No. 2, clo.se reaching in the now westerly breeze. The stretch fror:i No . 2 to 3 turned.. into a beat with an occasional lull. SA ·25 got stuck in a tree about a kilometer offshore! The remainder of tre course became a procession with minor place changes to finish:

Finish: SA 33, 4 & 34· tied for second place, 14, KR 1, 27, 20.

So the Transvaal championships and the first regatta in the Contender Wcrld s eries went to Peter How. Full details as follows:

Pl,gQQ

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4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18

19 20

Owners

Peter How Adrian Gray Rob Martin

Brian Pierce Fleming Mike Linton Huibert Phielix

Les Bidgood John Reidy Mike Rees

Les van Zyl I an •Watson John Hutson

Piet Bakker ·Roy Felgat e Stan Rowlands

Llewellyn Rowlands Peter Radema n Mario Gerlash

I an Preston Don McLean .·.

Boat

. SA 34 SA 33 SA 4 KR 1 SA 20 SA 14

SA 37 SA 30 SA 48

SA 25 KR 4 SA 28

SA 6 SA 31 SA 40

SA 32 SA 50 SA 38

SA 35 SA 42

h:2!!l Pretoria Pretoria Pretoria

Rhodesia Pretoria Pretoria

Murray Park Pretoria Pretoria

Pretoria Rhodesia Pretoria

Durban Pretoria Pretoria

Pretoria Pretoria Lake Deneys_

Pretoria Murray Park

Regatta Points

11 14 19

22 26 27,4

37,1 47,4 49,7

51 61,7 63

64 64,7 65,7

79 85 88

89 93

Worid ·Series Points

0 3 5,7

Not eligible 8

10

11,7 13 14

15 Not eligible

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17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24

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One thing is clear - races are no longer won by skippers who capsize least -sailing skill is now important. Exactly the same comment was made in the U.S.A. newsletter about the 1972 U.S.A. championships. It is interesting to note that the top places are taken by the skippers with 3 seasons' experience, followed by the two seasoners and so on. There is hope for the newcomers yet.

O.F.S. CHAMPS by Rob Martin

Over the weekend of the 30th and 3lst September, eight Contenders, plus attachments, went to the Orange Free State Championships, which were held at Allemanskraal Dam.

A nost enjoyable time was had by all - good waters, good winds and good accommodation. We stayed in very comfortable bungalows and spectators were able to watch the racing from theside of a magnificent swimming pool - which was invaded by hot Contender skippers after the races.

The results of the regatta were:

lst Hedgehopper How 2nd Rob Martin 3rd Adrian Gray

BEro RE THE MEASURER ARRIVES

FIRSTLY- - THE- P..AE.ER WORK (including the cheque paper work!)

If you built your Contender then you should

by Les van Zyl

o Complete a SAYRA registration form. This will cost you EITHER R2-07 for registration or R2-10 for membership of SAYRA which includes registration.

o Join the Contender Class Association. Full membership costs Rl0-00.

o Pay the Royalty fee at present fixed by IYRU at R25-00.

o Apply for measurement - this fee is Rl0-00.

All the above should be done via the Secretary, SAYRA, Private Bag 1, Saxonwold, Transvaal.

For all that money you should receive the Co~tender Association Constitution, an International Contender Measurement diagram, the name of the measurer nominated by SAYRA and hopefully in due course the measurement certificate. After quite a delay you will receive the Royalty receipt from the IYRU.

If you have bought your Contender you should

o complete a transfer form. This again will cost you EITHER R2-07 for registration or R2-10 if you join SAYRA (and R2-10 each year thereafter).

o .join the Contender Class Association, full membership Rl0-00.

o send the measurement certificate to SAYRA for endorsement. If the measurement certificate has been lost it will cost R2-00 for a copy (free to members of SAYRA)

o you may have bought a boat for which the royalty and measurement fees have not been paid. Although the builder is supposed to pay these fees you may not be able to persuade him to pay them so you are going to be further out of pocket. Warn any prospective buyers to watch this point.