Company Profile

The international Contender

The International Contender - The World's most popular single handed trapeze sailing dinghy!

The Contender was originally designed back in 1967 by Australian Ben Lexcen as a potential Olympic successor to the Finn class. The boat won the 1969 Olympic trials, but for a variety a reasons was never adopted as an Olympic class. This was probably something of a blessing, as the class has thrived ever since. The Contender Class is truly International - as well as a strong UK fleet, there are fleets in Australasia, North America and right across Europe.

The simple but efficient layout you see on Contenders today has evolved over many years. Despite its apparent simplicity, the rig is highly adaptable, and can be adjusted to allow a genuinely wide range of competitive crew weights.