BACK TO THE ROOTS
The Contender dinghy 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 of reasons was never adopted as an Olympic class
In 1997 the wonderful city of Sydney was alive with Olympic fever as the preparations for the Games went into overdrive. But first there was the little matter of the Contender World Championships to hold, when for once the famed harbour breeze failed to blow. The lighter weather looked to favour current champion Ian Renilson, who was well placed to continue his form from Weymouth until his boat was ‘t-boned’ in an unfortunate accident. An incredible all night effort ashore saw his boat back on the water the next day, whilst the Protest Jury was far more sympathetic to him than they had been to Andrea at Hayling.
Ian pulled out all the stops and won two races in a day, but it wasn’t enough to claw the initiative back from Bonezzi, who kept a tight grip on the event to win his second title. Ian took his revenge at the Europeans held at Aarhus, to add another title to his growing list of successes.
