CONTENDER 50TH WORLDS RFBYC, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

RFBYC WON A COMPETITIVE SELECTION process to host the 2022 Contender World Championship way back in that innocent and carefree time that will henceforth be known as pre-COVID. Following the French 2019 World Championship the subsequent Worlds, the classes 50th scheduled for Denmark, was postponed twice, then cancelled due to COVID-19. This resulted in our event being promoted from the 51st to the 50th Worlds which also had to be postponed for a year due to COVID-19 and the State’s border closures.

The 50th Contender Worlds was, it seemed, a poisoned chalice. At the 11th hour containers coming from the UK and Europe were cancelled due to high shipping costs and uncertainty but a late scramble put international competitors into charter boats including two brought to Perth in the NSW container.

After so many challenges over more than four years planning it was a little surreal when the Victorian and NSW container were delivered and then the first competitors, South Australians having driven across the Nullabor, began arriving in early January. The 50th Contender Worlds and the preceding 2023 Australian Championship was finally, it seemed, actually going to happen.

Competitors were officially welcomed and the handful of internationals received a comprehensive welcome pack that included practical items to keep them safe in Australia including zinc cream, a fly net, blue bottle anti-venom (faux urine) and shark repellent with simple directions ‘spray directly into shark’s mouth from a distance of less than one metre’. After a few cautionary words about the hazards posed by snakes, spiders and drop bears they were looking forward to the relative safety being on (but not in) the water offered.

Following a couple of days of unofficial practice in the usual 15–20kt sea breeze the practice race delivered more of the same. Support boats were kept busy including a rescue of AUS2323, formerly owned by RFBYC member Clay Cook, following her rig coming down. Broken forestays are not uncommon but nobody had seen a forestay chainplate break from within the hull before. Thankfully Grant Alderson was on hand to do some tidy late night repair work to get James Ellis back on the water for the first race in the Nationals.

Results from racing were panning out as expected with three times World Champion Mark Bulka leading the way from three times National Champion and heavy conditions expert Matt Mulder until the final day when the breeze built to a consistent 20–25kts with gusts to 28kts. The conditions took their toll, with less than half the fleet finishing both races on the final day, no more so than on Lindsay Irwin who was lying in third place overall when his rudder snapped.

I managed to stay upright for a win in Race 5 and then Matt streaked away to an easy win in the final race when the breeze was really honking to finish on equal points with Bulka but Mark’s three bullets saw him take the title on countback. I was delighted to have achieved what I considered to be the best result possible against these two champions sneaking onto the podium in third place.

With similar conditions forecast for the first day of the Worlds, racing was brought forward to the morning. We managed only one race before conditions become un-sailable, consistently above the class limit of 25kts. For the remainder of the regatta the fleet enjoyed a mix of conditions with the last three days sailed on moderate and shifty easterlies which saw some different boats at the pointy end including a win, particularly memorable for the celebration after he crossed the finish line, by Italian Luca Bonezzi whose family business is the most prolific boat builder for the class.

Racing became intense on the final day. Mark Bulka was clear in the lead but pointed out, much to my surprise that ‘you could still beat me’. This was really only a mathematical possibility but leaving nothing to chance Mark pushed me around the course for the whole of the penultimate race. Then in the last race Linsday Irwin, having closed the gap on me, received a close cover up the final beat. The rest of the top ten was even more intense with fourth to ninth places