Saturday, May 31, 2008

Registration is open!


Dear competitors:

Registration for the 2008 Worlds has started on the CORK website. Go HERE to register on line.


Sunday, May 25, 2008

Bart Thorburg (NED)


Name: Bart Thorborg
Nickname: I'm not aware of being given one
Sail Number: NED 212
Boat Name: Loctudeal, a friend of mine bought his Contender in Kiel and called it Kiel Deal. So when I decided to buy the 212 while at the Europeans in Loctudy, France, it was easy to find a name
Country: Netherlands
Sailing Club: Watersportvereniging Braassemermeer
Weight: 90kg
Height: 2 m
Age: 47 by the time I get to Kingston


Number of years sailing? Started at 12, like my brothers on a Vaurien, a big international class (sail numbers over 30.000 at that time) and later bought a Laser. At 20 I quit sailing, apart from joining my brothers occasionally on touring trips on yachts around the North Sea. In 1999, both my brothers were sailing Contender and they convinced me to go sailing again, in a Contender of course.

Number of years sailing the contender? That makes 9, doesn't it?

Why did you get on the Contender? For the upwind sailing. When the wind gets stronger, you don't have to work much harder, it just goes faster.

Number of Worlds? 2000 Medemblik, 2003 Plymouth, 2004 Riva del Garda, 2005 Travemuende; 2006 Fremantle, 2007 Medemblik

Favourite Worlds Moment? Many of them, starting from not being last after not having sailed more than 5 times in the boat, until running the last year's championship in Medemblik which was a sort of family job. In Fremantle, I couldn't sail for the first three days. When I was finally back on the water, I made it 2nd to the top mark, finished 18. From my perspective, that's cool!

Favourite Food? Smoked salmon on toast, along with a not too cold Sancerre.

How do you keep in shape? I wonder, it can't be the beer? Please note how low I can go whlie tacking

Stupidest thing you've done on the boat? Fremantle, 1st race, doing a couple of pre-start test gybes and ruining my back.

Goals for the 2008 Worlds? Having fun and being as fast as I can.

What you'd like to do/see at the 2008 Worlds? I would like to see a lot of boats and a lot of North Americans sailing them

Monday, May 5, 2008

NOR is up!

The Notice of Race is up on the International Site, and reproduced for your convenience:


INTERNATIONAL CONTENDER CLASS
2008 OPEN CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
AUGUST 15-17, 2008
&
2008 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
AUGUST 18-23, 2008
KINGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
NOTICE OF RACE

ORGANIZING AUTHORITY

The Organizing Authority for the regatta is CORK/SAIL KINGSTON in conjunction with the International Contender Class Association.
CORK/Sail Kingston:
53 Yonge St
Kingston, ON, K7M 6G4
Phone: (613) 545-1322. Fax: (613) 548-3752 e-mail: sail@cork.org
http://www.cork.org/


1. RULES

The championship will be governed by:
1.1 The rules as defined in the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS). In the event of conflict in any translation, the English version will prevail;
1.2 The class rules and championship rules of the International Contender Class Association;
1.3 The prescriptions of the Canadian Yachting Association, which shall be stated in full in the sailing instructions. They can be found at: http://www.blogger.com/target=
1.4 The Equipment Rules of Sailing will apply and can be found at: http://www.ifds.org/technical/ERS2005-2008.pdf
Any changes will be stated in full in the Sailing Instructions.


2. ADVERTISING

The regatta will be classified as a Category C event.


3. ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY

The regatta is open to boats of the International Contender class with skippers that meet the ISAF eligibility requirements of Appendix 2 of the ISAF Eligibility Code who have paid their respective Contender Association fees for 2008 and the regatta entry fee, and have submitted the completed entry and declaration forms.
Entry forms for online registration will be available on the CORK/Sail Kingston website: http://www.cork.org/

4. SITE

The regatta will be hosted from Portsmouth Olympic Harbour (POH), in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Refer to the CORK/Sail Kingston website.

5. FEES

A race entry fee of CAN $485 will apply.
After June 30, 2008 the race entry fee will be CAN $550.
The ICA will pay half of the entry fee for Juniors (under 21 years) and half the entry fee for overseas competitors under the age of 25.
The entry fee includes entry to both regattas, to 3 regatta functions, and one T Shirt .

6. SCHEDULE

CANADIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
August 16-17, 2008
Date: August 15, 2008
Time: 9am-5pm
Race: Registration at CORK regatta office
Date: August 16, 2008
Time: 12:30pm warning signal
Race: 1, 2 and 3
Date: August 17, 2008
Time: 12:30 pm warning signal
Race: 4 and 5
Five races are scheduled for the Canadian Open Championship.
At least one race sailed will constitute a series.
Rescheduling races may be made at the discretion of the Race Committee.
Races not completed as scheduled may be sailed on the second day of the championship.
However, not more than three races per day will be scheduled.
Any change to the start time, if different than the schedule, will be posted on the Notice Board by 20:00 the preceding day.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
August 18-23, 2008


Date: August 18, 2008
Time: Measurement: 9am- 5 pm; Registration at CORK regatta office
Date: August 19, 2008
Time: 12:30 pm Warning signal
Race: 1 & 2
Date: August 20, 2008
Time: 12:30 pm Warning signal
Race: 3 & 4
Date: August 21, 2008
Time: 12:30 pm Warning signal
Race: 5 & 6
Date: August 22, 2008
Time: 12:30 pm Warning signal
Race: 7 & 8
Date: August 23, 2008
Time: 12:30 pm Warning signal
Race: 9 & 10
Ten races are scheduled for the World Championship.
At least 4 races sailed will constitute a series.
Rescheduling races may be made at the discretion of the Race Committee.
Races not completed as scheduled may be sailed at a later time or day during the championship.
However, not more than three races per day will be scheduled.
Any change to the start time, if different than the schedule, will be posted on the Notice Board by 20:00 the preceding day.
The Social Event program will be available at the on-site registration.

7. MEASUREMENTS

A valid measurement certificate acceptable to the International Contender class shall be presented for each boat. In addition the following measurements will be taken: measurement of sail and boom markings, hull weight, measurement and weight of rudder, centreboard and mast. Measurement checks and inspections may be carried out at any time during the event. A boat notified of inspection shall follow the instructions of the Race Committee and/or the jury.
Measurements will begin on August 16th at times posted on the notice board.

8. SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

The Sailing Instructions will be available at registration. An electronic copy may be available earlier on the regatta website.

9. THE COURSES

The course location will be Foxtrot course, as described on the CORK/Sail Kingston website.
The courses to be sailed will be described in the Sailing Instructions, including course diagrams.
The courses to be sailed will be triangle courses with angles of 60-30 degrees.
Length of courses will be adapted according to wind strength in order to have expected race durations of about sixty minutes for the leading boat.

10. RADIO COMMUNICATION

A boat shall neither make radio transmissions while racing nor receive radio communications not available to all boats. This restriction also applies to mobile telephones.

11. SUPPORT BOATS

Coaches, Team leaders and representatives from participating nations shall be registered at the Regatta Office before the first racing day.
Support boats shall fly their national flag or a flag with their three national letters clearly displayed, or shall be permanently marked with a sticker of their national flag or of their three national letters on each side of the boat.

12. BUOYANCY

All competitors shall wear personal flotation devices at all times when afloat, which are in good condition and in accordance with the specifications issued or approved by a national authority affiliated to the ISAF, or a standards organisation, or certification authority, recognised for the purpose by its respective government. Attention is drawn to RRS Fundamental Rule 1.2.

13. PENALTIES

RRS Appendix P, Immediate Penalties for Breaking Rule 42 – Propulsion will apply.
PUMPING FLAG:
13.1 Flag[Oscar] displayed at the start or near a mark, indicates that: "After starting or rounding the nearby mark, RRS 42 is varied in that except on a beat to windward, pumping, rocking and ooching are permitted".
13.2 Flag [Romeo] displayed near a mark indicates that: "After rounding the nearby mark, RRS 42 applies without variation".
13.3 Section 13.1 may apply in winds of 10 knots and above, measured at deck level.
13.4 Flags specified under 13.1 and 13.2 above may be changed by the Notice of Race and/or Sailing Instructions.

14. INTERNATIONAL JURY

An International Jury will be constituted for the World Championship in accordance with Appendix N. Decisions of the jury will be final as provided in rule 70.4.
15. SCORING
15.1 The Low Point scoring system, Appendix A.4.1 will apply.
15.2 (a) When fewer than 5 races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores.
(b) When 5 to 8 races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.
(c) When 9 or more races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her two worst scores.

16. PRIZES

Canadian Open Championship
Prizes will be awarded for the Canadian Open Championship as follows:
The Canadian Open Champion may be from any nationality. The winning helmsman’s name will be inscribed on the International Contender Canadian Championship trophy.
The first three places will be awarded prizes
A prize for the first Canadian will be awarded.
World Championship
Prizes will be awarded for the World Championship as follows:
The first three places. The helmsman of the first placed boat will be awarded the International Contender World Champion Perpetual Trophy.
The Junior World Champion will be the first overall under the age of 21 on the date of the first scheduled race.
The Master World Champion will be the first overall aged 50 years old or more on the date of the first scheduled race.
Woman World Champion will be the first female overall.
A prize for the first North American will be awarded.

17. DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY

Competitors participate in the regatta entirely at their own risk. See rule 4, Decision to Race. The organizing authority, its associates and appointees will not accept any responsibility for material damage or personal injury or death or inconvenience sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the regatta. The organising committee encourages each competitor to continually re assess their ability to race or continue to race and to make decisions accordingly.

18. INSURANCE

Each participating boat shall be insured with valid third-party liability insurance with a minimum cover of CAN $1 million.

19. FURTHER INFORMATION
The regatta organisers encourage entrants to use the following links:
CORK/Sail Kingston website: http://www.cork.org/
Contender Worlds 2008 blog http://www.contenderworlds2008.blogspot.com/
International Contender website: http://www.contenderclass.org/