The 2020 Contender Midwinters

The 2020 Contender Midwinters were once again organized by Ethan Bixby and hosted by the Clearwater Community Sailing Centre (because strangely, they haven’t banned us!). It was an excellent three day event that was only missing a bit of sunshine, but the 11 competitors got a taste of everything. Day 1 was very light (6 knots dropping to 1) but the RC still got three races in. Day 2 was a healthier 10 building to 15 for the last race, and the course was set in the gulf, so there were some nice rollers for fun downwind surfing. Day 3 was a much gustier day, where the wind ranged from 8 to 18 knots with different patches all over the course which was set in the bay. The fleet got to practice gate starts and while no rabbits were killed during the making of this regatta, it was clear that some folks were paying more attention than others (Mr. White, we’re looking at you).

Ethan was denied his usual picket fence results as Mike Smits and Roger Martin seemed to thrive in the shifty, gusty and cold conditions on day 3. But Ethan’s consistency still paid off and he took the overall title.

Once again, we can’t thank the volunteers enough for freezing their asses off and staved off sea sickness while we sailed around the cans. Donna Sue Marks was an outstanding PRO (who also doubled as a photographer), and we’re hoping she’ll attempt to wrangle us again next year.

Results are here.

Photos and videos by Donna Sue are below and more here, and photos (and a great video) from competitor Nathaniel Plant are below and here.