Lines plan for Contender class vessel

Designer Ben Lexcen (1936 - 1988)

Datec 1970

Object numberANMS1543[097]

NamePlan

MediumRed ink and pencil on drafting film

Dimensions770 x 785

ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

DescriptionLines plan including lines 1 to 4 for International Contender Class vessel. Designed by Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) of Miller and Whitworth. One of the early design drawings for the 16-foot International CONTENDER single handed racing dinghy designed by Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) in 1966. The hull lines plan is the first and most important drawing, and this work appears to be from the early development stage. HistoryBen Lexcen (formally Bob Miller) designed many well-known racing yachts including seven Australian 12mR America Cup challengers but maintained a passion for small fast sailing dinghies all his life. The 16-foot CONTENDER racing dinghy, later built from this drawing, is one of his finest small boats designs which is still being built and raced today. The self-taught naval architect and yacht designer Ben Lexcen was born Robert Clyde Miller, on March 19th. 1936 at Boggabri, in New South Wales, Australia. His early years were tough, being abandoned by his parents as a child. He spent time at ‘Boys Town’, Engadine but luckily later went to stay with his grandfather at Newcastle, New South Wales. He left school at fourteen, after only five years formal education, to become an apprentice machinist at the New South Wales locomotive works. As a boy he sailed extensively on Lake Macquarie, often spending nights camped alone in his first small boat. In 1952, at the age of 16, Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) designed and built his first sailing boat THE COMET with his friend William Bennett. It was not long before he began to make a name for himself at local sailing competitions. In 1960 he entered his boat TAIPAN in the 18-Footer World Championships, and later winning the World Championship in 1961 with his design, the 18-foot skiff VENOM. In 1962, together with his friend and sailing companion Craig Whitworth, he founded a sail-making company in Sydney called ‘Miller and Whitworth’ while continuing to design boats. One of these boat designs became the much-regarded 16-foot international ‘CONTENDER’. In 1967. The project started due to the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) deciding to look for a boat to replace the Olympic Finn dinghy in 1964. They wanted a performance boat which would be lighter, faster and more challenging than the 1949 designed Finn dinghy (FD). They also placed particular emphasis on ‘skill and agility’ to sail them, rather than that demanded by the earlier boat. It is possible this hull lines ‘working drawing’ by Bob Miller (Ben Lexcen) was made by him during the early stages of the project. The success of the boat took time and effort to develop, as his initial design did not perform as well as hoped. This first boat, nicknamed MILLERS MISSILE, was a radical design with hard chine hull, very flat underwater sections, a fully battened main-sail and a trapeze for the single crew to balance their weight against the wind on the sail. But it did not perform well, so Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) redesigned the hull based on the larger 20-foot Flying Dutchman dinghy which he was sailing at the time. Originally named ‘DOROTHY’ after his wife, Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) needed funding to launch the project and found a sailcloth manufacturer with a new product called CONTENDER. The boat was renamed and sent to the second trials at La Baule in France, but the winds were light, none of the boats performed well, so no decision was made. The third set of trials were at Medemblik in Holland, by which time Bob Miller had redesigned the boat with more sail and higher freeboard. With strong winds during the trials, Bob Miller sailed his new CONTENDER called SKIPPY and proved he had the best boat. It resulted in the IYRU declaring that they had their new ‘singlehander’. It was not however given Olympic status but was awarded international status in 1968 and has enjoyed success around the world as an International Class boat since then. From its home base in Sydney, Australia, the CONTENDER was originally built in timber, using lightweight marine plywood for most of the parts. Some of the boats were made as ’kit boats’ which allowed owners to plan and build the boat themselves. Then, due to increasing demand locally and from the US, Canada, and across Europe, they were built in GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) as a series production. The first World Championships of the International CONTENDER took place at Hayling Island, UK during 1970 and continues at various venues today. The boat has proved to be an outstanding design, and still the only high-performance single-handed dinghy that offers international racing in competitive fleets. More than 2,400 boats have been built and are sailed in seventeen countries around the world. The CONTENDER is built under licence in glass fibre, wood, or a composite construction using wood and epoxy glue but all need to conform to the class rules, overseen by the International Contender Association. Bob Miller left the ‘Miller & Whitworth’ partnership with Craig Whitworth in 1974 and moved to England, where he worked on the design of his second 12mR ‘AUSTRALIA’. Despite the CONTENDERbeing an international success it is unlikely he made any money from the design after he left the partnership. He was unable to receive his mail sent to ‘Miller & Whitworth’ and frustrated the company were still using his name he changed it to Ben Lexcen in 1977. An accomplished international sailor, Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) represented Australia in the Soling class at the 1972 at the Olympic Games at Munich, West Germany. He sailed successfully in many offshore races after that but maintained a love of fast, sailing dinghies all his life. Ben Lexcen passed away at Balgowlah, Sydney on May 1st, 1988, but the night before he returned to his love of the 18-skiff by attended the launching of Grand Prix Sailing at the Entertainment Centre.SignificanceThe work provides a view of the aft (rear) four stations of the hull lines plan for the of the 16-foot CONTENDER sailing dinghy designed by Bob Miller, who later changed his name to Ben Lexcen. The initial ‘hull lines’ drawings for this boat were made in 1966, with the first boat built in 1967. The CONTENDER single handed racing dinghy proved to be an outstanding success for Bob Miller. It was selected by the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) as a possible replacement for the Finn dinghy and awarded international status in 1968. Almost sixty-years later it is still the only high-performance single-handed dinghy that offers international racing in competitive fleets. More than 2,400 boats have been built and are sailed in seventeen countries around the world.