Contender Class fibreglass construction
Designer
Ben Lexcen
(1936 - 1988)
Date1967
Object numberANMS1543[086]
NamePlan
Mediumink on drafting film
Dimensions450 x 490
Copyright© Ben Lexcen
ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionThe construction drawings for a glass fibre International CONTENDER sailing dinghy, designed by Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) in 1967.
HistoryThe design work produced by Ben Lexcen in his almost forty-year career was wide and varied but despite working many on high-profile offshore racing yachts, he never lost his love for small fast racing dinghies.
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. Luckily, he 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. He soon 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 Craig Whitworth, he founded a sail-making company in Sydney called ‘Miller and Whitworth’ while still designing boats. One of these boat designs became the much-regarded 16-foot international CONTENDER. In 1967 it was selected as a potential Olympic successor to the Finn dinghy and in 1968 awarded international status.
The success of the boat took time to develop as his first design did not work out as hoped. The so-called MILLERS MISSILE, was a radical boat 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. It did not perform well, so Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) redesigned the hull based on the 20-foot Flying Dutchman (FD) dinghy which he was sailing at the time.
The16-foot CONTENDER single handed racing dinghy was built and sent to Europe for the third set of trials as a possible replacement for the Finn dinghy. The International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) observers were impressed. It is a fast, demanding single-handed trapeze racing dinghy which requires considerable skill to sail it but often raced often in strong wind and rough waters. The weather at Medemblik in Holland was just that during the trials and the Australian CONTENDER proved to be the best boat resulting in the IYRU declaring that they had their new ‘singlehander’. It was not however given Olympic status but nevertheless flourished around the world as an International Class boat.
From its home in Sydney, Australia, the CONTENDER was originally built in timber, using lightweight marine plywood for most of the parts. Some 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 production. Despite this, all CONTENDER dinghies are all built to strict guidelines, 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 the England. Despite the CONTENDER being 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.
The International CONTENDER 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.
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 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 hull and deck construction drawings for the glass fibre version of the CONTENDER sailing dinghy were produced by Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) in about 1970, while still in the ‘Miller & Whitworth’ partnership. They provide accurate information about the materials, weight and method to build the CONTENDER sailing dinghy in glass fibre. Prior to this the boats were all built in wood using marine grade plywood and light weight timber. Many of the boats were sold as a precut kit, so owners could study and build the boat themselves. The CONTENDER dinghy, designed by Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) in 1967 was a revolutionary and successful boat. It became quickly became popular around the world and was awarded international status in 1968.
