Click picture of Contessa "bashing through rough water" to enter our site!!!
DEAR CONTESSA 32 READERS
5 May 2008
We are planning a SPRING RALLY on the
late May Bank Holiday weekend (24 -26th May) and a 'CRUISE IN COMPANY' across
the channel in the week 31st May - 6th June. The various flyers and entry
forms are ..
FLYER FOR SPRING RALLY HERE ENTRY FORM FOR SPRING RALLY HERE 'CinC' FLYER & FORM COMBINED HERE
8 April 2008
For all you keen racers, the changes to
the Solent Racing marks for 2008 are posted
here.
7 April 2008
Our valiant Race Entry Secretary has
secured us a really good berthing deal at E Cowes marina. See his e-mail
below ...
Please contact marina manager Mike Townshend at sales@eastcowesmarina.co.uk or telephone 01983 293983 making it clear that you are booking as part of the Contessa 32 fleet.
You may need to book early!!!
29 March 2008
You may have heard that we were trying to
organise a 'fitting out/crewing' party for early April. Regrettably, we
have been unable to make suitable arrangements and, with great reluctance, have
decide not to run the event this year.
16 March 2008
The APRIL issue of Yachting Monthly has a
smashing article about Tristan Gooley who has crossed the Atlantic in his
Contessa 32 "GOLDEN EYE" ... (out of respect to YM's commercial copyright I
will not actually put the content on the site until the issue is well past its
sell by date and I have approval from the editor).

ALONE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
DOUBLE ATLANTIC
Having crossed the Atlantic solo, flying a single-engined plane,Tristan Gooley
set sails solo in a Contessa 32
10 March 2008
The RACING SEASON approaches!

Unfortunately our printer has gone out of business and publication of the Handbook will be delayed by a few weeks. WE NEED TO GET OUR RACE ENTRIES IN BY 11 APRIL 2008 IN ORDER TO GET ALL THE ARRANGEMENTS DONE FOR THE FIRST RACE IN EARLY MAY.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE 2008 SOLENT RACING GUIDELINES AND ENTRY FORMS!

RACE GUIDELINES AND ENTRY FORMS
PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR LEGAL REASONS
(AND TO SAVE YOU SIGNING A DIFFERENT DECLARATION WITH EACH HOST CLUB), WE MUST
HAVE A PHYSICALLY 'SIGNED' ENTRY FORM.
YOU NEED TO PRINT IT OFF AND SEND IT TO THE RACE ENTRY SECRETARY.
14 February 2008
The pressures of the day job have delayed
me doing it, but I have at long last edited all the video I took while racing on
Contessa LUNACY whilst I was in Sydney (Australia). The results are of
course a little amateurish and you may have to adjust the sound to hear my
'naff' commentary ... and there is a bit of camera wobble. However, the
movie seems to capture the spirit of the event and Contessas are very
photogenic!
It is about 15 minutes long and is a 300mb streaming .wmv file.
The link is here:
9 February 2008



For years, the Contessa 32 fleet has been
a major part of the Cowes Week experience. For all sorts of reasons, some
of our own making; some due to the changing nature of the event over the years,
our attendance at Cowes has fallen from 30+ boats ten years ago to about 11-12
last year. We are in danger of loosing our 'own start' and being forced to
race in a much larger handicap fleet. This is a great pity because it is
probably the GREATEST SAILING REGATTA in the world and we should be right
up there at the forefront of the One Design classes.
This year, we have decided to really put a lot of effort into re-building our presence. Mark Oliver, our Race Entry Sec. (who happens to live in Cowes) has being discussing things with the organising authorities and they are absolutely clear that they want the Contessa 32s there and recognise them as part of the core spirit of the event. However, we need to show them that we are managing to get the numbers rising again.
We have a hard core of boats who race regularly who will naturally attend - it would be really encouraging if some new boats would consider participating in what is a FANTASTIC WEEK of sailing and socialising. If you are uncertain, contact us. We have a number of experienced skippers who no longer take their own boats to the event, but would love to help and coach new comers.
Please take the time to read Mark's COWES WEEK Newsletter - here - you will get a feel for all the new stuff we are doing to make the event truly memorable.
21 January 2008
CONTESSA 32 NORTHERN DINNER - 2nd FEB 2008
If anyone else wishes to
attend the above dinner on 2nd February to be held at:
Sartis
Renfield Street
Glasgow
http://www.sarti.co.uk/renfieldstreet_2.aspx
Contact Liz and Mark Wisdish.
Please phone 01357 523530 before Friday 25th January to book a place. All
cruising and racing sailors welcome.
Twenty people have already agreed to attend Fiona Rogers will also be there.
19 January 2008
We had a very successful AGM last night at
the Royal Albert YC. I have now reached the end of my 2 year term as Class
Captain and have handed over the reins to Zoe McKEee. She has put so much
into the Class over the last few years arranging all our social events; I
wish her well. I will be staying on the Committee and will now devote more
time to updating and developing our web site. Your new committee is now:
|
Class Captain |
Zoe McKee |
|
Vice Captain |
John McCann |
|
Secretary |
Keith Feltham |
|
Treasurer/Membership Sec. |
Rupert Parson |
|
Official Measurer |
John McCann |
|
Sailing Secretary. |
Richard Vanner |
|
Race Entry Secretary. |
Mark Oliver |
|
Social Secretary |
David Feltham |
|
Offshore Rep. |
Ian Coglin |
|
Crew Rep. |
Katie McDonald |
|
Cruising Rep |
Anthony Burdall |
|
Magazine Editor |
Ann Jennings |
|
Publicity Officer |
George Istead |
|
Committee Members |
Robin Holland (web site) |
We were particularly pleased to welcome Christophe Declercq and his brother from Belgium. Our Contessa friends in Benelux have formed a very active Contessa 32 organisation, with 42 owners already signed up. They have a really excellent web site at www.contessazeilers.nl. Over the next year I have agreed to work with them to build a single site, reflecting the best of the two efforts and portraying a common Contessa 32 'brand image'. I am now off to start editing my LUNACY video!
14 January 2008
I am now back from Australia where I had a
fantastic time .. including 4 days sailing and racing on LUNACY with Tom Moult.
I have managed to get a lot of excellent video in Sydney Harbour. I will
create a film of the best 10-15 minutes as soon as I have got back on top of the
day job and have some time. Meanwhile, here is a small 'low resolution'
trailer ......
Anthony Burdall has put together a really ambitious and interesting 'cruising' programme for 2008. The details are still to be arranged - but the broad framework is here.
Also our congratulations to Tristan Gooley who arrived at Marigot Bay, St Lucia, on the afternoon of the 1st of January after crossing the Atlantic in his Contessa 32 (GOLDEN EYE) after 26 days at sea. He is using it as part of his campaign to raise awareness of the Prostate Cancer. The full story is here.
Robin Holland - Webmaster.