Hartley Boats Contender Complete less Sail £14995 incl VAT

We were disappointed that unlike other classes we could not buy the copyright and be fully in charge over future policy and the destination for the Contender.  With other Contender builders throughout the World, would we be able to sell our boats and compete?

We were happy with selling the boat into the UK market but the challenge to allow the Contender sailors to choose the boat of their choice gave us a challenge. In a very short time, we agreed a deal. Just to have an already fantastic range of single-hander boats, the Byte, Supernova, Blaze and now the World’s best single-hander trapeze boat, the Contender, would make the whole team very proud.

We decided not to compete but to design and build the World’s best Contender that sailors would want to buy if they wanted to win championships.  To achieve this goal, we would need two important commodities.  The first, no budget set for the boat cost and whatever we have to spend, we would spend it. The second, a Naval Architect that is good enough to design, oversee the patterns, moulds and tooling being built, then organise the boat build procedures to ensure the boat reaches its potential, ensuring the quality and durability of the boat is to Hartley Boats standard and reputation.

Fortunately, Peter Hobson one of the best Naval Architects jumped at the opportunity and was 100% convinced he could not only design and build a great Contender but a boat that could win the World Championship, provided he had the budget and the boat was being sailed by a capable experienced helm.  Hartley Boats from the start of the campaign believed the only way to achieve our goal was that the Contender we build must have benefits over any other Contender manufacturer. The Hartley Boats team made it clear to Peter that whatever time it took, we would only go ahead when we were convinced we have those benefits

After months of drawings, time and effort Peter presented his list of benefits and improvements to the Hartley Boats Team to get the final approval.  At that meeting we were surprised at the extensive list of benefits he could deliver for the Contender, the list is as follows: 

• Laser aligned pintle recess to guarantee centreboard and rudder alignment
• Flush transom join
• Built-in drain tube flaps
• Re-designed transom tubes to improve drainage
• Narrowed side decks and lower rear tank to make the boat float lower in capsize
• Lower cockpit floor to increase room under the boom
• Rounded side-tanks to make tacking more comfortable
• Re-designed centreboard stirrups to give multiple pivot positions
• Re-designed centreboard to allow centreboard to move 50mm further aft in the boat for improved balance and pointing
• Redesigned shroud eye bolts to maximise squaring off the boom
• Specially designed mast-step integral with control line
• Raised foredeck to maximise room under the boom
• Re-designed stem fitting to make stronger forestay take off
• Fully moulded bulkhead to improve overall boat stiffness
• Increased core thickness to improve boat stiffness
• Re-designed dagger-board rudder stock
• Completely maximised waterline length

Following twelve months of hard work, Peter with the Hartley’s Team had produced the first boat and after trials we were overjoyed with the results. With a strong order book and new customers feed-back and sailing results, we have clearly confirmed that this is a very special Contender and if sailed by the right helm can and will win the Worlds, it is just a matter of time.

For Hartley Boats, when we show our new Contender be it in the UK or at the Dusseldorf Boat Show, we are proud that the boat looks stylish, elegant and a boat you would want to sail, the customers reaction when they see the boat speaks for itself, we are very pleased we are a Contender builder.  Every new Contender has a measurement certificate and is complete and ready to sail.

When we sell a new boat Hartley Boats likes to complete a full boat handover to ensure that you fully understand how to rig your new boat but most importantly that you get the best from your new investment. We also tune your new Contender and go through the boat set up for a beat, reach and run.  This helps you achieve the best results when racing.

For our UK customers, we are able to deliver if required.  Overseas customers, we are able to ship anywhere in the World.  We not only obtain the best shipping costs, we load your boat in the container, prepare and secure your boat to ensure it arrives at its destination in the very same condition it left the UK.