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Specifications Under Current Rules
Number of Crew	1 (Single Trapeze)
LOA	4880 mm 16 ft
LWL
Beam	1500 mm 4 ft 10.5in
Draft	1447 mm 4 ft 9in
Hull weight (with fittings)	83 kg 182.6 lb
Main Area	11sq.m 118 sq. ft.
Spinnaker Sail Area	18.6m² 200ft²

The International Contender is a single-handed high performance sailing dinghy, designed by Bob Miller, latterly known as Ben Lexcen, (Australia) in 1967 as a possible successor to the Finn dinghy for Olympic competition.

"Single-handed" means sailed by only one person. The boat has a trapeze which allows the sailor to harness the power of the wind effectively. The design of the boat does not favor sailors within a narrow or extreme size or weight range, past champions have ranged from 60 kg to more than 90 kg. While physical fitness, agility and strength are advantageous, good technical sailing skills and experience can count for more.

Sailors wishing to master the Contender must learn how to trapeze and steer the boat at the same time, and how to move about the boat while keeping it level. As part of race tuning, the Contender mast is commonly raked well aft, which results in restricted space between the boom and deck. Tacking consequently requires technique and practice to avoid getting stuck under the boom. Sailing the boat level at all times (except in very light winds) is fastest and reduces capsizes, which can happen fast if the boom dips into the water. There is a trade-off between raking the mast far aft and keeping the kicker (boom vang) tight at all times (which is faster) and the higher probability of capsizing due to this less forgiving set up. Unlike older and heavier dinghy designs, the Contender requires the centerboard to be lowered at least somewhat to avoid quick capsizes when reaching and running in a breeze.

A Contender dinghy on a reach.

World Championships held in Europe during 2005 and 2007 were contested by some 150 competitors. The World Championship held in July 2007 at Medemblik, Netherlands was won by Marcus Hamilton of Australia. The 2008 event is to be held at Kingston, Ontario in Canada.

The Contender is recognized as an International Class by the International Sailing Federation, the governing body of sail boat racing, which administers the class rules.

• International Contender Association
• International Sailing Federation
• contender Class Sailing Race Results Website