Round 3 of the Contender travellers trophy took place at Carsington water on the 28/29 Apr as part of the Billy no mates event. The predicted warm weather attracted 13 Contenders making them the biggest fleet at the event and they were rewarded with force 4-5 winds for Saturdays races. Sailing out to the start line it became apparent that the wind were very shifty, this coupled with a mass start of 50 boats signaled an interesting days sailing.

Race 1 started first time with Tim and Ben Holden screaming out in front immediately, these two battle until the end with Tim emerging victorious. Sandy Clapham beating off the chasing pack claimed 3rd. Race 2 followed a similar pattern with the Holden’s relishing the breeze until an incident with a Asy Canoe took the front inch off of Bens boat leaving the race to Tim with Martin Metcalfe in 3rd. Race 3 became a much closer affair with the fleet starting to match the starting pace of the leading pair. Nick Noble lead for some time before losing it on the penultimate beat to Tim.

Sunday saw the wind die a little to an unstable 3-4, these conditions made the racing considerably closer than the previous day with a top mark that became increasingly frustrating to lay added an element of random luck. Race 4 saw more battling between Holden, Holden and Noble with Metcalfe and Bill Hooton chasing hard, Tim Holden again came out on top in front of Ben and Nick. The front two remained the same in race 5 and 6 but nick noble and Ed Presley competed for 3rd and 4th in both races with Ed narrowly winning in both. With 6 wins Tim Holden never looked likely to lose the top spot but all the racing was closer than in appearance and with 6 contenders in the top 10 of the overall Billy no mates trophy the fleet put in a good performance.