By Cathy Brown

Challenged to improve on Contessa 32 and Sigma 33 Rob Humphreys triumphed.The Contessa 33 might have seemed like an impossible design brief to anybody but Rob Humphreys. The new model, introduced in 1983/84, was intended as a more modern replacement for the evergreen Contessa 32, which had been in production since 1971. It also aimed to improve on the Sigma 33 - launched some four years earlier, and already established as an outstandingly successful one design cruiser racer.

To take on two such iconic designs and advance significantly on them both was quite a challenge, but Humphreys succeeded magnificently. The tragedy is that less than 20 Contessa 33s were built before builder Jeremy Rogers' company hit financial buffers.

by Cathy Brown

The Contessa 32 was designed by David Sadler nearly 40 years ago, in 1970. Even he probably had little idea then of the long-lasting success his masterpiece was to enjoy. A picture of a fleet of Contessas racing adorned the opening page of the IRC Yearbook as recently as 2007. What more eloquent testament could there be to the enduring appeal of this evergreen design?

The Contessa is a product of an era when boat design was evolving rapidly. Her long fin keel and skeg-hung rudder come half way between the traditional long-keel shape and today's deep fin and spade rudder configurations.