New 2007 Contest Boats

The History of ContestYachts

Welcome to our website. It gives us true pleasure to offer you a detailed look at our yachts, the history of our yard and the way we work. This site also serves as a digital meeting place for Contest sailors around the world.


When he began his work in the 1950s, Ed Conijn could scarcely have envisaged that, 45 years on, some 3,000 Contest yachts would be traversing the world's oceans. At the helm of this company, it seems that a passion for sailing genuinely runs in the blood. Driven by a constant desire to keep our yachts at the highest possible level in terms of comfort and performance, innovation and craftsmanship are given top priority. How this pans out in practice is the subject of this site.
Naturally, you are always welcome to meet us out in the real world as well as here in the virtual. Visit our yard in Medemblik or drop by our stand at any of the major boat shows.


It all started 45 years ago: As the owner of a timber yard, Ed Conijn, was more than familiar with the use of different materials such as wood and polyester. He was also passionately interested in boats and sailing so it was a natural move to put his knowledge of timber, joinery and finishes together with his enthusiasm for watersports, and start building boats. After gaining experience with building the open Flying Dutchman boats, in 1959 Conyplex launched its first cruising yacht, the Contest 25. This design was an immediate international success and served as the foundation of the company.
Under the guidance of Fritz Conijn, Ed's son, Conyplex grew into a yacht builder of global stature, and the emphasis shifted from serial building to semi-customised yachts between 40 and 65 feet. Together with Marcel Borgmann, Arjen Conijn recently became the third generation of the family to take over the helm of the company.

The various brochures that we have published over the years give a good impression of the history of our yard and the yachts that have been launched.


The Yard

Conyplex has always kept the entire production process in its own hands, including an in-house engineering department. This guarantees customers the highest possible standards.
There are four major factors in the continuous search to optimise the Contest yachts:

Close cooperation with leading research institutes;
A key role for innovation;
Ongoing training of personnel;
Feedback from experienced Contest owners.


This approach has resulted in major product developments such as:

Innovative keel configurations and hydrodynamic solutions via our partnership with the renowned designer, Piet van Oossanen;
The vacuum injection method, developed in 1995 in cooperation with the Technical University and TNO research institute in Delft;
The new foil technique used for furniture. Surfaces to be glued are placed on top of each other and covered with vacuum foil;
The implementation of the Finite Elements Analysis for calculating hull and deck constructions. This advanced methodology results in stronger, sturdier and above all more lightweight yachts.