The forecast didn't look too promising for the weekend of 27/28 September, a distinct lack of isobars meant that it looked like it was to be another couple of days spent crawling around in the bottom of the boat. However following a Saturday drifter Sunday ended with a pleasant 2-3 and another closely contested event. Five races were held for the 25 entrants, producing 5 different winners and the first 3 overall all tied on 11 points!
Race 1 started in a gentle/patchy breeze, Simon Childs in Magic Marine led round the first mark followed by Nick Beloe in P&B/Musto and Richard Pakes. The wind then switched off and the fleet bunched up. Alan Husk was first to escape and held on to win followed by Andy Elliott in Red Eye Racing and Pakes.
Race 2 followed back to back and Childs again led away pursued by Pakes and Beloe. Childs managed to keep out of the numerous holes until the last leg when Elliott sneaked the win, from Childs and Beloe.
Race 3 was abandoned due to zero wind and zero interest from the competitors in going out again. So it was an early dash to the bar, followed by an excellent barbecue laid on by the host club.
Sunday dawned a little more promising with the wind seeming to cover the reservoir. Looks were deceptive however and the breeze disappeared as the boats arrived at the start. The coin toss for the first beat was eventually won by those on the right hand side of the beat. Local Peter White led the fleet away chased by Elliott and Beloe. Childs gradually worked through the fleet to get water on Elliott at the last mark before the finish. The final order was Childs, Elliott, then Lawrence Crispin who just sneaked through to 3rd on the line from White.
Race 4 saw Beloe lead from start to finish in what was the least eventful race of the weekend. Crispin was a close second throughout followed by Phil Argent and Childs.
Race 5 was the decider, with Elliott, Childs and Crispin in with a shout of winning. Elliott had a 2 point cushion over Childs and Crispin was a further 3 points back. The wind had freshened up to a 2-3 and Childs again rounded in the lead from Beloe and Pakes. Pakes pulled through off wind to lead, constant place changing followed as first Beloe then Crispin took the lead. Eventually Crispin got away followed by Beloe, with Childs and Pakes regularly trading places. Elliott slipped to 6th and was hanging on by his fingernails. Round the final mark Childs had 3rd place which was enough to win, but as the wind turned the final beat into a fetch Pakes got past to take the 3rd place away.
On the shore the scores were added up and the top 3 all had 11 points. Elliott winning the countback from Crispin then Childs, with Beloe just behind on 13 points. All in all another very close weekend of Phantom sailing. Thanks to Blithfield for excellent hospitality and getting the races in under difficult circumstances.