Broadwater SC Phantom Open 2023
Report written by Chris Shelton
Photos by John Greaves
YouTube footage by@BSCWeather (posted by Jeremy Deacon)
Broadwater Sailing Club hosted the final round of the 2023 Phantom South East Traveller Series on Saturday 7th October. The weather was unseasonably warm with a south westerly wind which varied between 3 and 8 mph. 8 visitors joined 7 boats from the home fleet to give a total of 15 boats on the water.
The races were started from a rather short line set between one of the club pontoons and the adjacent island. Getting a good start and mastering the first short beat tended to be critical and a lot of the time it was the boat that was first round the windward mark that went on to win the race. For Race 1 this was Bill Taylor who went on to finish a good way ahead of the fleet. Local sailor Jeremy Deacon was second and Chris Shelton third.
In Race 2 it was Jim Hopton’s turn to get the first beat right and sail away from the rest of the fleet. The wind had dropped slightly for this race and was proving to be very shifty in places and this, together with the wind shadows behind the islands resulted in various place changes during the race. Local knowledge must have paid off, as at the finish it was Jeremy Deacon in second place again and Brian Deacon third.
Race 3 was sailed in very similar conditions to Race 2, and the result was similar. Jim Hopton was again first, Jeremy Deacon second and another Broadwater boat, Tim Davies, third.
The wind had increased slightly for the final race and this time it was Jeremy Deacon first around the windward closely followed by Chris Shelton. These two places remained the same until the finish. Further behind, Bill Taylor was obviously getting too hot and decided to fall out of his boat to cool down. Meanwhile, after a poor first beat, Jim Hopton was working his way through the fleet to eventually finish third.
When the points were tallied up, there was a tie for the first two places, but on count back the winner was Jeremy Deacon. The organisation by Broadwater SC was impeccable and all competitors enjoyed a sandwich tea before travelling home.
Results
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