'Optimum Time' - Phantom South East Traveller Series 

The Optimum Time Phantom South East Traveller Series concluded recently with the final event at Broadwater SC. Back in 2020 the class decided to split the rather large Southern region into smaller South East and South West sections. However Covid-19 meant that all Open events in 2020 were cancelled, so 2021 was the first season for the new South East Series.

Unfortunately Covid travelling restrictions were still in place at Easter 2021 which forced the cancellation of the first event at Shoreham SC. Restrictions were eased in May which meant that the event at Downs SC became the Open Meeting of the series. Conditions were extremely mixed with the wind dropping to nothing during the first race on Saturday afternoon, swiftly followed by torrential rain. With all of the competitors drifting backwards on the tide towards Dover the Race Officer had no choice but to abandon and arrange for the fleet to be towed home. Sunday morning dawned with a Southerly F5 and a rising forecast. It was just possible to get 2 quick races in before the conditions became too extreme. Local sailor Chris Shelton took the honours, followed by Nick Mason from Island Barn SC in second place and Clive Morley from Minnis Bay SC in third.

June saw the fleet travel further east for the first ever Phantom event at the picturesque Broadstairs SC. A F2 Northerly on Saturday produced very close racing between the 9 strong fleet. Sunday morning dawned without a breath, but after a short postponement the breeze started to build and the fleet ventured afloat. Again the racing was very close with places changing throughout the fleet as the wind gradually built during the day. At the end it was John Wayling from Northampton SC in first place, followed by Chris Shelton (Downs SC) second and Tim Denby (Broadstairs SC) third.

Following a summer break, the fleet re-convened at Lee-on-the-Solent SC at the beginning of September. Held jointly with the club’s annual Regatta, it was another light wind weekend for the Phantom sailors. Nick Orman had the best day on Saturday afternoon with 2 firsts and a second, and all of the sailors enjoyed a Regatta dinner in the club’s brand new clubhouse overlooking the Solent. With similar conditions on the Sunday, this time it was Chris Shelton with the best speed closely follow by Leigh Riddell. Further down the fleet the racing was again close with a number of different helms achieving top 3 finishes. At the prizegiving (again in the new clubhouse) it was Chris Shelton in first place, Nigel King (Lymington Town SC) in second and Martin Watts (Netley SC) third.

The fifth event of the series was to have been at Felpham SC at the beginning of October. However with gale force winds and heavy rain forecast for the weekend the decision was rightly made to cancel the event in advance to avoid people from travelling needlessly.

The final event of the series was held at Broadwater SC later in October. The only inland venue of the series attracted the best entry of 17 boats, with sailors traveling from Kent, Suffolk and Hampshire to join the strong local fleet. Once again the sailors arrived to no wind and a short postponement. However the wind slowly built and the Race Officer managed to get in 4 races during the day. Being inland, the racing was even closer than at the coastal venues with plenty of place changes during all of the races. However local knowledge obviously paid off with Leigh Riddell (Broadwater SC) taking first overall with an impressive 3 wins out of 4 races. In second place was Bob Portway from Royal Harwich YC with Nigel King from Lymington Town SC third.

Overall the series attracted 30 different sailors, some of whom travelled considerable distances to compete. A big thank you to all of the clubs who hosted the events and also to Optimum Time who donated watches as prizes for the overall results. Consistency of attendance certainly paid off with the sailors who attended most events being at the top of the overall series results. Overall it was Chris Shelton (Downs SC) first, Dave Patrick (Broadwater SC) second and Paddy Denby (Broadstairs SC) third.

HD Sails/Ceildeh  Phantom Midland Traveller Series

Burton Sailing Club 23rd October 2021 – Finale’

Burton Sailing Club hosted the final event of the Phantom Midland Traveller series this year. It was all close at the top of the placings leading into this event with Charlie Chandler (Bowmoor S.C.) currently topping the series by one point from Mike Webster (Northampton S.C.) closely followed by Jim Hopton (Shustoke S.C.)

Burton welcomed the visitors joining the home club boats and put together a tidy set of four races in testing gusty and shifty conditions.
Race one saw the much improved Tom ‘hotdog’ Gissane (Bowmoor S.C.)with his new HD Sail still warm form the sail loft, lead most of the race with lots of action and changing places behind him in very close racing. However Charley pulled through on the down wind leg to take the line with Tom in second and Mike managing third in front of Ollie Hopkins (Bowmoor S.C.) desperately wanting to stop a 1,2,3 from Bowmoor !

Race two followed back to back with a change to the course and saw Charlie lead the fleet with Mike closely chasing him round the race track. Richard Nurse (Northampton S.C.) and Jim Hopton (ShustokeS.C.) also had there own battle in third and forth. Mike managed to sniff out a cheeky shift on the last beat to pull into the lead and take line honors with Charlie, Richard and Jim following.

After brief lunch, races three and four got underway with Charlie showing his pace ahead of Jim, with Tom again showing his new boat speed…. One two three in that order.

The final race was dominated by Richard who lead from start to finish pushing him up the results with Charlie another consistent second and Steve Ward ( Bartley S.C.) ghosting past Mike on the last run to the finish.

Barton SC – Overall
1st -  Charlie Chandler  (Bowmoor S.C.)
2nd - Richard Nurse (Northampton S.C.)
3rd  - Mike Webster (Northampton S.C.)

The overall series amended from five events to four, has now been completed which has seen 44 entrants and a core group of sailors competing in most of the regional events.
Congratulations to Charlie Chandler for winning the 2021 Midland Traveller Series title for 2021



A full set of results can be seen on the Phantom Website : http://www.phantomclass.org.uk

A special thanks must go to all those who travelled to the events from outside the region as far away as the Lake District, North Yorkshire and the South West…. Well done you guys,  you know who you are !

Most notable improved sailors of the series has to go to three individuals who are all new to the class this year,  Matt Velamail – Beaver S.C. , Tom ‘hotdog’ Gissane – Bowmoor S.C. and Evan Base – Midland S.C.

Also our thanks to HD Sails and Ceildeh carbon masts for their continued support and kind sponsorship of the series this year.

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Phantom ‘50^th Anniversary’ National Championships – 2021

sponsored by Allen and Seabrook Developments

Notice Of Race - Click Here

The Phantom Class commemorates it’s 50^th anniversary this year, originally launching onto the sailing scene in 1971. The memorable year of decimalization when Clint Eastwood starred as Dirty Harry “do you feel lucky…. punk “, Rod Stewart was singing Maggie May on Top of the Pops and a pint of beer cost a whopping 16p…… 3s-3d in old money!!

Paul Wright and Brian Taylor the designers of the Phantom dinghy wanted to produce a single hander that was exciting to sail, easily managed and affordable to build. This design concept not only produced on all these points but has also stood the test of time against many modern designs and still remains one of the most popular single-handed classes.

The one design performance single hander has a hard chine with a deep ‘v’ bow and flat aft section making it a joy to sail upwind and thrilling to sail off wind with its easy planning and stable shape. The light weight hull (61 kg) has progressed through all forms of construction from wood, GRP to the now super stiff composite epoxy sandwich. The new lightweight carbon rig also provides the opportunity for a wider range of crew weights.

The Phantom has been a prominent single hander over the last 50 years even with stiff competition from other modern designs and the class has continued to grow and has seen a surge in popularity in recent times. It not only provides a great and competitive sailing experience but the class the prides itself on being a friendly and social group, always supporting and encouraging new members and keen to party.

To help make 2021 a special year celebrating the classes 50^th anniversary, a national regatta series has been introduced with four events spread across different regions of the country and a special National Championships in September which will be going back to its roots in the south east of England.

The class are please to announce the 2021 Phantom National Championships will be hosted by Stone Sailing club between the 17^th-19^th September and are delighted to again partner with headline sponsors Allen Bros of Southminster in Essex, who are no stranger to the Phantom Class and have over the years, been keen supporters for Phantom sailing across the country. The Allen Brothers company has grown in the past 60 years plus, to become a major exporter, selling high-performance sailing hardware to the UK and the rest of the world. The event is also sponsored by Seabrook Developments  from South Hanningfeild which is a  Construction company building on over 25 years’ experience that provides building services to the food processing industry. 

Entries are already close to 70 boats and sailors are looking forward to a long weekend of festivities and close racing with some familiar faces in the line up together with a few new ones to shake up the fleet. The event is such a draw there is even ex national champions that last sailed the boat nearly 10 years ago throwing their hat in the ring, but, who knows we could be looking at a new name on the trophy this year.

For those keen to get started early, Thursday will see some on and off the water training, measuring and tweaking and of course the traditional Thursday night curry and a few pints ….. unfortunately not at 16p !

Friday brings the start of the Championships with registration, briefing followed by two back to back races, not forgetting the obligatory AGM and evening meal. 

Saturday morning commences with Champagne breakfast (sponsored by Seabrook Developments) then back to business on the water with 4 races. The evening will see a 50^th Anniversary Championship three course dinner in 70’s style dress.

Sunday starts with bacon rolls and the final day of racing with the overall prize giving to follow.

Although the discounted entry has been missed, its still not too late to enter and join in what will be an epic event

Our thanks to our sponsors :

Headline Sponsor - Allen Bros  - ‘lots of sailing stuff’

Headline Sponsor - Seabrook Developments Champagne Breakfast, special phantom anniversary wine.

Designers family Wright and Taylor – 50^th Anniversary trophy

Age group and classic boat prizes

If anyone has a spare boat and happy to lend out please get in touch with the class, as there are lots who would keen to take part in this special event.

With a busy weekend ahead if anyone is attending but not sailing or can pop along we could always do with volunteers to help with launching/ recovery or on the safety boats, if you can help in anyway then let us know

All we need now is a great forecast to make the championship even more amazing celebrating Phifty Phantastic Years  !

Creeksea S C Phantom Open meeting 24th 25th July

For many, the highlight event of the Eastern calendar - the Creeksea open meeting.
 
Creeksea Phantoms look forward to welcoming you and a great weekends sailing.  The entry is likely being over 20 boats.

For those visitors that haven't been before please view the club website for directions (it's pretty straightforward - head for Burnham on Crouch but turn off sign posted Creeksea (Ferry Road) just before the town sign...).

The website also has a course card for printing off and laminating etc....

We look forward to welcoming you all from Friday evening..

With a guaranteed good entry from the home fleet and many confirmed visitors this is a must do event.

The NOR is below but I'd add that camping is available at the club, a trip to the CSC fleet sponsors (The Polash Indian Restaurant) is planned for Saturday night and the legendary free beer (courtesy of the home fleet sailors) will be available on Friday (BBQ) and Saturday,( if there is any left).

With a good forecast and high water in the afternoon it looks like a real classic event.  Fingers crossed!

If you've never been to the club please consider attending.  We are pretty unique.

In fact if there ever was a festival of Phantoms then this would be it!!

Creeksea Sailing Club
 Ferry Road, Creeksea, Essex CM0 8PL

 2021 Phantom Open Meeting
Notice of Race
24th and 25th July
 Entry Fee £20
 Saturday
 Briefing 11:00am
 Race 1 11:30am
 Race 2 Back to back
 Lunch
 Race 3 Approx 2pm
 Sunday
 Race 4 11:00
 Race 5 & 6As directed by Race Officer

 Conditions of Entry
 The wearing of buoyancy aids is mandatory.
 All helms are to exercise their own discretion in respect of and whether they are capable of sailing in the prevailing conditions.
 
The provision of support boats or any safety equipment either afloat or ashore is neither a guarantee that assistance will be rendered to any competitor in need, nor acceptance of any responsibility for rescue of competitors. Support crew will not be responsible for any damage to boat or injury persons.
 
Racing will be in accordance with the ISAF Racing Rules, the RYA prescriptions and sailing instructions.

Creeksea 2021 Open Meeting Entry Form

Creeksea 2012 Open Meeting Sailing Instructions

Phantom National Events 2021 - Online Entry

Discounted entry Deadline extended to 15th August

http://www.phantomclass.org.uk/events/phantom-national-events-2021-online-entry