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.
 |
 |
---------------------------------------------
Phantom ‘50th Anniversary’ National Championships – 2021
sponsored by Allen and Seabrook Developments
Notice Of Race - Click Here
The Phantom Class commemorates it’s 50th 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 50th 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 17th-19th 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 50th 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 – 50th 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 !
Weymouth Regatta 3rd - 4th July 2021 Report
A toned-down event due to ongoing Covid restrictions saw 14 Phantoms entered for the 2021 Weymouth Regatta sponsored by Dorset Boat Works and Beat Racing.
Day one saw a SW force 3 and the decision of the race officer to take us right across Weymouth bay with the sail to the start area being the longest sail that many competitors had seen for a while.
A well-set start line and U flag from the off prevented any startline shenanigans and the fleet set off on what was to become a monster day.
The windward mark saw Ian Stone, Simon Hawkes, Henry Ayres and John Wayling round in no particular order at the front of the fleet.
Sailing a trapezoid, sausage course, Nick Orman did some good work downwind and Ayres quickly slipped backwards as he tried to remember how to sail.
The course was horrendously long and the race went on forever. Orman, sailing a new boat, slipped back as he got to grips with it and the final result was Hawkes, Stone and Wayling.
Then a few things happened that changed the course of the result. The wind increased and Simon Hawkes decided to try a bit of sly pig. But as he pulled it on broke the mast lock and the sail came down. With such a long way into the club that was the end of his day and he joined Paul Birbeck who had not made it to Race 1 with the same issue.
Race 2 the sadistic race officer shortened the length of the beat but the damage was already done for many.
Another even start and the lead boats quickly put distance on the also rans with Alex Knight Improving from 4th to 3rd and Nick Orman getting control of his boat and head and improving quickly to second with Ian Stone taking the win.
Race 3 and even more wind and now quite lumpy and the war of attrition continued with Ian Stone breaking his kicker. The fleet was now pretty much banging the corner and the beats could have featured at about level 7 in Dante's inferno.
With Stone now back in the pits Orman stepped up to take the win with Rob Cook continuing his improvement throughout the day to take 2nd after a brutal hike off with Wayling who secured 3rd.
Then a long sail home to share Ibuprofen and war stories.
A subdued evening as most of the fleet were exhausted and the Football was on.
Day 2 dawned thoroughly miserable with a lot of aching bodies but as the Ibuprofen took effect the day brightened and we launched into a gusty force 2 - 4 for a further scheduled 3 races but this time in Portland Harbour.
Starting choices were slightly more challenging with those going to the pin looking good at the start of the race but the boats that went right gained further up the track with favourable shifts. The wind was very shifty at the windward mark.
With both Stone and Hawkes returning to the fray, the finish order was Stone, Hawkes and Orman.
Race 5 saw less of a choice on the startline but managing the shifts and the traffic from other fleets was essential. The wind was slowly building throughout this race with a few epic battles going on throughout the fleet as the sailors threw their tired bodies into the penultimate race. The finish order was the same with Stone firmly taking control but Hawkes pushing him the whole way.
A few sailors headed for home as the last race beckoned and the wind continued to build.
A busy windy beat saw Stone extend but Hawkes, Birbeck and Ayres round the windward mark in close proximity with Orman a little behind as he struggled to hold the boat down. As the fleet rounded the windward mark the wind increased to survival levels and things started to get really tasty.
Orman Capsized giving Birbeck and Ayres the opportunity to cash in a podium position for this race but Ayres bottled it downwind citing exhaustion. Orman caught Birbeck but every time the fleet turned downwind he fell in on the gybe and then had to catch up.
Thankfully a wind shift made the dead run in 35kts a broad reach and after a very lively sail, the result was Stone, Hawkes, Orman, Birbeck with Ayres taking la Flamme Rouge as the final finishers of the entire regatta.
A low key covid prize giving saw Ian Stone thank Castle Cove Sailing Club, the Regatta organizers and the race office and his crew.
A fantastic event very much enjoyed by all that took part.
Results
1. Ian Stone
2. Nick Orman
3. John Wayling
Full Results https://halsail.com/Result/Public/55031
