A quick check of the regular websites of Wind Guru, BBC Weather and the Met office on Saturday evening indicated that we were going to be in for a good day's sailing. The forecast was for 11-13mph winds with sunny intervals with the possibility of some stormy clouds and a chance of light rain later in the afternoon. We would have to wait and see.

The day dawned with slightly more wind than forecast and a Simpsons blue cloudy sky, A good force three with some gusts of force four was going to be the order for race one.

My own early arrival was greeted by a few very early starters who were already rigging their boats and by the time 10am had arrived the Phantom/Solution fleets were beginning to look very healthy indeed. Total turn out for the day saw 21 Phantoms and 6 Solutions, this coupled with regular club fleet sailing saw a busy pre start zone between the committee boat and the pin end.

Thanks should go at this stage to the officers of the day Jon Batt and Nick Broomhall who did a fantastic job of setting brilliant courses and managed to get the fleet away at the first time of asking for all three races. The OD's comment after the event was that he had never seen such a well behaved fleet with all competitors waving a hand of thanks when crossing the finish line.

As for the sailing, I always knew that I was going to have the honour of the transom view of the fleet, this was certainly the case for this event as within a few seconds of the start of the first race the "top helms" were already pulling away. Simon Hawkes, Ed Thomas, Richard Simes and Andy Downie were amongst the early pace makers. The finishing order for all the races is listed in the results.

Race two saw darkening clouds and a "brewing" wind strength with the wind still coming straight down the lake. This made the beat look very foreboding indeed but the fleet got away clean and soon settled into an already familiar pattern. The fast reaches were great fun with the added entertainment aspect of lots of gybes zig zagging all the way down the lake. Mike Potter who had travelled from north Norfolk to be here on the day had a spectacular capsize on the second gybe of the race but soon recovered to regain his race position.

Read MorePre-race two saw John Reay (Blithfield) trying an experimental "boom detached from the gooseneck" tactic to try to gain an advantage, nice try John, pity it didn't work!

It was a delight to have the Solution fleet join in with the fun and made for a good overall fleet size and a good atmosphere in the club house once sailing had concluded for the day. Eventual honours for the Solution fleet went to Stella Morrits.

Trying to sail in challenging conditions was more than my patched up back could take so I had my best result of the day by being first to the bar when all the rest of the fleet headed from the shore for race three. The wind has settled back down a little and had shifted more to the West but was still typically down the lake and the fleet were off again. From my vantage point of the viewing gallery I had a chance to see just how Simon Hawkes was managing to sail Phantom 55 so fast, his pace to windward was exceptional and his technique is..... Sorry not prepared to share that one as I'm going to try it myself next time out.

Other highlights of the day included Ed Thomas, who had travelled from Southport, breaking his carbon mast as he was rigging, fortunately in the scrap bin at Blithfield we managed to source him a brand new Selden S3 carbon mast and matching boom so at least he still had a chance to sail.

It was only the second open meeting I have sailed in as I have only been sailing a Phantom for just over a year having been away from the sport for more than 25 years but when you meet the fleet "characters" such as Ollie, Andy Downie and Adam Perry it makes it a privilege to be sailing alongside them (well for 30 seconds or so then they pull ahead anyway!) Any one reading this article considering having a go in a Phantom would be made welcome at any event I'm sure.

On behalf of the Phantom and Solution fleet I would like to offer sincere thanks to the Galley and bar staff who did a great job looking after our dietary needs. Thanks again to the race officers and safety team who were kept on guard with lots of capsizes.

Overall honours for the Phantom fleet went to Simon Hawkes (1st) Ed Thomas (2nd) Richard Simes (3rd) and Andy Downie (4th ) and first Blithfield boat.

On a final note, we were delighted with the turnout and it's always good to get feedback. Some of the suggestions may well be tried if the fleet returns to Blithfield.

1. Simon Hawkes, 55, Wimbleball SC.

 

2. Ed Thomas, 1342, Pilkington SC.

3. Richard Sims, 1390, Carsington SC.

4. Andie Downie, 1337, Blithfield SC.

5. Adam Perry, 1281, Pennine SC.

6. Martin Emberson, 1339, Northampton SC.

7. Andy Bownes, 1302, Shustoke SC.

8. Chris Wright, 1296, Blithfield SC.

9. Jim Hopton, 1158, Shustoke SC.

10. Ollie Shaw, 1111, Leigh & Lowton SC.

11. Martin Knott, 1198, Ribble SC

12. Bob Hodkinson, 1106, Blithfield SC.

13. Mike Potter, 1268, OASC

14. Bryan Youlden, 1319, Blithfield SC.

15. Chris Cooper, 1173, Rotherham SC.

16. Colin French, 1012, Blithfield SC.

17. John Reay, 988, Blithfield SC.

18. Simon Deeks, 1222, Hollowell SC.

19. Tom Chadfield, 1096, Blithfield SC.

20. Alan Tolley, 1249, Blithfield SC.

21. Lee Jankovski, 1047, Blithfield SC.