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Phantoms at Chew Valley open day

Race 1

Eleven Phantoms turned out for the open day for two races, a combined handicap in the morning followed by a full-length pursuit in the afternoon.
This counted as the final round in the South West Travelers event and the day started with a force 2 – 3 with gustier portions in between.
There was a strong turnout both with other visitors and the home club, which combined with low water levels and the resulting shallows, made close and enjoyable racing.
The eagerness of the fleet was shown with two general recalls but getting away successfully the third time.
The most successful getaway for the Phantoms was Simon Heusen who powered away to be the first Phantom to the windward mark. This led to a very long reach across the lake, which spread the fleet considerably.  At the front the main battle was with Hawkes and ‘Tush’ Tustin
Swapping places regularly.
The race settled with most people getting a good planing reach 2/3 the length of the lake finishing with Heusen first having sailed an untouchable race followed by Hawkes, Tustin, Mark Weston who traveled all the way from Yorkshire, then Al Keck.  Barnstaple, Bower and Bottomley continued to battle it out trying to avoid finishing in alphabetical order.
The fleet was followed in by Phil Wheeler on his first Phantom outing and finding his feet although still beating boats on handicap and enjoying the breezy reaches.
Sadly once back enjoying lunch Simon Heusen was called to the race officer to be told Phantom he thought was the same length as an Optimist was in fact the length of the Queen Mary and he was so OCS they thought he had started in another race. This in spite of the very capable Race Officer George ‘tannoy’ Simpkins conversing with the competitors over the public address system and telling them what he thought of their premature exploits!   Oh well, with very brief commiserations everybody moved up one.
High points- Hawkes and Tustin having a luffing match and on water discussion that probably cost them three places, Phantoms and F15, s involved in many on water discussions and Chris Bottomley delaying his finish so that he could display his improved capsize drill to the entire Club.

1st Hawkes- C.V.L.S.C
2nd Tustin- Bowmoor
3rd Weston- West Riding

Full handicap results on C.V.L.S.C website.

Race 2

A full-length pursuit, which started in moderate wind with some stronger gusts, mixed in and many shifts as the wind swung gradually round towards the north. Simon Heusen set off getting the start right this time followed by the pack.  He lost his way a bit for the next mark but held on for the next few legs with a battle developing between Barnstaple, ’Tush’ Tustin and Hawkes up the third beat. (Yes there were three good beats and only one decent reach!).
At the end of beat three Hawkes tacked in front of Heusen for the lay line on Port and shot the mark with a mm to spare.  Heusens luck did not hold and he performed a neat blocking maneuver for the following pack hitting the mark and going in to irons which caused much merriment for Hawkes who was lucky enough to pick up one of the gusts and steamed off on the half mile reach counting his blessings.  Mark Weston picked his way through to second at this stage and sailed a fast reach to gain a bit of breathing space.  Sadly the effort involved and the drive from Yorkshire apparently caused him altitude sickness and with little time to acclimatize he slowly started to succumb to the heavier crews.
Hawkes was away in clear wind and as the race progressed the ‘Tush’ and Heusen had a good battle swapping places with ‘Tush ‘coming good in the end. Barnstaple overtook Weston with Gordon Keyworth following in shortly behind.  The wind fell light towards the end, which slowed the progress of the other trapeze boats and the F15. Phantoms took three of the first four places but having been beaten well in the morning by the skiffs on a favourable course tends to show that 1043 was not out of place in the handicap system.
All in all a good fun event with many happy faces going home.

1st Hawkes- C.V.L.S.C
2nd Tustin- Bowmoor
3rd Heusen-Lyme Regis.

A big thank you to all who traveled far and wide to attend and to Chew Valley for hosting a good event.

Explanation re ‘Tush’!

Due to Mike’s continued strong progress through the fleet this year his name had not been on the results sheet at Chew and could it have been a Typo? Or could it have been Mike,s spirited discussion with Simon Hawkes whilst being luffed half way to Bristol that led to the now adopted nick name?
Could it even be due to his substantial trimming he is so proud of  its re-styling he wants us to admire it?
Whichever Mike coloured up a treat but as a final act of defiance when thrown the baby of the thank you speech as the first visitor with no notice at all carried it off with nonchalance.  Well done Mike.!
I have added some definitions below for you to decide.

tush 1   (t sh) interj. Used to express mild reproof, disapproval, or admonition.

tush 2   (t sh) n. 1. A canine tooth, especially of a horse.2. Chiefly Southern U.S. See tusk. [Middle English tusche, from Old English t sc; see tusk.]

tush 3   (t sh) n. Slang The buttocks.

Results of the South West series to be published shortly.

Full results on the Chew Valley website

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