Most of the west country Phantoms turned out for the first ever Phantom open at Sutton Bingham SC on April 27th. They were greeted by a force 5 south westerly and the prospect of very hard racing.
The first race was very close up the beat with James Lancaster rounding the top mark first with a reasonable lead. Ian Jay rounded second in a massive squall and was forced to tack round, and the same gust capsized Lancaster 20 yards further down the lake. Alan Powell took advantage of Jay's wimping out to take second, with Pete Barnstable close behind. By the end of the run both Lancaster and Jay has closed back up with the leaders, and at the end of the lap Powell was first, Jay 2nd and Lancaster 3rd. Most of the competitors experienced difficulties with the wind, but none more so than Powell who at the end of the 2nd lap after just being overtaken by Jay, missed the toe straps and promptly went swimming for 5 minutes, followed by a retirement. Jay carried on to win the race, with Lancaster finishing in 2nd. Barnstable had been overtaken by a fast charging Richard Sallis and had to settle for 4th.
The 2nd race followed the same course, but for the benefit of the competitors was shorter. The start was slightly confused by the fact that Nigel Leveridge capsized on the line just before the start and was heard to apologise to everyone else. Jay was again the fastest overall, combined with the fact that he managed to keep the boat upright once more, and sailed around the course relatively unchallenged, apart from the wind. Sallis was in 2nd at the end, but had to hold off a determined Jeff Vanderborght who had finally got ready to sail after yet another of legendary late arrivals. They battled hard, but it was Chivers who held on for 2nd. 4th was taken in the end by Lancaster who had recovered from more swimming practice, with Barnstable in 5th.
By the time the 3rd race got under way the fleet had reduced to 8 by the conditions. Barnstable had a storming start at the port end of the line, before taking onto port and clearing the fleet. Jay was next though couldn\'t catch Barnstble. Lancaster was right up there until a large gust caught him off guard and dunked him in several times. Sallis and Vanderborght were also very close at the start of the run. By the end of the lap Jay had squeezed past Barnstable, but couldn't shake him off over the following lap. In fact it was only on the last beat that Jay got away, as Barnstable was forced to cover Sallis to ensure 2nd. Vanderborght had been racing Sallis very hard, until his carbon mast decided to break, ending his hopes of a good finish. 4th place was taken instead by Phil Harlow who was 7th at the end of lap 1. Everyone fully enjoyed the sailing, but will probably find that is it very difficult to walk on the morning following the event. Sutton Bingham SC would like to thank everyone for contributing to an excellent days racing at their first Phantom open.
Results- 1st Ian Jay Sutton Bingham SC
2nd Richard Sallis Cotswald SC
3rd Pete Barnstable Sutton Bingham SC
4th James Lancaster Bristol Corinthian YC
5th Phil Harlow Poole YC
6th Andy Hay Burghfield SC
7th Ron Chivers Weston SC
8th Paul Kerley Sutton Bingham SC
9th Chris Bottomley Sutton Bingham SC
10th Jeff Vanderborght Lyme Regis SC
11th Neil Fraser Sutton Bingham SC
12th Julian Doggerell Sutton Bingham SC
13th Nigel Johns Paignton SC
14th= Chippy Larter Bristol Corinthian YC
Nigel Leveridge Sutton Bingham SC
Phil Bailey Sutton Bingham SC
Tony Cumberbatch Sutton Bingham SC
Alan Powell Burghfield SC
