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[Olly]

I thought the brass monkey was full?
Do what I do take the wife and tell her it's a winter break away

[gordon Kingston]

Hi All
Dont know what happened at Weymouth in the summer and very disappointed to see such negative comments on an open Forum, not good for the class.
What other winter handicaps can we all do to make a show? Lets all try and get out their and promote the fantastic class we have I am even tempted to risk the Frensham frenzy or Perisher at Hayling Island. Plus the Portsmouth SC Turkey race on Christmas day. Now I dont do winter sailing any more normally as I have an issue with the cold(I hate It).
Come on we need some positive stuff on here.
Regards
Gordon
So w

[Little Monster]

Olly/ Gordon

Sorry if me confirming that I'm only doing the Stevie Nich in some way causes negative publicity for the class.  I didn't know my participation was that critical 

Whilst the Forum is a powerful promotion tool it only really works if people use it and that they don’t take it too seriously.  That means promote the good stuff, air the bad stuff (so that it can be avoided/ worked on in the future) and take any banter and comments with a pinch of salt if you don’t agree.

People should share their experiences good and bad so that people know what to expect from being involved with the class.  We are very fortunate that negatives are very rare.  For the last four years I have been to about 12 or 15 venues a year and can say that Sailracer are the only cause of any negativity.

I'm not about to openly share the Sailracer experience that Matt and I (and others) had other than to say that the reason you don't know exactly what happened is that we generally chose not to go into too much detail. 

To be clear I do not have a problem with any of the SailJuice Series events as each one is run by the host club rather than organised by Sailracer.  This makes all the difference to me....

Sailfest was one of the first events that Sailracer organised themselves.  From MY experience I would pass on advice that if its one of their events 'what they tell you isn't necessarily what you actually get' and that applies on and off the water. 

The racing we got there was amazing but it was in spite of the organisers and because of the 17 strong fantastic phantom sailors (and PWAGs before I get into more trouble..) and the fun that we get from sailing our boat. 

The Forums a fantastic place to get to know more about the boat, what events are going on and the great people who sail them.  If the forum becomes too sanitised and only about the good it's only doing part of its job.

But that’s just my opinion

Cheers
Ian

[DonaldM]

Well said Ian!

We sail off the RYA PY at ELYC (North Berwick = North Sea) and we principally race each other (generally getting 4 Phantoms on the water on a regular basis) but have managed to win 1 trophy race and 2 series on handicap against a wide variety of boats (averaging 20 or so per race) - on the old handicap of 1025 we were winning most races/series and, while it's much more testing now, it's arguably more fun.

That said, wouldn't want the rating to fall much further!

DonaldM - 1275

[gordon Kingston]

Hi Ian
Thanks for your response as I said I dont know what happened , I am in the situation that a lot of the people I have been sailing against in the class at opens seem to be leaving and whilst my boat is for sale I was hoping there might be a class for me to come back to when I could afford it.
It was not that long ago that we had strong representation at most of the now saijuice events and I am sure it helped promote the class and bring a range of sailors of various abilities into the class.
At the moment we seem to be in the doldrums numbers falling at Nationals and Open meetings and no sign of anything being done to stop this. It must be very frustrating for the existing committee.
As you said the forum can be used for positive and negative comments but at least discussion keeps things alive.
Donald I race of 1012 and can hold my own on handicap on the sea at Lee when I sail well I win, but the laser with its handicap having moved so far the other way is becoming a pain.
Good luck for next year.
Gordon

[rich96]

The current handicap for the Phantom is almost ludicrous for many conditions.

On the sea its certainly extremely optimistic.

Its almost on a par with a 300 and not getting a lot of time from a Contender/Fireball etc.

However, this should not affect opens and nationals etc.

Elsewhere we have discussed single day opens - lots of other classes do it successfully. If Solos do it why not the Phantoms ?

Its no use going on about how great the socials are for a two day event whilst the numbers just drop off and off.

A combination of one and two day events might attract more participants ?

[Olly]

Rich,
This year we have an equal number of 1 and 2 day events.
I have made it so the 1 day events are on lakes and the 2 dayers on the sea.
Rich which club do you sail at? Have we an event at your club this year?

[rich96]

Olly

We had a one day event at Bough Beech this season and will do so again next.


We combined with Contenders and Blazes (separate starts).

4 races were easy to fit in.

Having it on a Saturday makes it much better for the club members (they can use all the lake on Sunday) and easier to get race teams together.

Being quite local to London may help also?

[maxibuddah]

Why can't you have one day events on the sea as well olly? I love sea sailing but I can't do two day events normally.

[rich96]

Agree completely.

Lots of Laser events were one day on the sea - 4 or even 5 races - more than enough for most of us.

I'd really love to have a few races on Saturday then a good evening of drinking followed by more sailing on Sunday but its very difficult for most of us now. Getting a pass for more than one or two whole weekends a season is unlikely.

Getting a pass for a Saturday or Sunday much easier.

Additionally a one day event is 'relatively' economic.

[Little Monster]

Why not just go for one of the two days then everyone gets what they want?

Ian

[Olly]

We could I suppose. All of the sea events are tied in with other regattas. Fit example Paignton is part of the posh regatta Weymouth/castle cove is part of Weymouth dinghy regatta (this us the southern champs as well) and Lyme is part of Lyme Regis regatta.
I did it this year as a mix of 2 day and 1 day events as that what the general opinion was. If everyone is now saying they only want 1 day events then that's what we will do.
What I don't want to do is make them all 1 day which then reduces numbers cause people don't want to travel that far for 1 day.
I have ALWAYS said I will do what the members want, however I'm not a mind reader so please let me know what everyone wants to do. I'm not hard to get hold of I receive all emails on my phone, so let me know.
Ollyhopkins@hotmail.com
07969476156

[NeilB]

Hi
POSH is a great event it'd a real shame not to do it; sounds like it's be a major compromise to the Weymouth and Lyme events to only do 1 day of 2.However as a compromise leave them in as 2 days and have a separate Phantom prize / result towards the Southern travelers for each day and overall, then everyone gets what they want and a choice of Sat or Sun sailing for those only wanting to do one day.
For my part I'd much rather do a 2 day event, unless a one day is right on my doorstep, being stuck out in the boonies it often doesn't seem worth the hassel of several hours travel for one day.
Neil