Crewsaver Phantom Nationals at Llandudno Sailing Club

The long weekend of 19 – 21 August saw a phantastic turnout of 72 Phantoms head North West to Llandudno Sailing Club for the Nationals, sponsored by Crewsaver. The event was another great success with the excellent host Club being both professional and hospitable in all that they did for the visitors. The move North saw many new, and younger faces in attendance showing the continued development and spread of the word, that the Phantom is the best single-handed hiking boat for those over 85kgs.

Following scrutineering and weighing racing started on Friday with a blustery Force 4-5 blowing from the North-West. Henry Ayres got things off to an entertaining start – always worth watching when attaching his fixed rudder - got out early and proceeded to rip out a toestrap fitting, then capsized on the way back in before effecting repairs, all to the delight of the crowd waiting to launch!

Using a reverse Olympic course Race 1 started with the fleet well spread on a good line. Simon Childs got away well and worked the shifts on the right to lead up the mile beat from Will Gulliver and Nick Beloe. These 3 rounded ahead of Allen Burrell and Henry Ayres. The run saw some good surfing opportunities, with these 5 keeping the same order to the finish, despite Gulliver briefly snatching the lead on the first reach, but Childs reclaiming it on the second.

Race 2 quickly followed, in a Force 3, Burrell and Beloe got away well at the Committee boat end, with the right side paying due to the stronger tide, Gulliver snatched the lead at the windward mark from Burrell, Childs and Beloe. A closely contested run saw all the leaders close up as the wind filled in from behind, Burrell and Gulliver chose the left leeward mark while Childs, Beloe and Tyler Harmsworth went for the right. Burrell and Gulliver pulled away up the beat with Childs in a clear 3rd. On the final reaches the wind dropped as the leaders neared the shore, Burrell and Gulliver held on but Childs was caught as the wind filled in from behind, Beloe taking 3rd from Harmsworth and Childs.

Friday night saw the Class AGM, with Roger Brown standing down after some 20 years in charge as Chairman, overseeing the class go from the doldrums to it’s current position of strength. The class owes a great deal to Roger and his wife Sue, and they were presented with a tankard and flowers as a gesture of appreciation for his/her service. Jools Abel takes over and we wish him all the best for his term as “Prime Minister”. Clive Mattson retired as Secretary, and we thank him for all his work during his term of office.

Saturday dawned with the wind around Force 3 again from the North West. 3 races were held back to back with lunches provided on the water. After a recall the fleet got away, inshore paid and Childs, Burrell and Gulliver led round the reverse Olympic course. Burrell almost caught Childs on the last beat but Childs held on to win from Burrell, Beloe and Gulliver.

Race 4 again needed the black flag, 5 boats being lobbed. Gulliver led Childs round ahead of Alan Husk onto a challenging run. Gulliver led until Childs went low on the reach and got water at the gybe mark, holding on to win. Gulliver followed ahead of the other front-runners recovering from poor first beats, Beloe, Harmsworth & Burrell.

Race 5 saw the tide change, and Burrell managed to escape off to the right into the tide. Childs rounded 2nd followed by Wayling, Beloe and Gulliver. The windward leeward was hard on the knees but Childs managed to split from Burrell and snatch the lead on the final beat. The run to the finish was tense and the leading 3 finished overlapped, Beloe snatching 1st from Burrell & Childs followed by Wayling.

The evening saw the Commodores reception and Disco, the low-light of which was the late night Karaoke session !

Sunday saw a shift in direction to offshore breeze from the South, bound to be shifty! The fleet were out there in plenty of time, and the black flag was out again after a recall with the tide pushing the fleet over. The wind shifted with minutes to go requiring a pin end start. Gulliver, Childs and Beloe were all there with Beloe and Gulliver getting away best. These 2 led the fetch to the first mark, with Richard Parkin and Burrell close behind. The wind shut off near the windward mark and the fleet struggled around the rest of the course. The leaders were confused over a change of course, with Beloe and Burrell heading for the wing mark instead of the windward mark, allowing Gulliver to drift clear. All sorts of changes happened behind as the wind eventually filled in at the penultimate mark, Gulliver won followed by Parkin and Burrell, with Beloe saving fourth and Brett Cokayne benefiting with a 5th.

This meant Childs led into the last race 1 point ahead of Gulliver who was 1 point ahead of Burrell. The race started under an immediate black flag, due to time constraints. The wind shifted right and all stacked up at the Committee boat. Childs held up most of the fleet on the boat and escaped well to lead. Again Burrell and Gulliver were in close attendance and when Burrell tacked off right, Childs protected the left and covered Gulliver. Burrell picked up a huge lift and breeze on the right to lead round convincingly and disappear down the windward leeward course. Childs rounded second followed by Wayling and Beloe. These positions remained the same round the 2 laps with few alarms as the wind made the beat into a fetch.

This meant that Childs regained the title he won in 2002, with Burrell 1 point behind in second, (3 years in a row as runner-up !). Will Gulliver took 3rd from Nick Beloe, with John Wayling impressively rounding off the top 5 (a Northampton SC 3/4/5).

Childs also took the 2-Score Trophy, with Joe Sadler the under 25 trophy, Paul Beasley the Masters (> 50), and Colin Walters the Grandmasters (>60).

Many thanks to Llandudno Sailing Club for being excellent hosts, we look forward to returning again, and our great sponsors – led by Crewsaver along with Seabrook Developments (Neil Fulcher), Pinnell and Bax, Red Eye Sails (Andy Elliott). See you all at the next major event – Inlands at Draycote Water on 1st and 2nd October.

Overall Results: