Nationals attendance.

That may be the case in some classes grf if you are being unkind but in the phantom it certainly wasn't. The changes were made to stop the class going into extinction, to make it easier to sail and so make it more accessible. As a result admittedly the boat has got faster than it used to be. More of a by product than an intention.

And that last sentence is exactly where you have to convince the club sailor that sailing in the class fleet will make them better back at the club. We chose the B14 not just because of it's looks, numbers  and it being a high-performance boat but because the fleet is very accessible when it comes to technical boaty stuff (including 2nd hand equipment) but also it's social scene...it's more an extended open family then an "members only" club which some classes are.

Last weekend the Lightning Nationals took place at Northampton. There were 25 boats which is a fair turnout bearing in mind only about 400 boats built. What I find interesting is that turnout has remained fairly stable for the last 10 years or so. In this time the association has revitalized its self with a great website and superb organisation, the new builder has carefully re-designed the boat making it more modern and better built.