Phantom Europa Cup at Medemblik, Netherlands - Overall

An advance party consisting of “El Presidente” ,“PCAS”, a van with “North” stickers and supporting crew boarded the Stenna ferry from Harwich to Hook Van Holland on Wednesday evening, having found the cabin and dumped the “Wash bag” we all met up in the bar, scoffed some food and drank some beer before realizing it was 1:30 am and we had to put the clocks forward one hour!! After 4 hrs sleep we came down for breakfast to find the galley had a captive audience and raised the prices to make as much profit as possible €12,50 for “Full English” was even too much for the hungry kitchen to find, so after cussionts and coffee we all agreed to travel in convoy from the Hook, good plan but all being in different spots on the ferry we seemed to get split up, finally meeting up at about the same time in Mebemblik itself, “Tom Tom” was leading the way for us which is why I was so surprised to see “Windy” with three boats heading the other directing, I trusted Tom Tom, after all I had put in the Longitude and Latitude and as always he came good, not like the plan to travel in convoy, so much for that plan.

Having had a budget breakfast on the ferry we were starving, but by the time all the boats were unpacked, Vic had produced the perfect “Bacon and Egg Roll”, all the Phantom sailors tucked in, with expressions like “Pukka” and “Awesome” flooding back, meanwhile some of the OK boys looked on, trying to discover what was more important to us, Food or sailing, no difficult really? after a little bit of measurement some of the lucky ones went for a practice sail, meanwhile I was getting worried when we heard that the 6 boat trailer, with “Alice” on board was fine but the three passengers only had two matching passports - and so “Rita” was born...

Simon C. came back from his sea trials to announce everything felt good, and looking at the results he was right.

Later that evening the 6 boat trailer arrived and was unpacked in seconds, boats rigged in sunshine and a gentle breeze, so Vic got the burgers out and we drank a few beers, soaked up the sun and said what a wonderful venue Medemblik was.

Day 1

Friday dawned with a nice gentle F4, blowing “offshore” it felt more like F2, The “Stone Posse” rolled up adding another 4 to make 23 Phantoms leaving the dock, “Where’s Jeff” was the only cry as we left from the slip for the 2 ½ mile run to the starting line which was of course the other side of the racing area, the Postponement flag went up and exactly on time it came down again to start the sequence, 5,4,1 and the first European event for Phantoms had started, amazingly to a clean start…

Jim H. set off at a pace, being chased but his boat lender Neil F. and Simon C. in the newest boat in hot pursuit, it quickly became apparent that shifts were aplenty and the chop was quite steep and the wind was now gusting nicely to help get through the waves which were just a nice height to get over the bow should you get it wrong. Jim H. held onto his flying start and Neil F. came through to hold second with Simon F. slotting in 3rd. Unfortunately Nick C. lost the plug in his mast foot and had to retire.

Race 2 was a repeat on race one, clean start, and the usual protagonists getting a jump and picking up the shifts quickly, the chop had built a little, making progress stop ‘n’ go, but Charlie C. had remembered how to got over, or was that through it?! Jim H. Charlie C. & Simon C. taking the 1,2,3 Race 3, and some were showing the signs of all that traveling others were remembering how to sail the boat through waves and improving all the time, Clean start with a 1,2,3 of Charlie C. Simon C. and Neil F.

Our next challenge was the 2½ mile beat back to base, I think I did it in three tacks but the legs were like lead and the arms like rods of iron, where did I put that mainsheet Jammer I was given for my last birthday? Once ashore and packed away we set off to the local pub to celebrate the “Queens Birthday” courtesy of a free invite and two beer tokens from RYC-Holliandier, having consumed more that our tokens worth we decided the “Band” was a little tired, but us more so, so we trudged back to the “Sundance Bar” to consume the generous donations from various quarters,, this is where we discovered we had our very own “Bartender” who realized he has survived the “epic” journey and should try and relive the stress of traveling at such high speed, (How fast can a Disco go in 2nd gear?), and only doing 2 races on day 1, so he took to the task of lubricating the fleet, we goy out every spirit bottle, which the fleet felt obliged to empty, only taking sips of course, as Nick T. says in his report “Every Little Helps” , what he hasn’t learnt is that as a bartender you serve the drink , but he did help dry out the bar and in fact he helped so much he was on the phone to “Ralph” most of the night, he never did find his other mate “Hughie”!!

Day 2

F4 off shore again – Race 4, Simon C’s. intake from the night before must of numbed the pain in his legs, or was it his brain but anyway his suffering was only slightly less than Charlie C’s who had been the person with the “Never Ending Glass” of Vodka and coke or was that Baileys’?, Nick C, was back with his fixed mast plug with a solid 3rd.

Race 5 – Saw the first and only “Individual” recall, I don’t know who it was, but it wasn’t me! Simon C. Nick C. & Charlie C. took the 1,2,3

Race 6 – the wind was dropping slightly nearer the shore or was it just more fluky? About ½ way up the first beat and we all saw a shift which carried on shifting, giving some a big advantage while other disappeared down the pan, Nick C. James J. & Jeff V. came out on the good side with the 1,2,3. And of course the now traditional 2½ mile beat back to the beer…

After 6 races and 2 nights socializing the majority of the fleet were ready for a quiet meal at the pub and a few beers, the meal was provided by the club including a very nice fresh fruit and custard like pudding. But as Phantom sailors do we could resist the temptation of another night in the bar, followed by “Burger n Chips”…

Day 3

F5 – On Shore - Race 7 – By the time the OKs and the Solos had packed the boats away deciding not to race, the “Top Three” set off to fight it out with Grant B. going out for the experience and Jeff V. to complete 2 more races, a late arriving Neil F. from a wedding in England didn’t quite make it to the start on time, Nick C. took his third bullet of the series with Simon C. 2nd and Charlie C. 3rd, so it was all to play for.

Race 8 – Charlie C. needed to beat Simon C, which left Nick C. to storm round the race track and take another bullet, Charlie C. 2nd and Niel F. 3rd pushing Simon C. down into 4th with Grant Blake finishing all 8 races in 5th.

Overall results below, our tanks go to “Stena Ferries” for giving us a generous discount on the crossing, “Marlow Ropes” for sponsoring the “Cup”, “Vandercraft” for the over 50 trophy, very nice it is too, although I am not sure “Rita” will get her name engraved on it? and David Blake for the 4th and 5th prizes of Dutch hand blown glassware…

And of course the RYC-Hollandia for running the event, very good courses, true start lines, slick race management and results service, Olympic Standards of course.

A great event – Yes. Will we do it again – Yes.

Overall Results: