JJ Boats & Allen Brothers Phantom Eastern Series at Southwold SC

Phantom Eastern Series at Southwold © Simon Feilden

With Chris Roberts not able to attend due to illness, it was bound to be his ideal conditions, sure enough a North Easterly F2 built as boats slid down the muddy slipway and headed out of the harbour mouth for Round 2 of the JJ Boats and Allen Brothers Phantom Eastern Series. A strong incoming tide running with the wind resulted in a long slog uphill to the mark. The course was laid out in Walberswick bay a good distance from the shore so those choosing to head in to the shore to get out of the tide had a long way between themselves and the mark to gauge when to lay it. The left(shore) certainly paid and those able to judge the mark gained places. Ian 'Windy' Miller found excellent form and took the first win with John 'Titch' Wayling and myself chasing him hard. The second race saw most of the fleet head left, Windy however sniffed out a wind shift which lead him further out into the tide and then it cruelly swung back leaving him with a slog to the mark. As he worked his way up to the mark he watched many boats slip round the mark ahead of him.

So with the winner from the first race suffering at the back of the fleet, Titch and Matthew House started their duelling with Matt taking the win. Nick Favell made an appearance at the front half of the fleet to take 3rd place ahead of phantom open newcomer Nick Yannakoyorgos.

The final race on Saturday saw the whole fleet head left and stay there regardless of any tempting shifts. Titch managed to hold off Matt and Windy to grab the race win. So at the end of Saturday, with a different winner in each race, Titch had the lead on count back.

Phantom Eastern Series at Southwold - photo © Simon Feilden

Rumours were abound that further light conditions would be arriving for Sundays racing. So tired sailors headed off to eat and rest. Windy had graciously offered floor space to those not wishing to sample a cold night in a tent so a good evening was enjoyed at his mothers house. Windy and Henri's dog, Ditto, also had a good evening finding a great deal of pleasure in first Daren's leg and then newcomer Nicks. Obviously a phantom sailors leg has very attractive properties.

A cloudless sky and F2-3 South Easterly greeted the sailors as they got ready to race. The sea hadn't taken kindly to the change in wind direction overnight which resulted in two converging wave patterns. The PRO decided that a starboard rounding course would be the most fun due to the wind/tide directions. Titch and Matt continued their duelling with Titch gaining upwind to take the win. Nick Favell managed to grab second from Matt. In the second race Titch once again got ahead of Matt to take the win. The final race was delayed while a small course adjustment was made due to the wind moving round. This resulted in the best reach of the day with plenty of speed and spray to enjoy. Titch took his third win of the day and Matt bagged another 2nd place.

Some cracking sailing was enjoyed over the weekend and thanks to all the volunteers on the boats including a guest appearance of Simon Fielden helping out Jez Taylor who both looked like they would have enjoyed a bit of yotting with us...

Overall Results: