P&B Phantom Midlands Traveller Series - Overall

by Mike Webster 20 Nov 2019 11:57 GMT

The Phantom Midlands Series has drawn to a close with the final event of being hosted by Grafham Water Sailing Club. A lower than expected turnout possibly due to the shocking forecast of 38knt gusts and the England's Rugby World Cup semi-final match against the All Blacks!

Despite this, Phantoms travelled from far and wide and were treated to two full days of back-to-back racing as part of the Ovington Winter Championships, racing in much better conditions than were predicted.

Overall podium places were awarded to: Martin Watts of Netley SC in first, Alister Morely of Salcombe YC in second, and Richard Sims of Carsington SC in third.

The P&B Midlands Series as a whole was made up of five events: Northampton SC (Inland Championships), Carsington SC, Shustoke SC, Blithfield SC and Grafham Water SC. Our thanks to each of these clubs for hosting the Phantom events, all of which were well organized, friendly and welcoming.

With a total entry 33 boats spread across 19 clubs it has been a reasonable start to reigniting Phantom Sailing in the Midlands after a gap of several years.

There were notably some consistent travellers attending most of the events, but clearly room for improvement in 2020 to attract more 'club' sailors and encourage them to hitch up their boats and venture forth !

The racing has been competitive with venues being centralized to try and reduce long journey times for midlands sailors. It was great to see people from other regions taking part and enjoying the friendly atmosphere.

Congratulations go to the 2019 series winner - Jim Hopton from Shustoke SC who sailed consistently well and will receive the Midlands Series Trophy.

Our thanks go to P&B the sponsors for the series who provided some great prizes for each event and continue to support the Phantom Class.

In addition to the event prizes and in an attempt to encourage more travelling Phantoms, P&B provided a 'Golden Ticket' series raffle prize of a mast bag. Every sailor at each event received a 'vitual' raffle ticket - the more events entered the more tickets they received! Drawn out of the hat, winning ticket 1447 - Richard Sims. Congratulations Richard and many thanks to P&B for their generosity.

With the 2019 season coming to a close thoughts are already being made towards next seasons series. So if you would like your club to be considered for the 2020 Midlands Series contact Mike Webster - Midlands Area Representative via www.phantomclass.org.uk

Overall Series Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail No	Club	Northampton	Carsington	Shustoke	Blithfield	Grafham	Pts
1	Jim Hopton	1400	Shustoke SC	8	2	3	1		49
2	Mike Webster	1440	Northampton SC	7	4	1			82
3	Richard Sims	1447	Carsington SC	12	7		3	3	60
4	Alister Morely	1459	Salcombe SC	4				2	111
5	Martin Watts	1259	Netley SC	6				1	112
6	Nick Orman	1446	Castle Cove SC	3				7	115
6	Ian Stone	1280	Maidenhead SC	5				5	115
8	Andy Couch	1456	Blithfield SC	1					141
8	Martin Knott	1434	Ribble CC		1				141
10	Doug Rankin	1136	Blithfield SC				2		142
10	Will Gulliver	1435	Northampton SC	2					142
10	Adrian Padro	1347 A	Shustoke SC			2			142
13	Malcolm Hall	1261	Carsington SC		3				143
14	Ian Hopwood	1456	Nantwich SC				4		144
14	Bob Portway	1334	Royal Harwich YC					4	144
14	Chris Biglin	1347 B	Shustoke SC			4			144
17	Brian Webley	1111	Shustoke SC			5			145
17	Matt Butler	1138	Yorkshire Dales SC		5				145
19	Gavin Vaughan	1390	Carsington SC		6				146
19	Steve Curl	1153	Chipstead SC					6	146
19	Peter Smith	1158	Shustoke SC			6			146
22	Daniel Wigmore	1457	Grfham Water SC					8	148
23	John Wayling	1346	Northampton SC	9					149
24	Tim Platt	1130	Maidenhead SC	10					150
25	Rich Cumberbatch	1348	Castle Cove SC	11					151
26	Steve Ward	1356	Bartley SC	13					153
27	Eric Howe	1404	Creeksea SC	15					155
27	Ian Harridge	1441	Nantwich SC	14					154
29	Bruce Hattersley	1357	Modbury SC	16					156
30	D Patrick	1318	Broadmoor SC	17					157
31	Olly Hopkins	1343	Bowmoor SC	18					158
32	Graham Dale‑Jones	1461	Creeksea SC	19					159
33	Colin Meadows‑ Smith	1389	Northampton SC	20					160