Laser and Phantom Open Meeting at Shoreham Sailing Club
by Wendy Wood 13 Sep 2006 21:15 BST
2 September 2006
Despite forecasts of strong winds almost 20 boats made the journey to Shoreham Sailing Club for the Laser and Phantom Open Meeting on Saturday 2nd September. After some deliberation and discussion, race officer Chris Seymour decided to run racing for those willing to brave the wind, waves and rain. 11 Lasers and 2 Phantoms ventured out to sea to be greeted by 20 knots of wind and 2 metre waves.
With a lot of thrills and spills, two races of the planned three were completed before the fleet were sent in. This proved to be a wise decision as the predicted gale then really kicked in. All the sailors seemed to have enjoyed their day – even the three visiting Phantoms who decided not to risk their boats or themselves prior to the Phantom Nationals the following weekend.
Simon Barrington from Weirwood took first place in the Laser event, with Nicolas Van Tienen from Stokes Bay in second. The Phantom event was a closely fought local derby with Rowan Chaplin narrowly taking first place from Steve Popple in second.