Phantom Eastern Series Round 3 at Creeksea Sailing Club

by Bill Taylor 1 Jun 10:57 BST 25-26 May 2024

The third event in the Phantom Class Eastern region series took place over the weekend of 25th / 26th May at Creeksea Sailing Club near Burnham on Crouch in Essex.

An entry of 18 boats from all over the region and further afield assembled on Friday to enjoy the home fleet's hospitality with the now traditional BBQ and sampling of two barrels of local beer provided by the home fleet.

Saturday morning dawned with a mirror flat river but with bright sunshine it looked likely that the locals prediction of an easterly sea breeze developing later would come true. An hour postponement to the scheduled start time allowed the strengthening breeze to make its way up river and stabilise sufficiently for race officer Eammon Browne to set the course and get the fleet away well before high water.

With a flooding tide the course required a beat downriver towards Burnham with the first mark being off the entrance to Burnham Yacht Harbour being followed by a run past Creeksea and beat back to the navigation mark off the Baltic Wharf before a shorter run to a leeward mark and beat back to the club line.

All straightforward it seemed, however, the use of an inner distance mark allowed Mark Spruce (and the PRO) to show his extensive knowledge of the rules of sailing by executing a "corinthian" start and crossing the fleet on port tack from an inshore position. Eammon had seen it all before and despite race hut comments he didn't recall Mark as he had complied with the requirement to pass the mark on his port side and had not crossed the line before the gun.

His reward was a second place in the ensuing race but he was perhaps unfortunate to have been caught by Jim Hopton who looked surprisingly comfortable on the tidal water of the Crouch rather than his home club of Shustoke. Richard Nurse from Northampton showed his customary speed to pull through the fleet to third place.

So much for the first race. The amusing and slightly concerning feature of the race had been the departure of a freighter as the fleet started accompanied by sirens from a guard launch and many hoots from the ships horn. The fleet was generally busy close tacking in shallow water and only an unfortunate few had to endure the wind shadow cast by the ship near the windward mark. A quick enquiry by the PRO to the club safety boat had confirmed that the fleet was well out of the way and that a recall was not required.

Discussion of this event later that evening revealed that several competitors hadn't even noticed the massive blue freighter or heard the accompanying warnings. Such was their dedication to short tacking.

The second race was started with a repositioned distance mark to create an outer distance mark and discourage any more daring starts. This seemed like a wise move until it became apparent that the blue fender utilised for this mark had somehow acquire magnetic properties being attracted to the rudder blade of several Phantoms. General recalls were required before order could be resumed and the second start finally got away.

The course was similar but this time the only external distractions were an impressive fly past by a Spitfire which created a musical note when it opened up its Merlin engine to zoom over the river and bank over the town. A magical moment so close to the anniversary of D-Day.

Back to the race. Chris Roberts and Jim Hopton had pulled out a lead to the windward mark and were untroubled throughout the race to finish ahead of Richard Nurse and Mark Spruce.

The fleet came ashore at high water to enjoy a free buffet lunch in the club's marque. Unsurprisingly few took up the offer of trying to finish off the real ale but a fair few cups of tea were consumed.

The third race of the day utilised a similar course with a downriver beat and shorter runs as the tide had now turned and the ebb was building.

The risk now appeared to be that the fleet would be pushed over the line by the tide but as it transpired the presence of a capsized boat at the outer distance mark proved more problematic (no names being mentioned in this report).

Spotting the opportunity that cunning fox of a Creeksea Commodore, Graham Dale Jones tacked promptly and headed out into the fairway and favourable tide off Baltic Wharf closely followed by Roberts. Dale Jones held off the challenge to round the windward mark first and these two headed straight for the north shore to avoid the tide and the following fleet.

The ensuing run followed its usual nervous course but these two boats managed to pull sufficiently ahead to avoid being drawn in to the wind shadow of the following fleet. After a gybing battle inshore Roberts managed to secure a lead at the leeward mark and hold off Dale Jones to the finish. Paddy Denby from Broadstairs had fought hard to keep ahead of the following pack and took third place.

The sailors adjourned to the Old White Harte in Burnham to enjoy some splendid food. Walking home to the club for some sailors apparently involved a novel attempt to gatecrash a wedding party at the marina bar but all attempts to name the bride and groom failed and they were sent on their way.

After the sunshine of Saturday the weather overnight had taken a turn for the worse and overcast skies with a hint of rain greeted the fleet on Sunday morning. The wind had also had a change of heart and reappeared from the south with little of the promised westerly element being seen. This meant that the East West orientation of the River Crouch left little alternative than the classic "Cliff and Canewdon" course option.

The plan was for three races to be held back to back in order to allow visitors to begin their journeys home in good time and hopefully avoid the stronger winds forecast for later in the day.

This course always generates a mixture of moans and smiles as the joy of a fast reaching start gives way to the dubious pleasure of a hard beat upriver at the point where the river runs in a more southerly direction.

Worthy of mention is the fact that Andy Smith showed what he could do in all three races by getting to the first mark ahead of the fleet. Roger Smith of the home club was also now getting his hand back in and was unlucky to capsize in the last race whilst well placed.

Rather than novelty shipping and aircraft the main feature of the day proved to be the presence of the local day boat classes on the same course.

As the first race got under way the RS Elites were passing through the start line area which led to some polite banter between the crews and Phantom helms. Sensible decisions allowed fair racing and Elites and Phantoms were able to sail together quite comfortably.

Roger Smith of the home club took the win ahead of Roberts who had pulled through the fleet from a poor start. Former winner of the event Phil Longley from Stone sailing club finished in third place.

The second race of the day again had a number of dayboat classes on the race course and to add to the mix a number of cruising boats were also present. None of this phased the fleet and again fair sailing and avoidance strategies allowed everyone to enjoy the river.

Jim Hopton was clearly after the win and sailed a good race to finish ahead of Roger Smith who was now putting together a late challenge. In third place was another near local Dean Saxton from nearby Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club. One to watch for the future now he has acquitted a newer boat.

The final race saw a reduced entry as the rigours of the weekend and back to back racing took their toll but it looked like a two way battle between Roberts and Hopton with little between them.

Again it was Andy Smith who got to the first mark ahead of Roberts with Hopton close behind. So close was the mark rounding that Roberts just managed to sail over Smith whilst Hopton drove down below him.

Finding a high mode allowed Roberts to get to the next mark at Canewdon with a good lead which he held on the long leg back down river. Hopton kept the pressure on throughout and finished well ahead of Paddy Denby and a somewhat spread fleet.

The final results saw Roberts take the open meeting win ahead of Hopton whilst Roger Smith finished in third place after a strong performance on Sunday.

So another Creeksea Phantom open meeting was completed and the club relaxed after a hectic weekend. Special thanks were made to David Chick and Luke who had manned the safety boat all weekend. Eammon Browne had similarly stepped into the breach to act as race officer all weekend and numerous other members helped out moving trolleys and helping boats to recover.

A special mention was also made for local hero Bill Taylor who helped out setting courses and directing operations whilst suffering from a stomach bug. Everyone knew he would rather have been racing but he will now have to wait till the next Eastern series event at Gorleston and Great Yarmouth over the weekend of 22nd/23rd June.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	1395	Chris Roberts	‑5	1	1	2	‑5	1	5
2	1492	Jim Hopton	1	2	‑4	‑7	1	2	6
3	1320	Roger Smith	‑8	5	5	1	2	‑8	13
4	1500	Richard Nurse	3	3	‑8	‑6	6	5	17
5	1245	Paddy Denby	4	‑8	3	‑9	8	3	18
6	1267	Dean Saxton	‑11	‑12	6	5	3	4	18
7	1405	Andy Smith	‑9	‑11	9	4	7	6	26
8	1443	Phil Longley	7	9	‑12	3	9	(DNC)	28
9	1482	Andrew Hunt	6	7	10	8	(DNC)	(DNC)	31
10	1433	Warren Martin	‑12	‑14	11	10	4	7	32
11	1342	Mark Spruce	2	4	14	13	(DNC)	(DNC)	33
12	1394	Nick Favell	(DNF)	10	7	12	10	(DNC)	39
13	1462	Graham Dale Jones	14	15	2	11	(DNC)	(DNC)	42
14	1297	Nick Crickmere	10	13	13	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	55
15	1459	David Nicholls	13	6	(DNF)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	57
16	1404	Eric Howe	15	16	(DNF)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	69
17	1234	John Allen	16	17	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	71
18	1425	Steve Pates	17	18	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	73