Phantom Craftinsure Super Series at Castle Cove Sailing Club

Simon Hawkes wins the Phantom Craftinsure Super Series event at Castle Cove © CCSC

The Castle Cove Phantom fleet of nine were joined by three talented visitors to sail in the beautiful Portland harbour in wonderful sunshine accompanied by warm breezes in what is part of the Craftinsure Super Series.

With the Inlands only the week before it was understandable that entries were less than normal, but the fleet was tightly packed from front to back resulting in excellent racing for all.

In race one it was very tight at the windward mark, and as the fleet reached across to commence their outer loop Charlie Sansom took advantage of the jostling Mike Tustin and Simon Hawkes and sailed underneath them to emerge in front. From there, he never looked back with Tustin claiming second and Hawkes third.

Race two began in slightly more wind than the first. Again, this was a tight affair. Those that went left up the first beat seemed to benefit with Nick Orman and Simon Hawkes rounding just ahead of Mike Webster. Lap two also benefited the left-hand side of the beat giving victory to Orman followed by Hawkes with Richard Woodward managing to sneak past Webster into third.

Race three was again in a stiffer breeze of ten knots. This time it paid to go right up the beat with the wily Hawkes getting to the windward mark with a lead hotly pursued by Webster, Sansom and Tustin. Orman who rounded in eleventh expertly proceeded to sail through the fleet on the downwind legs to get to the front of the pack. The second lap was close, and the windward mark saw some close racing with Tustin taking some turns as five boats bundled into the mark separated by the tightest of margins.

This argy bargy only assisted in lengthening Hawkes' lead. In this race first to last was separated by a minute with Hawkes taking the honours followed by Orman and Webster respectively.

What followed was a great curry on a balmy summers evening accompanied by some beers and cider and some equally fruity anecdotes!

Sunday's forecast of almost nothing had pushed some of the sailors to making other more beach-based plans.

The race team postponed and held their nerve. At midday, we launched into some light and very patchy breeze. But before race four commenced, the breeze built to a steady six knots and some more very tight racing began.

The featherweight Sansom led from the front with Hawkes and Webster completing the top three.

In race five the wind had shifted a little with the line now port bias. Woodward and Andy Smith (unbeknown to them) were OCS effectively creating a six-horse race. Ben Dancer with some tuning tips from last night now implemented was right at the front battling it out with Sansom. They raced closely trading gybes on the leeward leg. The others hoped they would distract each other and allow them back into it, however, this was not the case with Sansom the victor followed by Dancer and Webster in third.

The final race now had a very port bias line with some shenanigans at the crowded pin end enabling Jon Richards a clean start from three quarters of the way down the line. At the windward mark Sansom led followed by Richards, Webster and Dancer respectively.

With the wind now beginning to die, the race team wisely decided to finish the fleet at the top mark of lap three. Sansom sailed through the line just ahead of rapid Richards to what looked like another race win and overall regatta glory.

However, what Sansom did not realise was that in his eagerness to get away quickly he too had fallen victim to the OCS. This cliffhanger of an ending handed Richards a well-deserved maiden Phantom open race victory and all the overall spoils to the grateful and grinning Hawkes with a margin of one point!

Thanks to all the volunteers at Castle Cove for putting on such a great weekend and for turning on the sunshine! Particular thanks go to Martin Pascoe and his race team for orchestrating wonderful racing for both the Phantoms and 2000's on two courses.

Thanks also to the friendly 2000s for being magnificent event sharers.

Final thanks to our sponsors LIFTech (the perfect people for all your lift requirements) and Craftinsure for sponsoring the series.

Next up is Northampton SC on the 13th & 14th June.

Overall Results: