Phantom Northern Super Series event at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club

Phantom Northern Super Series event at Bassenthwaite © William Carruthers

Wayne Fletcher wins the Phantom Northern Super Series event at Bassenthwaite © William Carruthers

A select group of nine Phantom sailors contested the Northern Super Series event at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club on 10-11 August.

Class chairman Rob Cook and newcomer to the fleet Wayne Fletcher had taken advantage of the event also being the second weekend of Bass Week to arrive early with relatives and get in some practice. In the end Wayne's boat spent much of the week off the water for repairs, giving Rob the advantage of recent experience of the conditions.

Like much of the week had been, Saturday was windy. The cub's report described it as 'a sun-filled day with WSW F4' although this feels like something of an understatement. With the direction the club finish line was a particular challenge, tucked under the windward shore. But across the course we were greeted by gusts well into the high 20s (at least in my opinion) and with a significant downward component adding to the shiftiness. Three races were scheduled, all with complex courses to keep the various fleets separated as much as possible. Thankfully the Phantoms were off second, with a decent fleet of RS400s to follow.

Richard Nurse won the boat end in the first start (featuring a couple of Flying Fifteens who hadn't read the amendment to the SIs), and whilst it wasn't by any means plain sailing he carried on to take the win. Wayne was not the only person to fall foul of a particularly vicious gust at the windward mark, before recovering to second place, showing that an older boat and stiffer mast is no obstacle if you still hike like a laser sailor. Rob 'could barely hold his mainsheet' - perhaps due to a slight excess of heavy wind practice.

But, unlike most of the fleet, he wasn't fooled by the RS400s seeming to round an extra mark on the first run as they all headed off on port, allowing him to recover from his shaky start and take third place. Jon Shaw didn't let the small fleet size preventing from starting firmly in the second row, but just about held off Jim Hopton to take fourth. This uncharacteristically good result would prove to have dire consequences later in the weekend. Clive Harris finished in sixth.

The Bassenthwaite way is to come ashore between each race. This is an extremely civilised way to do business, particularly with the standard of lunch on offer. The wind had moderated slightly for the second race, although not as much as it seemed from the sunny bank in front of the clubhouse. That meant that fleet management became more important to success, rather than staying upright.

At this point it should be noted that the report is traditionally written by the fifth placed sailor in order to give a flavour of the action at the sharp end. However, Jon made some extremely poor choices in race two, at one point coming perilously close to filling a Flying Fifteen sandwich as the gusts returned. As a result there is little eyewitness action to report from this one. Rob's lunch had clearly agreed with him, as he won from Wayne, Rich and Andy Smith in fourth.

The third race looked a glorious prospect in the afternoon sunshine and the fleet swelled to nine with Dave Smith tempted out to join the fun. The wind was down but no less gusty, and the course featuring more reaching and less running. Wayne got away cleanly at the start, whilst both Rob and Rich were over and had to round the ends. That left Wayne with enough of a lead that he was never seriously threatened, with Rich eventually picking his way through to second and Jim taking a creditable third ahead of Rob.

Andy Pyett took fifth place after a multitude of three abreast mark roundings in the middle of the fleet. Karma punished Andy S for one optimistic attempt to reach in to the leeward mark as both Jon and Clive eventually finished ahead of him (perhaps simply due to weighing more, by this point in the day).

A highly efficient pizza delivery from Cockermouth refuelled most of the fleet, sitting on a bench as dodgy as a Phantom stalwart's knees and enjoying a relatively restrained evening to the sounds of the children's disco in the clubhouse (with shapes also being thrown by Manon the lunch provider). There was talk of the unlikelihood of any racing in the morning due to the dismal forecast. This would have been a great shame with Wayne leading, but Rob and Rich both within a point.

Your humble correspondent may have been overly influenced by the talk of no wind, and enjoyed a leisurely morning (dismissing the rustle of leaves in the upper camping field as a mere zephyr). Upon arrival at the slip with coffee in hand, 15 minutes before the race began, it became clear that it was a stunning day, with 10-12 knots blowing straight down the lake.

The panicked launch led to Jon inadvertently carrying a large spider around the course, although once it was encouraged to make itself at home in the gear tidy it survived the day's single long race with no obvious ill effects.

The PRO sent us up the lake, and a stunning beat it was. In the more predictable conditions, the fleet was much more evenly matched, although class showed as the overnight top three soon worked their way to the front, with Rob leading at the windward mark from Wayne and then Rich. Clive was keeping them honest in fourth (whilst making a late bid for the job of writing the report).

Further back Jim had several goes at splitting from the fleet, but none were quite enough to get him back into contention for a top three place.

Phantom Northern Super Series event at Bassenthwaite - photo © William Carruthers

The wind was noticeably lighter by the top of the three-mile, 45 minute beat, and the reaching legs across the top of the lake were uneventful (save allowing for time to actually drink that coffee). On the long run back down to the club, Rob went right, whilst the rest of the fleet stayed closer to the western shore. Jon forgot to pay attention to events at the front under pressure from Andy P and Jim, but by the time we got back to the north end of the lake Wayne had got in front, followed by Rob, Rich and Clive.

The remainder of the course was a procession to the finish, which meant that Wayne took the overall win with 4 points, with Rob edging out Rich for second place - both of them on 6 points. Jim was fourth as a reward for his foray into the podium places.

The list of thank yous that opened the prize-giving was extensive, but all of them were richly deserved, IMNSHO. By the 40 minute mark my tender hands were very much running out of clap. But the finale was enlivened by an unknown raconteur, speaking on behalf of the visiting boats. Clearly a Phantom sailor in spirit (and physique), he lifted the crowd with an anecdote based around his mispronunciation of 'quiche' that I was on strict instructions to include in this report.

As we departed there were already mutterings of an attempt to get enough Phantoms up next year to give us a class start all week. Thanks to all at Bassenthwaite for your hospitality, and congratulations to Wayne. I'm glad to say that it probably won't matter if I'm not close enough to see how you fare in a bigger fleet at the Nationals!

Overall Results: