2023 Phantom National Championship at South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club - Day 1
by Mark Spruce 15 Sep 11:20 PDT
16-18 September 2023
2023 Phantom Nationals at Abersoch Day 1 © Peter Hawkins
50 boats went to the line in 10-14kts SSW for day one of the Phantom Nationals. PRO Mike Crompton set 2 W/L courses, squeezing a 2 lap second race in with a fading breeze.
After a 2 year absence from the class, Harry Briddon (Ogston SC) started where he left off, winning both races in commanding style.
He was pushed hard in each race by Rob Cook from (Northampton SC) and Martin Watts (Netley SC) who currently sit in 2nd and 3rd overall.
Class legends Mike Webster and Titch Wayling, both from Northampton SC complete the top 5, Titch clearly benefitting from a summer of big fleet racing at the OK Class Worlds.
In both races, the wind threatened to shift hard right as the breeze faded but the left, with a lifting port tack approach to the WW mark kept coming good. With the wind reducing to 8kts for Race 2, many competitors struggled to find the rare streaks of backing pressure across the course.
It's also great to see so many new sailors in the class with so much support, tuning and sailing advice being freely offered to bring everyone up to speed. The strong fleet of 50 boats have travelled from as far afield as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Guernsey.
4 races are planned for tomorrow in potentially 15-20knots southerly.
This evening, the fleet are enjoying the Commodore's Reception and Class Curry night at the South Caernarvonshire YC, fuelling up for tomorrow's extra race.