Phantom South East series at Frensham Pond Sailing Club

Phantom South East series at Frensham © Tom Flintham

The 2025 South East series kicked off at Frensham Pond with conditions a complete contrast to last year's icy F5 blasting. It was a relaxed start to the day to allow club racing to clear the water, so after a welcome bacon roll breakfast and a sunny open-air briefing for the Phantom and Lark fleets, we hit the water for a 12pm start with Phantoms going first.

Swinging from NE to E and back and varying from 2 to about 8 knots the fickle breeze gave the RO some challenges. In each of the 4 races a different course was set and led by the safety boat to give us visitors a chance.

Race 1 and as the countdown started the wind lulled so we drifted away with only local hero Richard Moore called OCS. This breeze lull was to become a pattern for race starts and whilst it picked up at times the shifts left holes where there were ripples, and smooth water where there was breeze. This was a day when local knowledge was to pay off, or were the local boats just better sailors? Probably a bit of both.

With plenty of place changing as holes and shifts swept the lake the fleet was often split across the lake chasing the shift patterns, racing was frustrating at times and we were always chasing the local fleet.

David Royse was impressive throughout, working his way through the fleet to take two bullets and a second and first place overall. After his race 1 OCS Richard Moor claimed a bullet and 2 seconds to take second with Simon Bond (overall third) and Rob Ahlheid also both from Frensham ensuring that top results were all local helms. The only intruder into the pack was Dave Patrick who found breeze away from the rest of the fleet in race 1 to claim a third place.

The fleet of nine Phantoms comprised just three travellers; perhaps the forecast had put the south coast sailors off, or was it the late finish? Let's hope for a few more at the next SE series event at Queen Mary SC on June 14th.

Thank you to the all the team at Frensham Pond Sailing Club for a well-executed event.

Overall Results: