Crewsaver Phantom Northern Championships - Staunton Harold Sailing Club

18 brave souls arrived on a blustery Saturday morning to what would become 2 days of attrition, both for bodies and boats with 6 races scheduled in total.

Racing was close all day between the top 6 boats. Boat breakages were the main factor for the day with Gulliver being sent into an involuntary gybe, death role and subsequent vang failure. Couch breaking a halyard and Cokayne C doing a reverse summersault with pike as his toe strap gave way in race 3. Day one race wins were shared between Gulliver, Couch (2) and Cokayne B. Tyler Harmsworth also got in on the act with 2 seconds for the day and mixing it all up at the front as did Cokayne C. Pete Evens was showing that plastic was indeed fantastic in a borrowed boat (his own is wooden) as he always showed early on.

Saturday evening was spent in the local pub/curry house. Some were amused by the strange yet perfect combination but conversation and lager flowed. A huge platter was provided that beat even the hungriest phantom sailor. The evenings highlight was a rather long debate on the possibilities of a foiling phantom and whether a 17 stone man could get airborne! Consensus was that the foil would have to be wider than the boat!

Day two dawn as many a weary sailor yawned. Still windy, but at least only two races for the day. Couch and the Cokayne brothers led at the top and proceeded to stretch away. Couch took the gun with the Cokayne brothers enjoying a 2 lap grudge match on their local water that made exciting viewing from the shore side, nip ‘n’ tuck all the way, with ‘little’ brother C sneaking it.

The final race would be a showdown between the top 3, Couch, Cokayne C and Gulliver. The first six boats broke from the pack and left Cokayne C struggling in dirty air after a poor start. Places between the six changed frequently in the gusty and shifty conditions but by the end of lap one Cokayne C was back on their heals. He saw his opportunity as they followed each other off the leeward mark on a header and he tacked at the buoy. Tacking back on the next shift he crossed all six transoms heading to the right on a large lift. The whole pack then headed right and at the lay line a fortunate header put Cokayne C at the front as he fetched to the windward mark on starboard. Cokayne C and Couch then extended and tussled to the finish where Cokayne C took line honors with Couch doing enough in second to claim the title. Gulliver rolled in third, setting up an interesting National Championships in a month’s time at Lyme Regis.

Special mention should go to Clive Morley who traveled all the way from Margate for his first phantom event ever and claiming the Stella

Andy Couch    RYA                          10

Clive Cokayne    Staunton Harold    11

Will Gulliver    Northampton              15

Brett Cokayne    Staunton Harold    18

Tyler Harmsworth    Shoreham         20

Pete Evans      Rudyard                    20

Nick Orman    Weymouth                   28

Richard Sims    Carsington                 37

Paul Lester                    Chase           45

John Pryer                    Chester         51

James Case    Wells                           52

Mike Potter    Staunton Harold           64

Andy Downie    Glossop                     70

Brian Dennis    Attenborough            75

Eddie Brook    Elton                            87

Roger Day              Attenborough      89

Andy Kennington    Staunton Harold    90

Clive Morley    Margate                    95