The Phantom Dinghy (Classic/Woodie)

In the beginning…

It all began in the late 1960's when good friends Brian Taylor and Paul Wright, co-designers, got together through their love of boats and sailing...... and hence the birth of the Phantom.

Betty Taylor (class secretary for the first 10 years) reflects back to the days when it all began:

"Many times Brian and Paul had discussed their ideal singlehander; In 1969, they started making cardboard models and adjusted them until they got one that looked right. During the winter of 1970/ 71, Brian took the plunge and started to build. He spent hours in the garage; there were SOSs to Paul to come over when snags arose and there were nights when all our electric fires were rushed into the garage to heat up the boat, which was under sheets of plastic, to make resin 'go off'. Brian bought a secondhand sail when on a caravanning holiday in and also bought a length of mast extrusion; when we tried to load it on to the top of the car it hit the caravan so he had to hack a piece off so that we could get it home without damaging the van. Thankfully it was long enough when he made the mast.

Finally, in May 1971, the great day came and what was to be the Phantom prototype was launched at Buckenham Ferry. Brian had intended it as a 'one-off' for himself, but when Paul saw it sailing he realised it could have good commercial possibilities. He made the second boat and slightly modified the deck layout to make it easier to build from a kit or plans.

Choosing a name proved difficult. One Sunday both families gathered at Paul's house, armed with lists of names and dictionaries. Several ideas were tried, but it was not until 'Phantom' was suggested that we could all agree. During the summer of 1971 the two boats were taken to several sailing venues and were enthusiastically received by all who tried them.

It was first shown at the Crystal Palace in 1972 and by the September enough boats had been built to hold the first championships at Oulton Broad.

Our first National Champion was Peter Shanks - No.11 from Reading Sailing Club. During the same weekend the inaugural meeting of the Phantom Class Association was held on 19th September. Brian was in the Chair and read the proposed Constitution and Rules; after some discussion the one- design class rules were adopted."

The families of Brian and Paul still have reassuringly close links with the class and help provide the heart warming continuity from its birthplace to current times. In 2009 an agreement was made to share the mandate to approve any changes to the external dimensions of the hull or sail plan, with the Association having sole rights for other class design changes.

Since its original wood 'stitch and glue' build process the class has had several builders involved over the years. Vandercraft being the early GRP builders and now with the Epoxy design, Ovington Boats provide the all epoxy solution with James Jarvey Boats developing the epoxy/wood combination. The advancement from metal to carbon rig has also made significant changes to the performance of the boat, enabling a broader range of crew weights using the ever advancing flexible carbon masts and super stiff booms together with a range of high quality sail design from many of the leading sail lofts.