P&B Midland Series Phantom Open at Northampton Sailing Club
by Andy Smith 29 Apr 06:57 BST
26-27 April 2025
John Harrison wins the Northampton Phantom Open © Andy Smith
Northampton hosted the P&B sponsored 2nd event of the Midland Series which was also the 2nd event of the Phantom Super Series, supported by GJW Insurance, over the weekend of Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th April. This was preceded on the Friday where a class training event was superbly run by Magic Mike Webster and Jon Rickard and attended by 8 sailors. This was a mix of onshore set-up discussions and a 2-hour on the water session doing practice starts, sprint races etc, followed by a video debrief session in the bar before dinner.
So, on to the event itself. The format for the event was for 3 races back-to back races on both days, with an option for a fourth race to be held on either day if the weather forecast and/or conditions merited it. The weather forecast was for light and variable conditions on both days, but with slightly more wind forecast for Sunday.
17 competitors took to the water and into Race 1, Duncan Adams (Burton) took an early lead and extended to the finish, with John Harrison (Rudyard Lake) getting a useful 2nd and Magic Mike (Castle Cove) a steady 3rd. Behind these 3, positions changed throughout the race, especially as the fleet compressed on the treacherous run to the leeward mark in virtually no wind. On the short beat to the finish Rob Cook (Northampton) and Clive Harries (Yorkshire Dales) got the better of Andy Smith (Hollingworth Lake) to finish in that order.
Race 2 was a very similar affair with the main protagonists being largely the same, but finishing in a slightly different order. John took the win with Magic 2nd and Duncan 3rd. Rob got another 4th with Andy gaining a couple of places on the final leg to 5th. At this point the wind switched off completely so the OOD, Martin Emmerson, took the popular decision to send the fleet ashore to enable the evening festivities to commence. After an excellent roast pork and stuffing bap, with chips and salad the majority of the fleet settled into the bar with copious quantities of Butcombe and rum & cokes.
Day 2 and the prospect of 4 back-to-back with a 10.30am start. The wind had switched round and Martin was able to set a good line and course. The fleet was swelled by the early arrival of Sam Coxon (Chase) who proceeded to show us all just how to do it. He made an excellent start from the pin end, tacked after around 30 seconds and was never seen again...! Duncan bagged another top three in 2nd with Tom Lonsdale (Northampton) picking up 3rd, Magic Mike 4th and John in 5th. Your correspondent can't provide any further detail on the nip and tuck, as I was languishing at the back of the fleet for the entire race, ho-hum...!
Into Race 4, John led at the top mark and proceeded to sail away for his 2nd bullet of the weekend. Alex Spurgeon (Lee on Solent) was 2nd round and looked pretty solid for the majority of the race. Andy had recovered from his disaster in Race 3, held 3rd for the first lap or so before falling back. Sam pulled through from fairly deep at the first mark and soon got into 3rd behind what was quite a large chasing group. On the final beat to the finish, Alex got marooned out to the left and could only watch as Sam, Andy, Magic and Rob completed the top 5.
Race 5, Sam dominated the start and took the win, followed by John in 2nd, Andy Pyett (Combs) sailed an excellent race for 3rd, with Magic 4th again and Duncan completing the top 5.
So at this point it looked as though John had got everything sown up, with 5x top 5 results in the bag and his nearest rivals all having bigger scores to count and Sam having a DNS from Saturday. Into Race 6, there was a short postponement to allow the wind to settle and it looked like we would only have one opportunity to start with the 2pm deadline fast approaching. Sam hit the front from the off, followed by Rich Nurse (Northampton) and a gaggle of boats that included Magic, Alex and John. Clive somehow managed to capsize at the first windward mark, but to his credit he soon got going and was eventually rewarded with a 6th place finish, where most of us would have thought an early shower being the better option...! Sam and Rich had a great tussle throughout the race, most of it about a full leg ahead of the main fleet with Rich finally getting ahead on the final beat to the finish. Magic took 3rd to complete a very consistent set of results with Duncan 4th and Alex 5th.
So John Harrison took a very popular win - apparently his first open meeting win in over 10 years. He was clearly paying full attention during Friday's training session.
My take-away's from the weekend were:
- Sam consistently showed us "how to do it" - good job he wasn't there for Saturday...!
- Good starts with a clear lane is essential, plus keeping your head "out of the boat" -0 as mentioned numerous times on the Friday
- Good experienced OOD and great onshore organisation by the Northampton team and their sponsors
- We managed to get a full series in
- Tricky conditions, but in most races the cream tended to rise to the top.
There's now a short break in our calendar until the Eastern event at Creeksea and South West event at POSH, both on the weekend of 10th/11th May. After this there's several regional events in the run up to the Inland Championships and 3rd Super Series event at Burton on 7th/8th June, with another training event planned for Friday 6th June. We look forward to seeing more boats at these events.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1380 | John Harrison | Rudyard Lake SC | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | (7) | 11 |
| 2nd | 1370 | Duncan Adams | Burton SC | 1 | 3 | 2 | (11) | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 3rd | 1440 | Mike Webster | Castle Cove SC | 3 | 2 | (4) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 4th | 1450 | Sam Coxon | Chase SC | (DNC) | DNC | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 25 |
| 5th | 1405 | Andy Smith | Hollingworth Lake SC | 6 | 5 | (16) | 3 | 10 | 8 | 32 |
| 6th | 1485 | Clive Harries | Yorkshire Dales SC | 5 | 7 | 6 | (12) | 8 | 6 | 32 |
| 7th | 1500 | Rich Nurse | Northampton SC | (14) | 6 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 33 |
| 8th | 1488 | Andy Pyett | Combs SC | 10 | (12) | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 38 |
| 9th | 1496 | Rob Cook | Northampton SC | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | (DNC) | DNC | 39 |
| 10th | 1504 | Tom Lonsdale | Northampton SC | 9 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 9 | (DNC) | 41 |
| 11th | 1492 | Jim Hopton | Shustoke SC | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 6 | (11) | 41 |
| 12th | 1274 | Alex Spurgeon | Lee‑on‑Solent SC | (15) | 14 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 52 |
| 13th | 1443 | Phil Longley | Stone SC | 7 | 8 | (13) | 13 | 13 | 13 | 54 |
| 14th | 1506 | Jon Rickard | Hooe Point SC | 13 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 12 | (DNC) | 61 |
| 15th | 905 | Alan Husk | Creeksea SC | 11 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 11 | (DNC) | 63 |
| 16th | 1174 | Yossi Galiko | Stewartby Water SC | 12 | (16) | 15 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 68 |
| 17th | 1371 | Richard Clayton | Yorkshire Dales SC | 16 | 15 | (17) | 15 | 16 | 12 | 74 |
| 18th | 1425 | Steve Pates | Ardleigh SC | 17 | 17 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 91 |