Fresh breezes and sunshine greeted the Phantom fleet at Southend for the Halfway Yacht Club open held over the weekend of 21-22 July. Racing was tight on the P-shaped courses, with seven boats attaining top three finishes in the three races sailed.

Neil Fulcher was the first to show taking race one comfortably. Race two saw local ace Allen Burrell back at the front with Fulcher and Tyler Harmsworth giving chase. Exuberant starting by Fulcher and Harmsworth allowed Burrell to sleep easier, although all was still to play for on Sunday.

Three more races in slightly less wind on Sunday saw some changes in position, Burrell did enough to secure the meeting but under a reduced margin as Paul Beasley and Neil Fulcher piled on the pressure. The weekend also saw Mark Rainbow and Mark Pettymayor making strides to the front and Haversham’s Richard Pakes scoring a first on the salty stuff with a comfortable win in race five.

The usual HYC hospitality included free beer and great prizes supplied by Pinnell & Bax which were spread throughout the fleet, made for an excellent weekend enjoyed by all.

Overall Results

1st Allen Burrell (Halfway YC)

2nd Neil Fulcher (Stone SC)

3rd Paul Beasley (Halfway YC)

4th Richard Pakes (Haversham SC)