Nine phantoms turned up to take part in the annual Filey Regatta last weeked, enough boats to get their own start.

The first race was a little delayed while the very gentle sea breeze settled down. As the Phantoms gathered on the line a number were carried over the line by the tide and Colin Barrie got clean away. Barrie was still clear at the windward mark, Simon Elliot was second, some distance behind with rest of the fleet jockeying for position close behind.

Barrie’s lead was not challenged until the second beat when he chose the wrong side and Elliot caught and passed him by the windward mark. Elliott demonstrated better down wind speed and managed to pull away. John Wayling had managed to work his way to third place and that was the way the position remained until the end of the race.

The second race started with a clean start Wayling worked his way to the front with Chris Whiteley in second and Barrie in third and that was the way it stayed until the end of the race.

Sunday saw a flat calm sea but by 1400 there was a sea breeze and even some waves. The third race started very closely but Wayling inched into the lead, with Barrie second and Elliott third. This order didnÅft change until the leeward mark which was still in the calm close to the beach. Elliott squeezed past Barrie to take second and the order remained the same until the end of the race.

Race four started cleanly Wayling again took the lead closely followed by Barrie and again Elliott in third. Wayling showed better down wind technique in the waves and managed to pull away from Barrie. However, in the stronger winds the Phantoms managed to come around the course quickly enough to get mixed up with the Enterprise start. In the confusion Wayling missed out the gate mark and had to go back to re-round it. This gave Barrie the lead. Barrie was again struggling for downwind speed and by the leeward mark Wayling was close on his transom, Wayling passed Barrie on the next beat and thatÅfs the way it stayed until the end of the race.

After waiting around for wind, it turned out to be an excellent weekend’s sailing, although some competitors did find the conditions too frustrating and went home early. At the prize giving the phantom boys found out that they had also taken the first three places in the overall regatta results.

Overall Results

1st 1100 John Wayling Northampton

2nd 1186 Simon Elliott Rotherham

3rd 1214 Colin Barrie Redesmere

4th 1173 Andy Downie Glossop

5th 1229 Chris Whiteley Rotherham

6th 1197 Peter Crossley Pennine

7th 1235 Dermot Morrow Lough Foyle

8th 909 Jason Clayton Blackpool & Fleetwood

9th 1 Andrew Elliott Rotherham