2015 circuit announced for the Foiling Phantom

Plus first word of a Red Bull-backed youth circuit in 2015

One year ago, the Flying Phantom One Design was presented to the public during the 2013 Paris Boat Show. The success was instantaneous with a unanimous, warm welcome from the press and the sailing community.

Some weeks after the first sailing sessions occurred, the order book started to fill up with orders from customers around the world. In order to face this demand, Phantom International recalibrated its production capabilities, while ensuring the product matched the high-end requirements, reliability targets and the essential reproducibility for a One Design.

The Flying Phantom is made using a high tech process involving carbon pre-preg with Nomex honeycomb sandwich cured at high temperature and then painted with epoxy, so specific industrialisation tools are needed to sustain the volume of production and ramp up the capacity from three boats per week up to four, starting from next month.

So far, 60 Flying Phantoms have been ordered, with 30 boats now shipped, while the backlog set to be resolved by the end of January 2015.

During 2014, the Flying Phantom sailed by Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot obtained good successes at events like Eurocat or on Lake Geneva. Dozens of sailing days were also clocked up to ensure on going improvements and to optimise boat performance. These sessions provided the opportunity for famous skippers to try the Foiling Phantom such as François Gabart, Philippe Presti, Loick Peyron, Nathan Outteridge, Franck Cammas, the Red Bull Sailing Team, as well as youth and amateur sailors.

The Flying Phantom Series: the 2015 European Tour

2015 looks exciting; as the Flying Phantom fleet will grow quickly during the first quarter of the year, the first Flying Phantom Series event  will take place in Carnac, France during the Eurocat over 29 April until 2 May. Prior to the event, Phantom International will organise technical, tutorial and training sessions for Flying Phantom owners to prepare for this first event.

The race format is being developed, with the aim of setting up race courses like the America’s Cup, with reaching starts and finishes to guarantee enjoyable racing for the sailors and the spectators. At Eurocat, the Flying Phantom fleet will also take part in a long distance race with the clear goal of beating the record set by Gurvan Bontemps and Benjamin Amiot this year.

Following the Eurocat, the fleet will compete in specific events with the same One Design regatta format during Foiling Week and Travemuender Woche, as well as competing in long distance races like the Round Texel, the Raid Emeraude and the Raid des Corsaires.

Phantom International is also in discussions with the Marseille One Design organisers to assess the possibility of joining the event that will be held in Marseille in September 2015.

FP Series European Tour 2015

April 29th – May 2nd Eurocat in Carnac, France: FP One Design race course & long distance race
June 6th Round Texel in Texel, Netherlands: Long distance race
June 8th – 14th in Geneva, Switzerland: FP One Design race course
June 27th – 28th Raid Emeraude in St Lunaire, France: Long distance race
July 1st- 5th Foiling Week on Lake Garda, Italy: FP One Design racecourse & Long distance race
July 17th-25th Travemuender Woche in Travemuender, Germany: FP One Design racecourse
September 4th – 6th Raid des Corsaires in St Malo, France: Long distance race

Phantom Sailing Team

In 2015, the Phantom Sailing Team will comprise a two boat team with Billy Besson–Matthieu Vandame and Gurvan Bontemps–Benjamin Amiot. Both crews will compete in the 2015 regatta season and will race the Flying Phantom around the world.

Billy, Matthieu, Benjamin and Gurvan are sport catamaran specialists. Billy just won the ISAF World Cup, was twice Nacra 17 World Champion in 2013 and 2014 with his team mate Marie Riou, 2013 Formula 18 World Champion and finished second in the International C-Class Catamaran championship. Matthieu was 2012 Formula 18 World Champion with Olivier Backes on the Sail Innovation Phantom F18 and crewed for famous skippers such as Franck Cammas and François Gabart. He is also pursuing a Nacra 17 campaign with Audrey Ogereau. Gurvan and Benjamin represented the Phantom Sailing Team in 2014, when they started to show what the Flying Phantom could achieve in some multihull regattas. They were also runners-up at the 2014 Formula 18 World Championship.

The Red Bull Foiling Generation

From the spring of 2015, the famous energy drink company Red Bull will organise an international circuit for youth sailors between the ages of 16 and 20. This circuit, which has been given the name of the 'Red Bull Foiling Generation' will be raced aboard Flying Phantoms and will include multiple events around the world with one in France. Details concerning race formats and registration procedures will be issued shortly. The 'Red Bull Foiling Generation' is a true revolution in the world of sailing as it provides youth sailors with a unique opportunity to step into the world of flying multihulls.