Mar 30

Mar 30 21 Phantom: A Classic European Race Boat

Most performance boat enthusiasts in North America are exposed to boats made in the United States or Canada and rarely boats made in Europe. Over the years we have seen European race boats compete, and we’ve seen European boat builders relocate to the US, but rarely do we see single engine pleasure or race boats make their way overseas. For one, it’s pretty expensive to ship a boat over and we have a pretty good selection here. But, we have all read about many of them, seen race photos or other videos and photos online, exposing us to different brands. From afar, one of those brands I’ve admired is Phantom. There are other boat brands named Phantom but the one I’m referring to is the one from the UK, made by Steve Baker and Melvyn Richardson, that started racing in the late sixties and were sold as pleasure boats in the early seventies. Phantom was a recognized name in European boating circles in race and pleasure until the final boat was built in 2001.

A reader of Wave to Wave, Ronald Pannekoek, owned a beautiful 21 Phantom for many years and wanted to share his experience running it. What I love about some of the European boats, especially the Phantoms, is the narrow beam and high freeboard, making for a sleek offshore look in a small package. Steve Baker started racing with a 16’ that was popular, then an 18’ but it seems like the 21 might be the most known and versatile. The first one was called a P600, or 20’ and was later morphed into the P21. With some other European brands, you can see the narrow and deep design philosophy alive and well.

Ronald’s solid yellow Phantom 21, ready before he installed a Mercury Racing 225 Promax. The Phantom has a high freeboard and a very narrow beam.

A Phantom 21 was 21’4, 5’10” beam and a light build was under 1,000 Lbs. The 20 was slightly shorter 19’5” with the same beam. The popular 25’ was 24’6” with a 6’ beam.

Ron originally bought the classic Phantom in 1995 and it was powered by a new stock 1992 Johnson 225. After blowing the powerhead 3 times under warranty, Ronald installed a 93 year block with a few improvements that solved hiss issues for a while. After a while though, Ron saw his friends running Mercury Racing 225 ProMax engines that were lighter and capable of much higher performance; so he made the switch and went to to 225 ProMax.

You can see the deep V hull and multiple strakes, which make this a great rough water performer.

With the Mercury Racing Promax 225, Ron saw 75 MPH with a 25” Trophy at 6,700 RPM. His favorite prop was a 24” Chopper that went 74 MPH on the rev limiter. Ron really appreciated the lighter Promax 2.5, because when it got really rough, the lighter engines really balanced the Phantom out and he could run much faster than those equipped with bigger 3.0 Liter engines he found. Plus, Ron tinkered with the ECU, installing an A32 ECU after a service bulletin. This had Ron

You can really see that narrow 5’10” beam here in relation to the 2.5 Merc.

Setup is obviously really critical in rough water versus just going for a top speed number. These Phantoms are renowned for their rough water ability.

The Phantom 21, and other models came with a race deck or pleasure deck with multiple seating options. The one pictured has a reverse passenger seat and is rigged with twins.

We have quite a few readers in Europe and the UK, so I’m sure they appreciate the classic Phantoms more than we get to in the US. I really love all old classic performance boats and offshore boats. You can see the impression Steve Baker and Melvyn Richardson made with their distinct designs, which are influential to this day.

Thanks to Ronald Pannekoek for sharing his 21 Phantom.