John/ Rockey
As far as I've always been aware the XL although quite different, was basically derived from the 18 Phantom which had been (and still remains) very successful in Offshore Circuit Racing, a class at which Nick Barsch excelled.
I'm not exactly sure, but I think the motivation for the development of the XL was Nick and Steve Bakers belief that the 18 was becoming an elderly design and that Steve could produce a ‘better’ boat suited to the courses and more capable with an XR2 for the 2.0L class. Around the time of its conception, I believe OCR was in discussion of some rule changes one of which would have meant a min length for all 2.0L boats & the 18 wouldn’t have measured, so the decision for an increase in length was taken. I think Nick was quite involved with the boats progress from Steve’s initial design to the finished boat. The end result being that Phantom managed to offer a ‘bigger’ boat that is actually faster with the same HP than an equivalent 18.
I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Nick but have spoken to him on various occasions & have always been given the impression that the reason for the XL’s failure to really stamp its mark on the racing scene (other than the limited years Steve Baker actually produced it) was that, when the big change came; it was the motors (dropping from approx 200hp to 130ish HP) and not the boat size that changed. This possibly handing the advantage back to those with smaller boats? That said; recently at the ‘Brass Monkey’, one of the original peppermint green XL’s now running a Yam 130 had a very credible average speed of 55.5 mph and beat a couple of Ribs running 2.5L 200XS’s.
When Phantom ceased trading a few years back, the moulds were passed to Nick Barsch who has them moulded by one of the‘Cookie International Industries’ umbrella of companies. One of the boats he rigged last year was apparently super-light and had a 280efi on it, His verdict (and I quote) a ‘maniacs boat’. I also know that Nick has a couple of 2006 stock boats ready for rigging.
