Organisers yesterday pulled the plug on the Flying Phantom Series finale which was supposed to take place in the Great Sound next week.

The regatta, featuring 18-foot foiling catamarans, ran into problems after a container with ten Phantoms from Europe arrived on the Island on November 16 on the Oleander cargo ship, but was mistakenly then shipped back to New York the following day.

After realising the mistake, every effort was made by Phantom International and regatta hosts the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to find a solution, even considering bringing the container back by cargo plane. However, that solution was abandoned because of potential US Customs delays stemming from the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

Officials had considered starting the regatta on Tuesday morning, and extending it to Thursday, to provide the fleet three days of racing, with the container due back on the Island on Monday.

However, the Phantom International technical team felt that there was insufficient time to rig and test the boats and the decision was made to cancel the event.

“Everybody is very disappointed, the sailors, the RBYC and all people that participated to the organisation of the event,” a Phantom International spokesman said. “This mistake on the container management induced the cancellation of the event.

“We will evaluate with the class and RBYC to reschedule an event next year, and would like to thank the partners that supported the RBYC and the regatta.”

The 40-foot container with the Phantoms inside was placed back on the cargo ship after it was mistakenly viewed to be an export.

Warren Jones, the chief executive officer of Polaris Holding Company, the parent company of Stevedoring Services, apologised for his company’s mistake in sending the boats to New York.

“I accept that responsibility and expressed my apologies to the organisers,” Jones said. “We’ve looked at what occurred, how it occurred and put steps in place to minimise it happening because in this business it can happen and does happen.

“Our business is serious and every mistake we make can cost thousands, so we are doing everything we can to ensure it doesn’t happen.

“There were other things that could have happened to mitigate this as well that have nothing to do with us. But the main thing is that if it didn’t go on the boat those things wouldn’t happened either.”