19th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2005

The art of going fast... the Frank Pong way
As big boat racing is a relatively new concept in Asia and the opportunity arose to go aboard Frank Pong's all carbon 76ft Boracay for the Kata Group Race to Ko Racha, AsianYachting decided to see what it takes to race on one of the largest boats in the fleet. Yachting journalists often sum up a situation with a few words or are quick to dismiss something with a few taps on the keyboard and most don't ever get to experience the real thing. Sailing small boats by yourself is relatively easy but migrating to bigger boats with 10 to 15 crew becomes a people management problem that takes time to solve.

Stepping onboard Boracay for the first time, one could be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the racing machine, not to mention being introduced to 20 crew members. What do they all do on the boat? After being introduced to Peter, Paul and Louise on the beach, I decided to ask everyone what role they play in the team. Up on the foredeck, Lino the bowman was discussing procedures with fellow crew members Chris and Frederic the mastman are responsible for changing sails and seeing that everything runs smoothly at the front of the boat.

Downstairs I met up with Lope, Ding and Jo who have the unsavory title of being sewer men and collect in the huge often wet sails as they are being dowsed down the hatch and repack them ready to be launched again. In the pit, two coffee grinders manned by Jayrum, Cox, Sing and Barry mechanically turn the big winches that Louie, Robert, Jeremy and Johnny use to trim the sails. Further back I found Lawrence the tactician, Lord Ian and Paul the navigator who are instrumental in advising Frank on the course layout during the race and sail selection for the expected wind direction on the next leg.

Approaching the crowded start line with a brisk 16 to 18 knot breeze on a 76ft missile is quite a daunting task. Picking a clear path and anticipating other boat moves is the role of the tactician and ultimately in the hands of the owner driver Frank Pong who is in charge of the vessel. When a decision is made, it is clearly announced, which sets the crew in motion to perform the task. Information from the navigator and tactician is constantly relayed to Frank to act upon. The close reach out to Ko Racha required a headsail change and the return asymmetric spinnaker reach provided a thrilling 20+ knot ride back. All the time the winches are grinding as the sails are being trimmed and straining ropes can be felt vibrating through the deck. It was all over in two hours, eight minutes and although taking line honours by the proverbial mile we only managed third place after handicaps were applied.

In the end it comes down to how efficiently the crew work. Everyone has a job to do and an important role to play in the team. Some owners bring in professional sailors for certain roles and others maintain a core of sailors to select from.

As Frank's passion is racing and building fast boats, he is known in Hong Kong as Admiral Frank for the fleet of big yachts he keeps at the yacht club. Up to twelve Philippine and one Malaysian crew are employed full time to run and maintain the boats through the hectic sailing program. It certainly takes a good owner and crew to make a successful racing team. After much discussion back on the mooring about how things could have gone better, Frank's parting comments about the crew "Like any relationship it's a two way street where both parties benefit from each other" still rings in my ears and is good advice for intending yacht owners taking up the challenge.

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