3rd
KOH SAMUI INTERNATIONAL REGATTA 2004
The
biggest event ON the Gulf of Thailand
3rd
KOH SAMUI INTERNATIONAL REGATTA 2004 |
AY
Race Report 5 and Summary
Veerasit Puangnak's Naval Academy 2 four early wins kept their nose in front of a fast finishing Magic Roundabout skippered by Thailand's Saranya Makinson who won yesterday and today's final race. Her late run of wins has displaced Rachit Sanphakaew Naval Academy 1 to third place overall.
As the Koh Samui Regatta is the final 5 star AY Grand Prix event for the 2003/04 Season a 3 way tie between Peter Ahern, Ray Ordovesa and Ray Roberts for Asia's champion skipper has been settled on count back. Peter Ahern's 2 wins at the Asean Regatta and the BMW Royal Langkawi Regatta earns him the title for the 2nd year in succession. Ffreefire's win here at Koh Samui places her firmly at the top of the yacht rankings to become this seasons champion yacht. Had her owner Sam Chan skippered her here he would have convincingly won both the yacht and skipper championships. More on this will appear in the July News and Views and the final AY Grand Prix results can be found at http://asianyachting.com/news/Rankings0304.htm |
AY
Race Report 4
Thailands Saranya Makinson skippering Magic Roundabout pulled a surprise on the boys by taking 1st place over the Royal Thai Naval Academy 2 and 1 that have dominated the class so far. Her previous success has been on Nacra off the beach catamarans and watching a Thai girl calling the shots over a male dominated crew is certainly a change for the books and a pleasant sight to see. In the Sportsboat class once again it was Jonathon Mahony's Mum 30 Happy Endings that made it to the shortened finish line 1st in front of David Bell's Pink Pussycat and Mark Horwards Image Asia Attitude 8 after a long and frustrating day. Judging by the recent performances this may well be the order that they may finish in the overall standings. Khun Radab's Farrier 9 Cedar Swan was the only multihull to have finished at the time of going to press and as the time limit was running out may be the only finisher in the class. The final day of racing
is tomorrow and the overall placing's will be determined in most classes.
As the final of the 2003/04 AsianYachting
Grand Prix for this season comes to its natural conclusion
watch this space for the overall summary and who will be popping the champagne
corks tomorrow night. |
AY
Race Report 3
The hotly contested Class 2 which has been dominated by the Royal Thai Naval Academy 1 and 2 yachts has been interrupted by David Lindahl's La Samudra which split them by securing 2nd spot. A protest lodged against Navy 1 by La Samudra was dismissed by the committee as it was lodged 4 minutes after the time limit which just shows how they can be sticklers for the rules. In the Sportsboat class Jonathon Mahony's Mum 30 Happy Endings made the most of the long windward beat to convincingly topple David Bell's winning streak on Pink Pussycat leaving Mark Horwards Image Asia Attitude 8 trailing in third place. Khun Radab's Farrier 9 Cedar Swan just kept his nose in front of Kirati Assakul's 13m catamaran Sonic for the second day in succession and Francesco Brancaccio's Farrier 24 Vivace has a strangle hold on 3rd place. Tomorrow is a scheduled lay-day and the media has been invited to try out the local Thai massage and spa while some competitors will be having a golf competition at one of the finest resorts on the island. Results and more news
will be available from http://www.samuiregatta.com |
AY
Race Report 2
Marcel Liedts crew on Hocux Pocux 2 sailed a almost flawless race to lead the fleet around every mark leaving Peter Churchhouse's Moonblue 2 trailing in his wake and Dr Ian Nicolson's 60ft Intrigue of Stornaway in 3rd. The positions where reversed in Race 3 with Moonblue 2 edging out Hocux Pocux 2 at the top of the podium and yesterdays winner Lawana embarrassingly catching all the headsails on the mast mounted radar bracket and requiring a emergency dash to Phuket for sail repairs.
Racing continues in
the fresh breezes with a passage race tomorrow leading into a layday on
Thursday when emergency repairs can be conducted. Results and more news
will be available from http://www.samuiregatta.com |
AY
Race Report 1
Despite suffering a similar fate to yesterdays Monaco GP which saw several mechanical breakdowns considerably deplete the fleet numbers the remaining entrants had an exciting days racing. Course 7, a 19 nm race to Ko Phangan rounding Koh Kong Rin and back was chosen for the first day that favored the big boats with long waterlines as it turned into 2 x 9 mile reaching legs in 10 to 15 knots of westerly tradewinds. Sam Chan's 21m Ffreefire this time skippered by Russ Parker streaked away after the start leaving the fleet in their wake to score a resounding line and handicap honours victory. Troy Yaw's Ulumulu skippered by Aussie Ray Roberts managed to fill 2nd spot with Gerry Daughton's Outrageous following closely in 3rd place.
The Thai Navy came to the fore again taking 1st and 3rd place in the biggest class competing here. David Liedts La Samudra ended up filling 2nd place splitting the Naval Academies Veerasit Puangnak and Rachit Sanphakaew.
Kirati Assakul's 13m Lock Crowther catamaran Sonic from Ocean Marina in Pattaya made the most of the fresh conditions to score her first win over Radab Kanjanavanit's Cedar Swan and Francesco Brancaccio's Farrier 24 Vivace. Racing continues tomorrow
around 2 trapezoid courses to be laid around 3 miles offshore which should
favour some of the unplaced yachts from today's first race. |
AY
Pre Regatta Report
Results and more news will be available from http://www.samuiregatta.com AsianYachting
Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Co.
No. 627106-T) |
Sometimes
you win, Sometimes you loose!
Despite
winning todays final race Troy Yaw's Ulumulu had yesterdays Racing
Class 1A provisional race 5 win overturned by the International Jury in
favour of Sam Chan's Ffreefire. This decision handed the Russ
Parker skippered ULDB sled a narrow victory over Ulumulu skippered
by Ray Roberts and left Gerry Daughton's Outrageous trailing
in 3rd spot overall.
Racing
Class 1B is clearer cut as Marcel Liedts well sailed Hocux Pocux 2
scored 4 wins and two seconds to convincingly take the honours over Peter
Churchhouse's Moonblue 2 and Dr Ian Nicolson's Intrigue of
Stornaway.
In
the Sportsboat Class Jonathon Mahony's Mum 30 Happy Endings scored
4 wins to convincingly take the title from David Bell's Pink Pussycat
and Mark Horwards Image Asia Attitude 8 consistency finished
up in 3rd spot.
Except for the first race Khun Radab's Farrier 9 Cedar Swan almost
preformed a clean sweep of wins in the Multihull Class over Kirati Assakul's
13m catamaran Sonic from Ocean Marina in Pattaya. Francesco Brancaccio's
Farrier 24 Vivace finished with 18 points and a strangle hold
on 3rd place.
Hurry
up and wait!
Course
9 a 38nm passage race was included overnight and selected for today's
race. In light of the conditions this decision may have been questionable
but provision for shortening was included and had to be carried out during
the race be it a bit late in the day for some. Troy Yaw's Ulumulu
jumped back into contention with a win today after a mercy dash on the
layday, this time to Quantum Sails in Malacca to repair the torn mainsail.
Ffreefire took line honours but ended up 2nd on handicap which
brings the overall results down to the last race tomorrow. If Ray Roberts
steers Ulumulu into 1st place tomorrow he will not only win this
regatta but will become the 2003/04 AsianYachting
Grand Prix champion. What ever happens Ffreefire
will win the Asian yacht of the year as Sam Chan could not be here to
score the points toward the overall skipper award. The champagne is on
ice and Armani International tailors are busy making the Navy blue blazer
as the racing comes down to the wire.. 
You'll
never sleep alone!
Gerry
Daughton's Outrageous was
recalled at the start then suffered some sort of glitch with the forestay
that put an end to their chances on the day but the most unluckiest yacht
must be awarded to Troy Yaw's Ulumulu. Having torn the mainsail
yesterday and a crew member dispatched overnight for emergency repairs
to Phuket and returning in the early hours of the morning only to suffer
from a similar fate on the long outward beat today. Despite all this they
carried on with the damaged sail and completed the course to finish up
in second place only 1 minute and 27 seconds behind Russ Parkers Ffreefire
who took line and handicap honours for race 4.
Marcel
Liedts Hocux Pocux 2 added another win to their tally despite
Peter Churchhouse's Moonblue 2 being right on their tail and
Dr Ian Nicolson's Intrigue of Stornaway followed close behind
to finish up in the same order on handicap as they crossed the line.
A
good 12 to 18 knot SW breeze stirred up by a unprecedented number of low
pressure systems extending across Indonesia up to China and as far west
as India. This certainly tested the crews sail handling skills and a number
of torn sails, damaged equipment and yachts overshooting the downwind
mark affected their final placings during 2 very trying trapezoid courses.
Ray
Roberts skippering his former stead Ulumulu bounced back into
contention with a 1st place in Race 2 today but a ripped mainsail forced
them to sail with a tri-sail in race 3 and ended up with a creditable
3rd in race 3. The parting of the No 2 headsail on Sam Chan's Ffreefire
left the way open for Gerry Daughton's Outrageous to fill 2nd
spot in Race 2 but turned the table in Race 3 and returned to their winning
ways.
The
Thai Naval Academy finished up completing a 1, 2 in both races with Veerasit
Puangnak's crew getting the better of Rachit Sanphakaew by a mere 25 seconds.
Saranya Makinson's Magic Roundabout took 2 third places but will
have to do much better to catch the well sailed Farr 34 MRX's who are
looking at a run away win in this class.
In
the colorfully named Sportsboat class Jonathon Mahony's Mum 30 Happy
Endings easily beat David Bell's Pink Pussycat and Mark
Horwards Image Asia Attitude 8 in race 2. Early retirements in
race 3 for Happy Endings and Image Asia Attitude 8 left
the way open for Pink Pussycat to complete the race alone and
add another win to her tally.
Results
and more news will be available from 
The
large heavy weight racer/cruiser class saw a close tussle develop between
2 Warwick designs and two X-Yachts. Eventually it was Suwan Poopoksakul's
15m Lawana by less than a minute to Marcel Liedts 18m Hocux
Pocux 2 and Dr Ian Nicolson's 60ft Intrigue of Stornaway.
In
the Sportsboat class David Bell's Pink Pussycat slipped into
1st place by a little over a minute from Jonathon Mahony's Happy Endings
and Mark Horward's Phuket 8 Image Asia Attitude 8 finished up
a distant 3rd.
The
week preceding the regatta has seen a number of factors affecting the
initial entry list. Typhoon 'Dindo' over the Philippines and a Tropical
Storm over Vietnam has hampered the delivery of Hong Kong yachts. Mechanical
problems with Neil Pryde's Hi Fidelity and Frank Pong's Jelik
sees them returning to Subic Bay for urgent repairs. Despite some withdrawals
a extremely competitive fleet is lining up in the racing class and a showdown
is expected in the ever increasing Sportsboat and multihull classes.
Still
up for grabs is the prestigious 2003/04
AsianYachting Grand Prix
championship trophy and tailored Blue Blazer
from Armani. Present leaders Peter Ahern and Ray Ordovesa on 7 points
can be overhauled by Sam Chan and Neil Pryde on 6 points and Ray Roberts
on 5 points depending on who makes it around to Koh Samui and their final
placings. In event of a tie a count back based on the number of wins,
2nd and 3rd places throughout the season will determine the overall winner.
This regatta is the 9th selected - 5 star AY
Grand Prix and final event for the 2003/04
Making
her debut is Robert Knight's new DK 46 - Drumstick which is one
to watch out for as she is considered a serious contender for first place
on corrected time. The Royal Thai Navy have turned up in force with 2
Farr MRX's that have shown excellent form at the Phuket King's Cup over
the last couple of years. Troy Yaw's Ulumulu is the only Malaysian
entry coming from Sarawak and may see the return of her former owner Ray
Roberts on the helm who will have to score a win here to have any chance
of popping the champagne and taking home the coveted blue blazer.
Two
Phuket 8 sportsboats will be joined by Pink Pussycat from Pattaya
and Happy Endings from Singapore that have the convenience of
being trailored overland and becoming very popular amongst the regions
top racing sailors that are looking for close racing and more fun for
their dollar.
The
region is experiencing a revival of large multihull racing as many are
now being locally designed and built. Six in all will face the starters
gun with Coco Blues being the latest launching in Koh Samui will
be measuring up against the successful Cedar Swan and Treasure
Trove.