7th Koh Samui Regatta 2008
AsianYachting
Race Reports
AY
Grand Prix Skipper
and Yacht Championships
AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08
7th Koh Samui Regatta 2008 AsianYachting
Race Reports AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 |
|
7th
Koh Samui Regatta 2008
Summary AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 More info on the Koh Samui Regatta 2008 website at: http://www.samuiregatta.com/ |
Once again Andrew Short's Constanza took out the daily double and by winning all races held to date has the Cruising Class title in the bag. John Stall's Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess Sharda with sailors from the Samui Junior Sailing Squadron onboard have hung onto second place. Gulf Charters Big Blue have had trouble finishing within the time limit but as there is only three boats in the class they are guaranteed of third place.
PRO Tony Denham expects to use windward/leeward courses on the last day and is dependant upon the weather conditions if one or two races will be held to determine the final results. AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 More info on the Koh Samui Regatta 2008 website at: http://www.samuiregatta.com/ |
Once again in the Cruising Class Andrew Short's Constanza took the daily double on both races by a healthy margin. John Stall's Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess Sharda with sailors from the Samui Junior Sailing Squadron onboard scored second place. Gulf Charters Big Blue took out third place and all three boats have ended up in the same order as they finished in both races and in the overall pointscore.
Racing continues tomorrow and weather permitting one of the passage races maybe selected on the penultimate day. AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 More info on the Koh Samui Regatta 2008 website at: http://www.samuiregatta.com/ |
Once again in the
Cruising Class Andrew Short's Constanza took the daily double
by a healthy margin. John Stall's Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess Sharda
with sailors from the Samui Junior Sailing Squadron onboard scored second
place. Gulf Charters Big Blue took out third place and all three
boats have ended up in the order they finished in both races. Henry Kaye nailed the start on his Firefly 850 Sea Horse Interiors and lead the multihull fleet around the entire course. After handicaps were applied it is David Wales Corsair Sprint 750 The Sting that came out a little under a minute in front of Sea Horse Interiors. Khun Kirati's Top of the Gulf Regatta winning Lock Crowther 43 Sonic edged out the other multi's to claim third place. A mere twenty seconds separated second to fifth place. Everyone seems happy that at least one race was completed after all this waiting around has severely tested their patience. What was supposed to be the lay day tomorrow will be used to try and get some races completed - weather permitting... AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 More info on the Koh
Samui Regatta 2008 website at: http://www.samuiregatta.com/ |
Weather permitting racing continues tomorrow with whatever courses fit into the present wind pattern.. AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 More info on the Koh
Samui Regatta 2008 website at: http://www.samuiregatta.com/ |
Toby O'Connell Firefly 850 Dhevatara Frog took the correct line into the passage between the islands and came out of it with an enormous advantage to lead by the proverbial mile. They managed to hold onto the lead to the finish and scored a handy race one victory in front of the more experienced multihull sailors. Henry Kaye's Firefly 850 Sea Horse Interiors was the next to finish and hold there time on a hungry chasing pack. Khun Radab's Farrier tri Cedar Swan did the best of the other multihull designs to end up in third place. Racing continues tomorrow with back to back windward / leeward courses scheduled. AY Photo Library - Koh Samui goto: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?KSR08 More info on the Koh Samui Regatta 2008 website at: http://www.samuiregatta.com/ |
Three Firefly 850 Sports catamarans, three Farrier/Corsair trimarans and the resident twin rigged Radical Bay 8000 catamaran are expected to contest the multihull class. Favorites are Peter Dyer's Firefly SEA, who should have won the Top of the Gulf but were unlucky with two mishaps, Cedar Swan sailed by the highly disciplined Thai crew under the leadership of Khun Redab has won here before and the well traveled Corsair Sprint 750 The Sting has made an impression wherever she races. If the wind is light, which is forecast, then the tri's will come into their own but in the stronger winds at the TOG, the lone Firefly sped away and was literally uncatchable.
Co-partners of the Samui International Yacht Regatta this year include Thailand’s leading supporters of international sport events, Raimon Land, as well as Singha and Centara Grand Beach Resort Samui, which has been the headquarters of the regatta for seven consecutive years. The event is also supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The event is also supported by Dhevatara Properties, The Kata Group, Samui Villas and Homes, The Briza Resort Group, Bangkok Hospital Samui, The Lofts Southshore, The Lotus Terraces and Seatran Discovery, as well as many other local supporters. AsianYachting
Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Co.
No. 627106-T) |
All
over bar the shouting...
Frank
Pong's Jelik led the fleet around the course but with the 50
footers hot on his tail was bound to finish up done the order. So who
was going to pick up the coveted title? Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi crossed
the line one minute and twenty six seconds latter and looked to be in
the box seat. Fifty five seconds latter Bill Bremner Foxy Lady IV
breasted the line after recovering from being called OCS and as they trailed
the overall leader by one point could be the biggest threat. Sam Chan's
Ffreefire 52 was next, closely followed by the Nick Burns/Fred
Kinmonth's co-owned Fortis Mandrake. Almost six minutes after
Jelik crossed the line Ray Roberts Quantum Racing signed
off for the last time. Simon James computer was running hot calculating
the results. As there were no more races Ray Roberts top racing crew on
Quantum Racing had done enough to capture first place in race
six and thereby become the overall 2008 Racing Class winner. Second place
for Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi lifted them to second overall. Fifth place
today for Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady IV dropped them down to third
overall.
As
well as winning the Koh Samui Regatta, Ray Roberts and Quantum Racing
have won three other major Asian regattas and scored second place at two
other events to become the 
As
it turns out Matt Allen's Beneteau 44.7 Ichi Ban completed a
rout in the IRC 2 class by winning five races out of six. Actually it
was allot closer than the results suggest and second place for Jeff Davison's
Mumm 30 Panic keeps them in second place overall but hands the
title over to Ichi Ban. Ben Copley's Club Swan 42 Katsu
rebounded with a third place today to tie on points for third overall
with Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings, which was broken
in favour of Happy Endings as they have better placing's throughout
the series.
After
a small hiccup yesterday Kipsan Beck's Shaw 6.5 Pornstar got
back on top today to secure the Sportsboat title with five wins out of
six races. Yachting Siam's Elliot 7 Ice Bucket scored second
place and in doing so ends up with second overall. Mick Grover's Elliot
7 Moon Shadow had some close racing with there sister ship in
the early stages but dropped of the pace and had to settle on third place
overall by the end of racing.
By
winning every race Andrew Short's Constanza with a heavily laden
crew from the CYC in Australia have completely dominated proceedings in
the Cruising Class. John Stall's Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess Sharda
with sailors from the Samui Junior Sailing Squadron onboard have scored
second place in every race to secure second overall. Gulf Charters Big
Blue consistently placed third and ends up third overall in the three
boat class.
First
place today for David Wales Corsair Sprint 750 The Sting is enough
to break the earlier tie and secure second overall in there own right.
Second place for Khun Radab's Farrier tri Cedar Swan keeps them
at the top of the points table and streak away with this years Multihull
title by the narrowest of margins. Line honours for Toby O'Connell's Firefly
850 Dhevatara Frog earns them third today but drops them down
to third place overall. Henry Kaye's Firefly 850 Sea Horse Interiors
has been in and out of the placing's all week but as the light air seems
to favour the trimarans he has to settle on fourth place at the end of
the day.
Three Aussie and two Thai racing teams have triumphed in the five classes
contested here. This shows the huge diversity of sailors being attracted
to Asian events and how popular these destinations are becoming these
days. Choose any event on the Asian Sailing Calendar and you can rest
assured that the event will be well managed and highly organised both
on and off the water. Such are the standards that have been set over the
years. Since taking over the reigns, Callum Laing's Bangkok-based MobyElite
have stuck to these standards and produced yet another successful Koh
Samui Regatta. With further tweaking is destined to stay amongst the best
events on the calendar. It's unfortunate that nobody has control over
the wind but as the race committee made a concerted effort to conduct
racing and the social life ashore is alive with action, will hopefully
make up for natures downfall. The Aussie's have come in force and judging
by their performance and reception will be back bigger and better. One
skipper even went as far to say this event in future years will rival
Hamilton Island Raceweek which is rated as one of Australia's top racing
events. So as the secret is now out of the bag, come and enjoy some friendly
hospitality and share in a unique Asian sailing experience...
Narrowing
in the scores...
It
was not long before Frank
Pong's Jelik took up the more familiar position at the head of
the fleet and despite some correction to be made at the through gate went
on to claim the daily double and put themselves back in contention. Bill
Bremner still has his foot on Foxy Lady IV's accelerator to score
second place and after discarding an eighth place puts himself into second
overall and only one point behind the leader. Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi
is back on the pace and snuck into third place by a mere one second in
front of Ray Roberts Quantum Racing. By scoring fourth place
Ray Roberts overall lead has dwindled down to one point and depending
if there is one or two races held tomorrow, this series could yet again
go down to the wire on the final day.
As
the breeze faded early in the afternoon and switched direction the IRC
2 course was shortened at the Hin Ang Wang gate which allowed everyone
to get a finish. Matt Allen's Beneteau 44.7 Ichi Ban seems to
have got the measure of the rest of the fleet and scored their fourth
win out of five races to take a healthy lead in the overall class rankings.
This time Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy Endings got the better
of Jeff Davison's sistership Panic who have been dogging them
for the past year or so. This result has improved Happy Endings
overall standing to third but has slightly increased the margin between
first placed Ichi Ban and second placed Panic who were
hoping to reduce the gap coming into the final day.
Yachting
Siam's Elliot 7 Ice Bucket managed to turn the tables
on Kipsan Beck's Shaw 6.5 Pornstar in today's race. Mick Grover's
Elliot 7 Moon Shadow dropped to third place and in doing so broke
the overall tie for second place in favour of Ice Bucket. With
four wins and a second place Kipsan Beck's Pornstar have placed
themselves in an almost unbeatable position for this years Sportsboat
title.
Talk
about narrowing in the scores - the multihull class is a good example
in more ways than one. Although Khun Radab's Farrier tri Cedar Swan
finished more than twenty three minutes behind Henry Kaye's Firefly 850
Sea Horse Interiors that took line honours, Cedar Swan
won race five on handicap and firmly placed themselves on the top of the
overall leader board. David Wales smaller Corsair Sprint 750 The Sting
finished thirteen minutes behind the leader to score second place by a
mere one second which puts them within two points of Cedar Swan
in the overall score. Despite Henry Kaye's Sea Horse Interiors
line honours domination they ended up in third place. Toby O'Connell's
Firefly 850 Dhevatara Frog is now tied on nine points for second
overall with The Sting and within striking distance of the leaders
going into tomorrows final day of racing.
Regatta
is nearly back on track...
The racing class were keen to get going and a close start followed with
Ray Roberts and Quantum Racing nicking a slight advantage at
the pin end. By the time the first round was completed Frank Pong's 75ft
R/P Jelik had established themselves at the head of a closely
packed bunch of fifty footers. Try as hard as they could but they could
not shake Quantum Racing who went on to record their second win
of the regatta. Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi climbed up to second place
and Sam Chan's Ffreefire 52 in third place. The surprise of the
series came during race four when Bill Bremner's TP52 Foxy Lady IV
nailed the startline, lead the fleet around every mark which is usually
Frank Pong's domain and went on to take out the daily double for race
four. The Nick Burns/Fred Kinmonth owned Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake
made some what of a comeback to score second place by a mere ten seconds
in front of Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi. After four races the overall
table has Quantum Racing on nine points and both Hi Fi
and Foxy Lady IV tied on sixteen points.
A
grudge match seems to be developing between Matt Allen's Beneteau 44.7
Ichi Ban and Jeff Davison's Mumm 30 Panic that are desperately
trying to defend the title. Both have come off the start line with speed
and despite Ichi Ban's bigger size, Panic continues
to stay up with the leaders. Race three saw Matt Allen sail some hotter
angles on Ichi Ban down the middle of the course to take out
the daily double just in front of Panic. As the wind started
to fade and the current increased the entire IRC 2 class struggled to
make way on the last windward beat to the shortened finish line. Once
again staying in the center of the course paid dividends and Matt Allen's
Ichi Ban got the better of Jeff Davison's Panic. Ben
Copley's Club Swan 42 Katsu stayed with the leading pack to score
two third places and edge into third overall behind the two clear frontrunner's.
Kipsan
Beck's Shaw 6.5 Sportsboat Pornstar continues to dominate the
other sportsboats by scoring four wins in a row. Mick Grover's Elliot
7 Moon Shadow managed to turn the tables on Yachting Siam's sister
ship Ice Bucket on the two races held today. As they have equally
shared the places this result has them tied for second place overall but
they will need to pull something out of the hat to overcome Pornstar.
In the multihull class the Firefly 850 Sports catamarans continue to take
line honours but the Farrier and Corsair trimarans have been picking up
the handicap honours. Henry Kaye's Firefly 850 Sea Horse Interiors
may have crossed the line first but it is Khun Radab's Farrier tri Cedar
Swan that took out first place on race three. David Wales Corsair
Sprint 750 The Sting slipped into second place and Toby O'Connell's
lower handicapped Firefly 850 Dhevatara Frog took third place
just in front of Sea Horse Interiors down in fourth. In race
four Toby O'Connell's Firefly 850 Dhevatara Frog led from the
current affected startline and disappeared into the distance. Being in
the second row was disastrous and after ten minutes of racing struggled
to get away from the starting area. That ten minutes made all the difference
as Toby O'Connell's Dhevatara Frog finished that far in front
of Khun Radab's Cedar Swan in second place and Peter Dyer's SEA
Property in third place. This result puts Dhevatara Frog
at the top of the overall table and Cedar Swan then the The
Sting in second and third respectively.
Light
weather blues...
With full approval from all skippers PRO Tony Denham quickly got the starting
sequence underway at 14:10 before the breeze decided to changed again.
Most the racers gathered at the favoured pin end and Sam Chan's Ffreefire
52 won the start just in front of Frank Pong's Jelik. As
the boats made there way up the first windward beat the breeze started
to clock around to the right which turned the downwind leg into a procession.
A strong northerly current played havoc at the rounding mark and the sailors
that wisely gybed twice and kept the boat moving benefited from these
actions. The top mark was moved to suite the new wind direction but as
the breeze continued go right it favoured the mid fleet runners on the
last downwind leg. Frank Pong's 75ft R/P Jelik took line honours
but did not get the opportunity to save their time on the others. Ray
Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing benefited from the wind direction
change and sailed the last downwind directly to the finish and in the
process managed to pip the bigger 50 footers at the same time to score
first place. Andrew Taylor's Mills 41 Ambush also had the benefit
of the breeze change to capture second spot. Chris Mead’s Corby
43 Full Metal Jacket filled third spot and less than a minute
separated the podium places.
In
similar surroundings the smaller IRC 2 boats served it up to the bigger
front runners. Jeff Davison's Mumm 30 Panic finished with speed
and within a minute of the leaders to score first place and goto the top
of the overall leaderboard. In hot pursuit Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30 Happy
Endings followed suite to score second place. Aussie Cruising Yacht
Club Commodore Matt Allen on his race one winning Beneteau 44.7 Ichi
Ban managed to hold their time to finish up in third place in front
of Ben Copley's Club Swan 42 Katsu that took line honours.
Kipsan Beck's Shaw 6.5 Sportsboat Pornstar managed to blitz the
fleet again and take the daily double for the second race in a row. Although
Yachting Siam's Elliot 7 Ice Bucket is closing in on
them to claim second place. Not to be disgraced Mick Grover's Elliot 7
Moon Shadow. is not that far behind there sister ship and ended
up in third place.
Well
what a day, it really was...
Off
to a flying start...
The
racing class had a 15 mile slog to windward around Ko Tae Nok before the
wind eased off and the current turned unfavorable. When they reappeared
around the headland Frank Pong's 75ft R/P Jelik had completed
a horizon job on the rest of the fleet and successfully took out the daily
double of first and fastest. The two TP 52's went boat for boat until
Bill Bremner's Foxy Lady IV edged in front just enough to take
second place. Despite being only a speck on the horizon when Jelik
finished Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing still managed to correct
out in third place in front of his bigger rivals.
After a bit of shuffling the fleet got sorted into classes that better
suited there design and capability. Initially with some displeasure Matt
Allen’s Beneteau 44.7 Ichi Ban got bumped down to IRC 2
but taking out the handicap honours on race 1 may have proved to be the
right decision. Line Honours for Anthony Hastings Beneteau 53 Baby
Tonga steered by Aussie veteran Fraser Johnston may have made all
the difference but as they did not quite have there time on Ichi Ban
had to settle on second place. Jeff Davison's Mumm 30 Panic did
the best of the smaller boats to finish up in third place and keep on
track to defend the title.
Kipsan
Beck also guided his Shaw 6.5 Sportsboat Pornstar around the
course in record time to take the daily double by nearly an hour and a
half from Yachting Siam's second placed Elliot 7 Ice Bucket.
Mick Grover's Elliot 7 Moon Shadow. kept close company with there
sister ship to end up in third place.
The
Cruising Class saw Andrew Short's Constanza well out in front
to take first and fastest from John Stall's Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess
Sharda with two girls (See 
Season
ending regatta brings out the best...
However
the Samui Regatta is not just about the Grand Prix yachts and a good line
up of Racer/Cruisers, Sportsboat and Multihull's are already anchored
off Chaweng beach. The organisers are very grateful for the boats that
travel thousands of miles to compete and make this such a friendly laid
back event for all to enjoy. By falling in June the Koh Samui Regatta
may mark the end of the annual sailing calendar but as we are blessed
in SE Asia by having an all year round sailing season, don't despair as
the month of July brings 
In
IRC 1 Jeff Davison's Singaporean based Mumm 30 Panic is back
to defend the title they so narrowly won last year on countback. They
can expect some more close racing action as Pascal Leray's Lyons 38 Breakaway
who won the recent 
Thai
television personality Kipsan Beck will be helming his nippy Shaw 6.5
Sportsboat aptly named Pornstar and if he can keep it all together
should start out as the favourite. If the two Elliot 7's Moon Shadow
and Ice Bucket registered by Mick Grover make it to the starting
grid they will have their hands full keeping Pornstar honest
and Dick Sanders Thai Raver at bay.
Another
highlight of the regatta this year includes the first Samui Junior Sailing
Squadron Challenge racing on the kindly donated Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess
Sharda. Organized by one of the original founders of the event, John
Stall, this will give local children the chance to experience the passion
and excitement of competitive yacht racing. Graham Lind's Hustler SJ35
Sumatra is up from Singapore and has won the cruising class at
other Asian events before. Constanza and Big Blue are
new on the scene and can be considered dark horses of the cruising class.
Notes
to Editors: Expressions of interest are already being received for the
2008 - 09 AsianYachting Grand Prix Championships – Asia's leading
yacht skippers and boat owners from all over the world are invited to
prepare there team and boat campaign to contest the prestigious Asian
events on the annual calendar. The AY GP Championships consists of eight
regattas held over nine months, in six countries across South East and
East Asia for all Racing Class yachts. For further news, info and how
the pointscore for the 2007-08 AY Skipper and Yacht of the Year awards
panned out visit: 
More
info on the Koh Samui Regatta 2008
website at: