19th
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2005
AY
Nov News and Views:
’The feedback from sailors, spectators and sponsors has been exceptional,
and we are now keen to ensure that the Phuket
King’s Cup Regatta retains its position as Asia’s
top yachting event,’ said Khun Santi, President of the KC committee.
’At the same time, we are very much aware of our other obligations
– to help the local community recover from last year’s catastrophic
Tsunami by bringing more people to this lovely island.' More info at:
www.kingscup.com
Presenting
the 2005 champions ...
Premier
Cruising Class
IRC
1
IRC 2
Sunsail
One Design Class
Multihull
1
Classic
Class
Summary
Today's
results will determine some classes...
Racing
Class - and it's Ray
Roberts for 2005
Morten Jakobsen's last minute decision to take on Claudia Spinks as crew
on Emma Mathilde XX has paid of handsomely. After trimming the
sails on the first race he kindly gave over the helm on the Platu 25 to
the young 18 year old dinghy sailor from the UK who has won three races
and now has a unbeatable lead in the class. Jonathan Mahony's Mumm 30
Happy Endings rebounded with a second place after a disastrous
race one and five to climb back into third overall. Scott Duncanson's
Phuket 8 Somtam Express sits on second place overall with a narrow
margin but no one can beat Emma Mathilde XX who are looking at
lending the boat to the stricken Platu 25 crew that were involved in the
second day accident and forced to retire from the event.
IRC
1
IRC
2
Sunsail
One Design Class
Multihull
1
Classic
Class
The
art of going fast... the
Frank Pong way
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.
Thar
she blows...
As
the north-easterly winds kicked in at up to 25 knots, Neil Pryde's Hi
Fi finally broke through for a win in the top flight Racing class
to finish in front of Mandrake in the provisional results, but
Drumstick Quantum Racing's fourth place in today's race was still
enough to retain the overall lead. Hi Fi is second overall and
Mandrake third.
In
the Premier class Australian boat Strewth, skippered by Geoffrey
Hill, finished second in the day's long offshore race, but is still leading
overall. Vida, another Australian boat, owned and skippered by
Brian Hayden, is second overall despite finishing fourth today. Moonblue,
with Britain's Andrew Rickards at the helm, is third overall.
Ruby
Tuesday, with the experienced John Vause at the helm, had another
victory today and has the overall lead from Thailand's Viroj Nualkhair
on Octopussy, with Mike Downard's Switchblade, skippered
by Robert Bailey, third in the IRC 1 class.
In
the Classic class Sanook still leads overall despite a poor sixth
place in today's race, but the massive old boat Silvia is a solid
second and Senang third.
Dealing
with the vagaries of the wind...
An indication of just how International the Phuket King's Cup has become
is Andrey Novoderezhkin's entry from Russia on Master Blaster
and the first entry from mainland China skippered by Wang Bin on the chartered
Blue Juice. Also most of the Sunsail yachts were booked very
early in the piece by a diverse range of crews and mostly making an appearance
at the King's Cup for the first time.
Geoffrey
Hill's Aussie team on Struth made the best of the light conditions
to clinch the premier Cruising Class in race two and take second place
in race 3. Thailand's Suwan Poopoksakul on Lawana sailed into
second spot in race two and took out a third place in race three. Brian
Hayden's Vida added a third and a first placing onto a race one
victory to lead at this stage in proceeding in the overall standings.
Sunsail
One Design Class
Multihull
1
Racing
gets underway...
Dr
Ian Nicolson's new 80ft Intrigue pulled of a magificent victory over the
chartered Stormvogel in the Premier Cruising Class and Bernard Sabrier's
Silvertip from the UK ended up in third spot.
Jon
Vause's defending IRC 1 champion Ruby Tuesday renewed his battle
with Mike Downard's Switchblade and Rhythm Stick to
finish up in the same order. On the last race of last years regatta Jon
had the unfortunate experience of breaking the mast on Ruby Tuesday
and this is the first outing in vengence since then.
Sailors’
Delight...
An
increasing number of the competing yachts have been built in Thailand.
Local designer and builder Mark Prescott’s sleek catamarans have
won their events repeatedly over the years. The Phuket 8 sports boats,
specifically designed to suit the light winds off southern Thailand have
consistently won line honors in their class. Last years winner Buzz 8
was built in Pattaya and the winning catamaran Coco Blues, another “easy
to sail flying machine” was built in Koh Samui.
Affectionately
known as the King’s Cup, it is the largest and most prestigious
event on the international circuit that combined with nine other premier
racing class regattas – (Malaysia 3, Hong Kong 2, Thailand 2 plus
Singapore and the Philippines with 1 a piece) to form the AsianYachting
Grand Prix Championships
for annual Skipper and Yacht
awards over the Season. Each regatta has evolved with their own identity
over the years, and draws in the own right, their own following. To see
how the championships are shaping up this year or how your favourite team
is progressing goto: 
With
a range of 10 yacht classes that includes different designs from racing
yachts and sport boats to cruisers and classics, this year's Regatta
promises to maintain its standing as the region's premier international
sailing event.
Apart
from continuing what is now recognized as Asia’s premier sailing competition,
another aim of the regatta is to draw tourists back to the beautiful island
of Phuket and the Andaman Sea. An International Regatta of this scale
will be a useful event to promote marine tourism as well as the beautiful
West Coast of Phuket.
