6th Six Senses Phuket Raceweek 2009 First 2009/10 AY Grand Prix Championship Event AY Race Report 3

One more beautiful day in paradise...
25 July: Another warm and sunny day, with blue skies but this time an increasing 15 to 18 knots of SW breeze to greet the sailors. As the conditions looked so good, PRO Simon James decided for Race 5 to send the Racing Class, on the yet untested Course 30, for a lengthy four island race out to Koh Maithon and back. The rest of the classes were sent off to do a few laps inside Ao Chalong Bay before returning to finish off the Evason Phuket. Some strong gusts caught the sailors by surprise, overpowering the boat, others made good use of them to accelerate down the waves and power past the opposition, like they were standing still. The staggered nature of finishing meant that Race 6 would follow, shortly after the last boat in each class has finished Race 5, on a two mile windward/leeward course. Not sure whether the racing class welcomed this move after the long windward beat back from Maithon but as some owners often point out "They have come here to race their boats" so they quickly climbed back on the saddle, locked horns and got back into it.

Although Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi Fi finished what seemed a long way ahead, after handicaps were applied it was Ray Roberts re-branded DK46 Evolution Sails that snuck in by a whisker. Only eight seconds separated Evolution Sails and Peter Ahern's defending champion Farr 40 YO!2 in second place, that are way overdue for a win and continue to exert maximum pressure the leaders. Neil Pryde's Hi Fi finished a further three minutes behind for third place and perhaps breaking crew curfew rules at last nights party may have something to do with it. The crew on Antony Hastings Baby Tonga must be commended on their 5th place for keeping their Beneteau First 53 F5 up with the modern carbon fibre yachts and top racing teams in front of them. It did not take long for Neil Pryde's crew to strike back and it was Hi Fi's turn to win Race 6 by only eight seconds from Ray Roberts fast finishing Evolution Sails. Scott Duncanson sandwiched his Phuket 8 Quantum Fusion M into third place between Evolution Sails and Peter Ahern's YO!2. These results give Ray Roberts a little breathing space on top of the overall pointscore with two races left to run.

Jaray Tipsuk's all Thai crew on the Platu 25 Mitrmitri cemented their place on top of the Overall leaderboard by winning Race 5 and taking third place in Race 6. Peter Dyer's IOR 1/2 tonner Madam Butterfly made their move today by scoring two second places and thereby regaining second overall. Stuart Williamson's Beneteau 34.7 Skandia Endeavour of Whitby tasted victory for the second time in Race 6 by a mere six seconds. As it turns out this IRC 1 class is proving to be extremely competitive as only a few seconds separate the podium finishers and less than ten minutes for the eight boat fleet on corrected time. There is a lot of movement up and down the order and although Japan's Toshio Furuta's Mumm 36 Emma has taken line honours in every race, they have only won one on handicap and have finished well down the order in the rest. Niels Dgenkolf's X Yacht IOR 3/4 tonner Phoenix slipped a little with third and fifth places but hang onto third overall by a slim margin.

Andrew de Bruin's Ron Swanson Sloop Awatea was back on form today, adding two more wins to their tally, making it almost certain they will defend the Club Charter Class title. Horst Lakits Swan 55 Big A stayed in touch with second place in Race 5 but sixth place in Race 6 opens the points difference and will have to settle on second overall. Two third places for Chrisotpher Kingsley-Smith's Beneteau First 45/F5 Amandla Star should give them a confidence boost after missing the first day of racing and leave them thinking what might have been. Fourth and second places for Rob Azzopardi's Jeanneau SO 34.2 Prosafe Cunning Plan keeps them in third overall with a chance at second overall if they come good in tomorrows final two races.

Although Henry Kaye and Fergus Wilmer's Sea Cart 30 Thor roars around at top speed to be the fastest boat on the water, it is the newly launched Andaman Cabriolet Da Vinci Niña skippered by designer Alan Carwadine that triumphed on the two races held today and put themselves back on top of the overall leader board. Second and third places for Thor means Henry's crew will have to pull out all the stops in the two remaining races, if they expect to take the title home. Third and second places for Neil Ayre's Corsair 28 Shanghai Baby keeps them in third overall. The rest of the boats have had equipment breakages, forcing them to retire from some races which puts them out of the running for the podium places

Two more wins for Hans Rahmann's Voodoo Child, makes it six wins in a row and rap up the Firefly One Design title with two races to go. Hans and Mark Pescott the boat designer have put it down to the new jib which has tremendously improved the upwind performance and speed for them to scorch into the lead by the first mark. The rest has been a procession with Roger Kingdon's Moto Inzi scoring six second places and UK's John Newnham's The Frog scoring six third places to hold onto the respective overall positions.

Tom Howard's North Sea Fishing Boat Seraph sets sail each day and often appears between the islands as they traverse their own passage course. They seem happy enough and kept busy trying out new sail configurations to suit the wind angle and wind speed despite being the only grand old lady to turn up this year for the Classic Class.

Racing continues on the final day tomorrow and with two races scheduled it could make all the difference in some classes. As the present SW tradewinds are expected to continue, we are in for some exciting moments as they duel towards the finish.

SSPR 2009 Photo Gallery is posted online at: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?PRW09
AY Race Report 4 & Summary at: http://asianyachting.com/news/PRW09/5.htm
AY Race Report 3 at: http://asianyachting.com/news/PRW09/4.htm
AY Race Report 2 at: http://asianyachting.com/news/PRW09/3.htm
AY Race Report 1 at: http://asianyachting.com/news/PRW09/2.htm
AY Pre-Race Report with photos can be accessed from: http://asianyachting.com/news/PRW09/1.htm

More SSPR 09 details and results at: http://www.phuketraceweek.com

Check out the 2009/10 AYGP pointscore as the championship unfolds at: http://asianyachting.com/news/AYGP09-10.htm

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