Bangkok--7 Dec--Vivaldi
The 2010 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta got off to a sedentary start with a temporary lull in wind delaying the opening races. The breeze did eventually pick up allowing for a full day’s racing in all classes for the fleet of 108 entrants.
In the Multihull Class a battle is emerging between last year’s winner, Henry Kaye on Thor, and a new contender to the throne, Andy Pape on Da Vinci. In 2009 Thor dominated the division claiming nine straight wins but this year is already shaping up to be a much closer contest.
Da Vinci sent a serious statement of intent in the first race of the day by finishing first to end Thor’s run of nine straight wins from the previous year. Thor bounced back to win race two but Da Vinci took race three and leads the class at the end of Day One.
Old rivals Ray Roberts, on Evolution Racing, and Neil Pryde, on Hi Fi, locked horns once again in the Racing Class. It was first blood to Hi Fi which won the opening race of the day with Evolution Racing lagging behind in fourth spot. The second race provided some high drama with nothing to separate the two boats as they bore down on the finish line. The situation was further complicated by the presence of Hannes Waimer’s Team Premier which made for a photo finish.
Evolution Racing beat Team Premier by a solitary second on-the-water and finished just four seconds ahead of Hi Fi, which has an almost identical rating. Team Premier dropped to fourth after the results had been adjusted with Hi Fi the runner up behind Evolution Racing.
The third and final race of the day featured a far more emphatic win for Evolution Racing which finished comfortably ahead of King’s Cup veteran Frank Pong who came in second on Jelik 3.
The most popular class at the 2010 King’s Cup Regatta is Bareboat Charter which boasts an impressive fleet of 22 boats. Darren Shipard’s Bourgeois Tag emerged victorious from the only race of the day but the unpredictable nature of this class means it is likely to provide plenty of thrills and spills before the regatta ends.
Matt Allen on Ichi Ban is used to having things his own way at the King’s Cup Regatta. He won every race he started in 2009 and is looking to win the IRC 1 Class for the third consecutive year. Ichi Ban did not make the most auspicious start when they were recalled after being on course side at the start but the crew recovered to win the opening race.
Yasuo Nanamori’s Babe claimed honours in race two consigning Ichi Ban to the unfamiliar position of second place and ensuring that it would not be a clean sweep for Ichi Ban in 2010.
Normal service was resumed with an Ichi Ban win in race three but Babe’s win will give confidence to the rest of the fleet that they can challenge Ichi Ban. Skipper Matt Allen was not too disconsolate at losing a race and expects the competition in the IRC 1 class to be intense,
“It’s not often in life you get a perfect score card in any regatta. I think the competition is quite a lot stronger this year but in that second race we had the wrong headsail on both beats and we weren’t terribly happy with the way we sailed. There’s quite a few boats which are quite close on time and there’s the smaller boat, Kukukerchu, we have to keep an eye on them because there’s a fair bit of rating difference. The boats which appeared to be sailing really well today were Baba, Kukukerchu and Jingjing and I think that’s where we will see the main competition,” he said.
Flying the flag for Thailand were the Royal Thai Navy who this year entered three boats in the IRC 2 class. Race one went to Brent Morgan’s Men At Work with Cdr.Pornprom Sakultem’s Royal Thai Navy 4 back in fourth and CPO.1 Wiwat Poonpat’s Royal Thai Navy 1 in fifth.
Royal Thai Navy 1 was the overall series winner in 2009 but relied upon a dramatic last day’s racing to do it. Despite the slow start the crew was able to regroup and claim first place finishes in the final two races of the day.
Jamie Watts’ Team See Bees, the boat formerly known as Madame Butterfly, has a history of closely run contests with the Royal Thai Navy boats at the King’s Cup and is currently in third place.
The first King’s Cup took place in 1987 to mark the 60th birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyedej and the Regatta has been held in the first week of December ever since.
The Phuket King's Cup Regatta runs from December 4th - 11th 2010 under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King. The Regatta is organised by the Phuket King's Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Royal Thai Navy and the Province of Phuket.
Sponsors of the 2010 Phuket King's Cup Regatta include Kata Group Resorts Thailand, Siam Winery, Chang Beer, Kata Rocks, Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket, Mom Tri's Boathouse and The Moorings. Media Partners include Blue Wave 90.5FM, Helm Superyacht Asia Pacific, Helicam Asia, Indigo Media, Multihull World, The Nation, Phuket Gazette, Prestige Thailand, Sail-World.com and YACHTstyle.
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