Phuket King’s Cup 2014, day 4 – all boats on 77

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 5 Dec 2014 We should all remind ourselves occasionally that Race Officers cannot control the wind. That is the prerogative of an even higher authority. The first three days of the 2014 Phuket King’s Cup have involved a great deal of waiting around in the sort of hot sunshine that some people pay good money for, but the lack of wind has been frustrating. This morning’s start was therefore a very welcome change, with 10-12 knots of cooling easterly to send all boats off from the two course areas and away on a trip around the islands. 'And please remember that everyone – all divisions - should be listening on 77 once they have started.'

Courses involved varying distances along the ‘Koh Kaeo Noi – Koh Hi – Koh Aeo – Safe Water Mark’ sequence that will be familiar to anyone who has sailed in a King’s Cup. All the way to the SWM and back again (28nm) for IRC 0, and a brief excursion round Koh Bon and Koh Hi (14nm) for the Classics and Modern Classics. The breeze held good all the way up the inside of the islands, and the big bad fast boats were round the Safe Water Mark inside 1hr 45m, and hoisted spinnakers for the rush down the outside of the course and back to the finish. Little by little the wind eased – those who sailed fastest got home quickest (so to speak) and the rich got richer. Jelik was through the finish line, showered, and ready for entertainment after less than three hours racing.

As the wind softened through midday and the early afternoon, some boats failed to make the finish cut-off. That’s what gates are for, and so times were taken back to whichever gate had recorded all boats in any given class. Some confusion was occasioned by boats retiring but failing to inform the Race Officer, but a process of patient deduction by the scoring department sorted it all out in the end.

Notable performances out on the racetrack came from HiFi and Beau Geste in IRC 0, with the latter taking honours by a scant 43 sec on corrected time. Beau Geste leads the division by two points from HiFi after six races, but there are two days of racing to come and the fat lady has not even started her vocal exercises. Nick Burns’ EFG Bank Mandrake got on the pace today to take a win in IRC 1, pushing Island Fling down to second place by a substantial 8 mins, and Hannes Waimer scored yet another bullet at the top of IRC 2 to make it five from six races. Activity in IRC 3 is no less feisty, with Foreign Affair chalking up another win to keep themselves at the top of the leaderboard by a single point over Madame Butterfly.

The cat in the adage says that as long as the last day of a regatta has wind, everything else will be forgotten. Today’s breeze was good for most, and the forecast is for more of the same tomorrow:– one more day like that, and the slow start to the week will be happily lost in the haze of memory.

Full Results at www.kingscup.com

Short Results (drops applied to classes that have completed more than 5 races):

IRC 0
1. Beau Geste (6)
2. HiFi (8)
3. Oi! (16)
IRC 1
1. Island Fling (6)
2. EFG Bank Mandrake (12)
3. Uranus (13)
IRC 2
1. TBG Team Premier (5)
2. Foxy Lady VI (11)
3. Windsikher (14)
IRC 3
1. Foreign Affair (6)
2. Madame Butterfly (8)
3. Tuay Lek (22.5)
Premier Cruising
1. Pine Pacific (6)
2. Starlight (8)
3. Zuhrah (13)
Bareboat Charter A
1. Uhuru (7)
2. Papaya (11)
3. Isabella (12)
Bareboat Charter B
1. Alexa (9)
2. Sarawadee (13)
3. Shiraz (16)
OpenCharter
1. Kata Rocks 3 (5)
2. Sailplane (7)
3. Sita (12)
Cruising
1. Lady Bubbly (9)
2. Skyelark (11)
3. H-Trip (13)
Modern Classic
1. Windstar (7)
2. Remington (10)
3. Farrgo Express (11)
Classic
1. Ravensong. (Atlanta having declined further racing, there is only one boat in this class).
Multihull Cruising
1. Minnie (5)
2. Star Fruit (7)
Multihull Racing
1. Hurricane (4)
2. Java (8)
3. 3 Itch (13)