Easy Tiger IV – Platu 25 – to be launched in Thailand

by Lulu Roseman on 13 Mar 2013 Easy Tiger Racing Team will take delivery of their brand new Platu 25 this week, Easy Tiger IV, just in time for the Platu 25 Open to be hosted by the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand from 15-17 March, 2013.

The boat was constructed by Singapore builders Xtreme Sailing Products at their Batam, Indonesia, facility. XSP are one of the official builders of the class. Several Easy Tiger Racing crew were recently on site in Singapore to oversee the final stages of construction including the surveying of the rig and the fitting and alignment of the keel and rudder.

'We are really excited about this new boat. The crew of myself, Peter Gregg, Peter Winter and Tom Spithill are the same team as in 2012 when we chartered The Ferret and won the Platu 25 Coronation Cup at the Top Of The Gulf Regatta. The only change is our coach Alex Pallu will be filling in at this event for Malcolm Clark who can't make it due to work commitments. The Platu 25 Open is a not only a great opportunity for us to compete but also to tune the new boat, hone our skills and get in some serious training over the three day regatta,' Skipper Chris Way said.

'It is possible we may relax our usual 2:00am curfew for this event, but it will definitely be back in force for the Coronation Cup,' Way added.

'We will be using all Quantum sails. We expect some new sails to be ready in time for when we return to defend our Coronation Cup title at the Top Of The Gulf Regatta in May plus of course we will be using our winning sails from last year.'

The Easy Tiger Racing crew are scheduled to arrive in Thailand on Wednesday in order to make their final preparations ahead of the regatta. The Platu 25 Open will feature a truly international fleet of over a dozen teams from Japan, Russia, England, Holland, France, Estonia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.

'We were very excited to have been given the opportunity to build a boat for Chris and the Easy Tiger Team. We are aware of the team’s ability and know they will campaign the boat hard as they strive to be at the top of the leader board,' said Tim Ross of Xtreme Sailing Products.

'The Platu 25 is a strict one design class but we are always looking for ways to make the boat better and faster. We hope that we have achieved our goals and met the team’s expectations with this new boat. We wish them the best of luck and fast sailing. We will be keeping a keen eye on their progress,' Ross added.