Easy Tiger IV wins Platu Open in Thailand

by Lulu Roseman on 17 Mar 2013 Easy Tiger IV, the new Platu 25 launched last week by Easy Tiger Racing Team has won her debut regatta, the Platu 25 Open at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand.

Team Tiger finished each race in the top three over the two day series with a final score tally of 1,1,1,3,1,2,2 and eleven points. Their closest rivals, the Russian team onboard Niaid finished second with 14 points followed by Rolf Heemskerk racing his still unnamed boat, and the Easy Tiger IV's sister ship, with 24 points in third.

'I am very happy with the new boat and the team’s performance. We are absolutely ecstatic with this result. It really doesn’t get any better than this and to have achieved it with a new boat is just magic. The Tiger crew has done an outstanding job in both the preparation and in sailing to the best of our ability. We can’t wait to return to defend our 2012 Coronation Cup title in May,' Skipper Chris Way said.

'Our expectation going into this event was pretty realistic given the performance of the boat was unknown. But after yesterday’s results we knew we were fast and had a pretty good shot of winning it. We just tried to sail as cleanly and consistently as possible. Once we had over 10 knots of wind speed we just took off,' Way explained.

Yesterday the team recovered well from a disappointing OCS in the fourth and final race of the day. After returning to the startline and starting correctly, they managed to claw their way back through the fleet to finish third over the line.

'That was hard work but good training and the real turning point for us. From that moment on our fierce determination really kicked in and it was game on. Victory was our only goal.

'Initially we thought this event would be a training regatta for us where we would get to learn and tune the new boat as well as further hone our skills. We are so glad we did it and to win just makes the experience all the more sweeter.

'While we are a pretty resilient team we are bruised and battered Tigers. Last night at Go Kart racing Peter Gregg hit the wall and bruised his ribs while Tommy Spithill bruised his elbow and may have broken his pinkie finger. Regardless, they both put in a 110% effort today. Our ‘don’t call it quits before 2:00am curfew’ was enforced throughout this regatta and it seems to have enhanced our performance rather than detract from it.

'Our missing Tiger crew member Malcolm Clark will be back with us for Coronation Cup together with our coach Alex Pallu. Having Alex here racing on the boat over the last few days has been awesome. He is such a critical member of our team.'

Easy Tiger IV will be packed up and stored at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club until the Easy Tiger Racing Team returns in early May to prepare their Platu 25 Coronation Cup defense at the Top Of The Gulf Regatta.