Top of the Gulf Regatta - Challenging conditions on day 2

by Event Media on 6 May 2013 Strong winds greeted sailors on day two of the 2013 Top of the Gulf Regatta at Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand.

Windward/Leewards were the first order of the day for keelboat and multihull classes with IRC Racing 3 the exception, sailing a single passage race. Other classes went on to race a second race with the one-design Platu fleet squeezing in a third.

Going into today Foxy Lady, skippered by Bill Bremner, was leading the IRC Racing 1 standings, but in the first race were beaten into second by Australian entry KukukKERchu, skippered by David Ross, who knotched up their first win of the series. Gear failure saw Wan Marang, skippered by Kevin Whitcraft, slip to third.

Wan Marang turned the tables in Race 2 and took the Line Honours and handicap double ahead of Foxy Lady in second and KukuKERchu in third.

Matt Allen's Ichiban followed yesterday's 1,2 scoreline with a first in Race 1 today putting the pressure on local favourites Royal Thai Navy 1, skippered by Cpl. Wiwat Poonpat, who finished second ahead of David Bell's Magic in third.

The gusting winds in Race 1 resulted in a retirement for Platu 122, while Short Time made the best of it winning the first race by less than 20 seconds from Gary McNally's Black Betty. Short Time continued their impressive run winning the remaining two races of the day while the Japanese crew on Naiad, after some mid-fleet finishes scored a second in Race 2. At the series' half-way point it's Black Betty (9pts) and Short Time (12pts) setting the pace, with Tigrana (14pts) chasing.

In the Ocean Multihulls class Black Swan put their first win on the board in Race 1 today, beating David Liddell's Miss Saigon in the strong breeze.

There was lots of excitement on the dinghy and beach catamaran course with plenty of capsizes and a dismasting in the Formula 18 class. In the end, just two races were completed for these classes today and in the Formula 18 class it was the consistency of Pom Green/ Apple who scored two wins to take a commanding points lead into the final day.

It was a similar story in the Open Beach Multihull class with the Vongtim family team of Damrongsak and Sakda adding two more bullets to their collection leaving them undefeated.

Keerati Bualong managed to hold off the large single-handed monohull dinghy fleet in Race 1 today finishing first in the tricky conditions, while many struggled to stay upright in the swell. As the winds calmed they became shifty and Keerati got caught by a wind shift dropping back to finish ninth with his closest rival, Natthawut Paenyaem, finishing first in Race 2.

Despite a 3,8 today, the team of Sittisart Ponpun/ Peerapol Wisaka have a four point overall lead in the double-handed monohull dinghy class. A sixth place in the strong winds of Race 1 was rectified with a second place in Race 2 for Noppakao Poonpat/ Panida Suksomporn who move up to equal second overall with the Malaysian team of Mohd Faizal Norizan/ Ahmad Shukri Abd. Aziz.

The morning storm proved too much for the youngsters competing in the Thailand Optimist National Championships presented by Sansiri, who headed back to shore to wait it out. After heading back out, the fleet managed to complete just one race before the now fickle winds won the day and the fleet returned to land.

Thai youngster Suthon Yampinid scored his first of the series to take a one point overall lead ahead of Pongsapat Pumyam whose fourth today cost her dearly. Voravong Rajrattanaruk and Kamonchanok Klahan finished second and third respectively.

The RS:One windsurfs, racing over two days, is part of the NeilPryde Racing Series with 28 competitors from India, Myanmar and Thailand, including many youth sailors from the Windsurfing Association of Thailand's (WATH) Youth Development Programme.

'Being part of the TOG Regatta 2013 was a good opportunity for our junior sailors to participate in an international event at home, and to compete on one-design equipment. WATH youth sailors enjoyed two wonderful days of racing giving them encouragement for the future', said Prapart Sangngern, a teacher at Pattaya City 7 School and coach-cum-initiator of the Windsurfing Association of Thailand (WATH) Youth Development Programme.

After seven races it was Thanatip Seubyubon (8pts) of Thailand who won the Youth Men's division with Thailand's Duangkamon Phongern (6pts) winning the Youth Women's division. In the Men's division it was Navin Singsart (12pts) of Thailand who took the series win with Siripon Kaewduangngam (7pts) taking the Women's title.

Other classes in the Top of the Gulf Regatta continue racing tomorrow at Ocean Marina Yacht Club.

For more information, visit Top of the Gulf Regatta