Asia Superyacht Rendezvous 2015 - Big Boats, and Breeze

by Guy Nowell, Asia Editor on 18 Dec 2015 Blue skies, blue water and sunshine have to be the best way to start the day, made even better by the view of a collection of superyachts parked just ‘down there’. Today is racing day at the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, so it’s grab a quick breakfast and head down over the rocks to the pontoon and catch a tender out to s/y Bliss, a 37m Dubois built by Yachting Developments (New Zealand) in 2009. Don’t be late: superyacht captains hate guests that arrive late or – even worse – don’t show up at all.

Up anchor and away from the mooring on time, and Capt Andy is obviously looking forward to some sailing. “We’re not taking this too seriously,” he says, followed by “Right, who’s got a watch and knows about start sequences?” At 11.00 sharp the Race Officers, Andy Dowden and Simon James, start the sequence, and Bliss, L’Aventure, Lady Thuraya, Lamima and Arabella line up… sort of. Maybe some of the boats are taking this morning’s sailing more seriously than others.

It’s four miles down to Koh Kaeo Noi with the wind just forward of the beam, and Bliss hits the line at full speed. 12 knots on a 37m feels pretty good, and this is good. Bliss has a carbon and e-glass hull, which makes her a good deal lighter than you’d expect, and she kicks up her heels at the least opportunity. Anyone who still believes that old lie – “Cruising cats are fast off the breeze” – should have been there as the stodgy old monohull (not!) waltzed away from Arabella (Fountaine Pajot, 20m) and the rest of the fleet. There’s a good, solid, 14 kts of breeze from the east, and all of a sudden we’re wishing that the turning mark was a good deal further away.

Back up the reciprocal after the island, and then down to a halfway mark for a one-and-a-half-sausages course. First across the finish line was the truly beautiful mahogany-hulled L’Aventure, a proper classic in all but age (launched 2011), cruising happily along in front of Arabella, then Lady Thuraya and Lamima.

Bliss crossed the finish line with all 14 on-deck speakers pumping out ‘Highway to Hell’ at appropriate decibels (lots and lots), and could probably be heard on shore, a couple of miles away. RO Andy Dowden said later, “we called on the radio to say thanks for the music, but you probably couldn’t hear us…” Bliss is a great boat for some superyacht racing, and is a frequent and successful competitor at superyacht events. She is now to be based in Asia for two years, and anyone interested in very powerful sound systems with a boat attached and even some cruising or racing thrown in needs look no further. If any more convincing is required, Chef Emma’s banana, macadamia and white chocolate ‘blondies’ are beyond praise.

At the other end of the sailing spectrum was the classic gaff-rigged schooner Lady Thuraya, ably demonstrating that tradition is just as exciting as carbon. Lady Thuraya was launched as Borkumrif II, in 1985. A total rebuild and refit in 2008 produced a modern sailing yacht with all mod cons whilst retaining the classical appearance. [Interesting, isn’t it, that so many boats are presently being designed along classical lines? Will the boat designers a hundred years from now be ‘recreating’ Lagoons and Bavarias?]

Lady Thuraya has recently arrived in Asia after sailing all the way from Greece, and of course is available for charter. Capt Roel is very keen to encourage guests to get involved with sailing – but of course they don’t have to if they don’t want to. But seriously… what better way for some sailing newbies to get to grips with the ultimate transport experience. There’s an Optimist and a Laser on board, so start here.

Who won today? There’s a rumour that L’Aventure took the honours, but Bliss sailed extra distance (on instruction of the Race Officer) and Thailand’s IRC Measurer was not available for comment, so there will have to be a Protest at which all competitors will get a chance to express themselves and very little will be resolved. It’s complicated stuff, this Gentlemanly Racing. The alternative is to just go and have a gin and tonic.

After all that excitement, entertainment of a slightly less energetic sort was in order. While yacht owners and Kata Rocks residents and owners were treated to a very exclusive Owners’ Dinner ‘upstairs’, the yacht crews tackled the Feadship Challenge. From the contents of a bag of bits, design and construct a boat, then race it along a 15’ trough of water – only puff-power allowed. Remarkably enough, it was the team from host sponsor Kata Rocks, an entirely land based entity, who prevailed. Proving, presumably, that living beside the ocean is just as valuable as working on it when it comes to balsa wood, sticky tape and drinking beer quickly. Prizes were presented by Bas Nederpelt and Maarten Janssen of ASR sponsor Feadship.

Yes, a good time was had by all. Tomorrow: more racing. Stand by.

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