Asia Superyacht Rendezvous 2015 - A good time had by all

by Guy Nowell, Asia Editor on 24 Dec 2015 What a wonderful way to spend three days just before Christmas! Over 16-18 December the 15th edition of the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous welcomed eight majestic superyachts to host venue Kata Rocks for a unique occasion at which yacht owners, crews, guests and invited VIPs enjoyed the fabulous hospitality of the venue (and boats, too) with some unique social and boating events.

This year the ASR attracted nine lovely ladies of the sea – sailing yachts Lamima (65m), Lady Thuraya (31m), Bliss (37m), Aventure 29m and Arabella (20m), and motor yachts After Eight (33m), Vie Sans Soucis (40m), Antares (32m) and Darling (21m).

The event opened with an unusual occasion – a Buddhist blessing for the yachts present. After the splendid phinisi-style Lamima welcomed on board three orange-robed monks and received a garland of flowers to decorate the kingpost, the small party toured the anchorage presenting garlands to all the other boats. It was a simple occasion, but powerful too. When did you last see a monk raising a hand in blessing to a multi-million dollar ship? Precisely.

That evening, to open the social programme, the Director of Lamima, Dominique Gerardin, welcomed on board almost 200 guests for a cocktail party afloat that set the tone for the next couple of days – relaxed, refined, classy and fun. We mentioned the Mojitos at the time, but apparently the Cosmopolitans were even better – parfait!

Friday morning offered just the sort of weather conditions needed to get the fleet going. In 18kts of breeze the most modern sailing yacht in the fleet, the beautiful Dubois-designed Bliss, barnstormed off the start line mere seconds after the gun, and happily led the remaining sailing yachts around an 8nm course to Koh Kaeo Noi and back. And then, just to make everything ‘fair’, the Race Officers sent her halfway down the course and back again by way of a distance-on-time handicap! Capt Michele Zircon’s 95’ Aventure was first to finish according to the RO (having completed a shorter distance than Bliss), but racing at the ASR is more a case of go sailing and enjoy it than go racing and raise the blood pressure. Undeniably everyone sailing that morning participated in a truly glorious sailing outing. My mind is made up: when I grow up and become rich and famous, I need a superyacht. Around 40m, sailing version mandatory, and a token non-powered winch somewhere so that I think I am doing something useful.

Back ashore at the faultlessly-appointed Kata Rocks, where they ask you what sort of gin you would like in your g&t, and the evening entertainment revolved around the well-known and ever-popular Feadship Challenge.

Feadship have been title sponsor of the ASR for many years now. Bas Nederpelt, Commercial Director, said “At Feadship we have always believed that the beautiful waters of South East Asia would attract many superyachts from all over the world. Over recent years we have seen a significant increase of yacht buyers in Asia, and several have opted for the Feadship brand. The combination of the wonderful seas and the growth of Asian owned yachts will certainly give a boost to yachting in the region and of Phuket as a superyacht hub'.

While Owners and VIPs were being treated to a truly special dinner, the crews of the participating yachts - and a few other teams, too - were hard at work with a ‘bag of bits’ of balsa, polystyrene, sticky tape and string (and, for the New Zealanders, some no.9 fencing wire) creating and building sailing boats that would make any self-respecting naval architect hang himself from the nearest yardarm. Jody Chapman’s 77 Design Group were appointed consultants for the interiors, but there were no interiors, so relax.

No pushing, no shoving, and definitely no engines, just blow your boat down the trough, drink a beer (quickly!) and blow it back again. Simple, eh? Definitely more so in theory than in practice! After some very stiff competition in the initial rounds, the Kata Rocks hospitality team won first place, beating off some strong competition from the other eight teams. Obviously, a good blow on the water this morning led to a good blow in the bar after dark.

Back on the water on Saturday morning for a reprise of the sailing, but this time the breeze was up above 20kts and Arabella declined the challenge, scurrying off towards Nai Harn. Lamima was ‘unavoidably detained’, and so it was left to Aventure and Lady Thuraya to have it out, head-to-head. With David Yourieff calling start tactics, Capt Michele’s steely grip on the wheel and Guy Nowell’s beady eye on the watch, Aventure ran deep into the start at the pin end, turned hard a-port inside Lady Thuraya, and then proceeded to sail away on a beam reach under reefed main and mizzen, and in spectacular fashion. It was, indeed, a two-boat race, and Anture was first home after 90 minutes, but the enjoyment was in the sailing and not in the winning – and we’re still not sure who won! How do you rate a 95ft Bermudan ketch against a 101ft gaff rigged schooner? And does it matter? Sometimes all that matters is the voyage not the destination, the sailing but not the result.

That evening, and to close down the ASR proceedings in the proper and appropriate manner, Kata Rocks Resort presented the Grand VIP Gala Dinner, thus ending three days of festivities in the style for which both the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous and the Kata Rocks have become synonymous.

There’s a lot afoot in the Thailand superyacht department these days. The Thai Government has recently announced a major relaxation in the regulations concerning the charter of foreign-flagged vessels in Thailand, and next February will see the inaugural Thailand Yacht Show, based at Ao Po Grand Marina. Asia in general and Thailand in particular and Phuket specifically have a great deal to offer the superyacht industry in the cruising and chartering sectors of the market.

Lots of people have been making lots of noise about the expected explosive growth of the superyacht industry in Asia for really quite a long time. A great deal of the hype is just that – hype. But the two new initiatives really mean that Phuket is (may be?) about to become a great deal more attractive to owners and charterers interested in cruising in Asia and visiting Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and even the Philippines.

Or put it another way, we’ll be very surprised if there aren’t substantially more superyachts at the 2016 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous. Roll on the opening cocktails. If you have a Big Boat, save the date, and we look forward to seeing you there.