Evason Phuket Raceweek 2006 - fun in the sun

by Suzy Rayment, Sail World Asia on 1 Aug 2006 Evason Phuket Raceweek, now in its third year, is proving popular with both local and international sailors. Fun, sun, wind and a resort environment that is pure luxury makes this event the success it is. Organised by Image Asia Events, and run under the auspices of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club, the regatta is scheduled at this time of year to take advantage of the consistent winds that can be found on the eastern side of Phuket Island. This year there was certainly plenty of wind to keep the sailors happy, and out of the four days of racing only one day was affected by the monsoon rains.

Regatta organisers Grenville Fordham and Andy Dowden were delighted that the Six Senses exclusive 5-Star Evason Phuket Resort continues to host the regatta and were pleased when Evason Regional GM Alasdair Junor agreed to continue their sponsorship for next year’s event. Another major sponsor, the luxury property developer Raimon Land, supported this year’s event and continues to promote the local sailing scene on the island.

‘When we started the event three years ago we had 19 boats on the start line and they were mostly local sailors,' said Andy Dowden. 'This year we had over 30 boats entered in the regatta and for the first time we had international crews from New Zealand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.’

The New Zealand contingent included Wade Lewis, skipper of Team Simpson and his crew, Andrew Barron, Kent Russell, and Jeremy Stephenson (of Tornado fame). Competing on a Beneteau First Class 7.5 sportsboat, and sponsored by Simpson Marine Ltd, Lewis said they were delighted to be sailing in this tropical paradise. ‘We are here to check out the Asian sailing scene and I must say that the conditions here are vastly superior to the wintry conditions back home at this time of year!' Team Simpson took third place in the series in the Sportsboats division. Class winner was local sailor Scott Duncanson on his Phuket 8, Som Tam Express. Lewis and the crew are not finished with Asia and said they intend to be back in December for the Phuket King’s Cup, although probably be on a bigger boat.

Three first places gave the Hong Kong sailors on Chi Machine the top place on the podium for the Multihull Racing division. Owner/skipper Marc Cudennec, who took delivery of his high performance sports catamaran, (a Latitude 8 Firefly) just days before the event, commented that he was very pleased with their performance. ‘We worked very hard and just managed to get the boat ready for the start line. I must say I am delighted with the performance of the boat and the crew. It was close racing for the whole series and the crew of Moto Inzi gave us plenty of competition.’ The Hong Kong crew included Warwick Downes from Doyle Sails, Olivier Decamps (Simpson Marine Ltd) and Denis Lazat, with guest appearances from the other members of the skipper’s family (Chan, Yann, and Maria).

Chi Machine was not the only winner in this regatta, as Cudennec and his wife Chan used the opportunity to canvass sponsorship for a local charity, the Tsunami Relief Fund for the Children of Takua Pa. This an NGO involved in fund-raising to pay for the educational needs of children in an area that was one of the hardest-hit by the 2004 tsunami. They hope to continue their sponsorship drive up and during their King’s Cup campaign in December.

This year Malaysia was represented by the Beaux Esprits team. Although not new to the Asian sailing scene, Keith Garry and his crew from Port Klang took third overall in the IRC 1 division, which was won by local Phuket skipper David Lindhal on La Samudra. Season campaigner Mick Kealy and the crew of Minx collected top honours in the IRC 2 division.

Other international competitors included UK resident Darren Hill from Leicestershire, who was holidaying with friends in Phuket. Invited onto Switchblade, a Farr 43 skippered by Craig Murphy, Darren was quick to point out that he had never sailed before. 'My skills were restricted to grinding on the winches, but I intend to be back next year as I have now been totally turned on to sailing.'

One of the prettiest classes sailing was the Classic Division and this year there was plenty to celebrate with Tom Howard’s beautiful Seraph reaching her 100 birthday during the regatta. Tow was responsible for ‘creating’ a Classic Class for this regatta, and was rewarded with a total of five entrants. Winner of the division after three races was Gunter Nutt’s Kerida.

According to Fordham one of the hallmarks of this event is its ‘One Regatta, One Venue Policy’ which has proved to be a great success with participants. The Evason ‘Into the Beach’ Bar serves as the regatta headquarters, meeting point and après sailing venue, and the Resort generously hosts the opening and closing regatta parties which are sumptuous buffets that are rapidly becoming legendary amongst the sailing community.

This year has seen a slight variation on the theme with two additional outside parties being included in the social schedule. The Thursday night ‘Pig Roast and Poolside Party’, hosted by Horst Lakits at the Big A Resort (whose boat also participated in the regatta) was a relaxed evening. Saturday night’s regatta prizegiving and party hosted by Raimon Land, was a more ‘jazzy’ affair. Participants partied the night away at the new hip hilltop Ratri Jazztaurant, enjoying the view over Kata Beach and listening to live music.

At the end of a four-day programme involving 38 races in seven classes run very smartly by RO Simon James (Sunsail Asia), there were a lot of happy sailors who voted Evason Phuket Raceweek one of the friendliest and most enjoyable regattas in the region. (Hear, hear!)

Full results can be seen at www.phuketraceweek.com.

Guy Nowell’s photographs of the regatta will be appearing on www.guynowell.com just as soon as he gets back to Hong Kong and some full-speed broadband!