Drumstick wins Phuket King's Cup

by Rob Kothe on 10 Dec 2006 Dramatic finish at the 2006 Phuket King’s Cup yesterday afternoon and the big boats in the Racing 1 division were ‘neck and neck’ battling for the King's Cup. Neil Pryde’s Farr 52 Hi Fi was on 16 points, Paul Winkelmann’s TP52 Island Fling was on 17 points and last year's winner, Toby O’Connell’s DK46 Dhevatara Drumstick, was on 19 points.

The race started in easing conditions. Frank Pong earlier in the regatta had talked about the risks of trying to start with the smaller boats for his 76 footer Jelik. He preferred to keep away from the 50 footers and start in clear air at speed. Yesterday he suffered when caught in the middle of the bunch, he was over early and had difficulty sailing back.

Island Fling was first around the top mark, followed by Hi Fi, then Mandrake and Jelik. At the bottom mark Island Fling went left looking underpowered, while Hi Fi stepped out to the right, finding pressure and then tacked into a fast lane.

Just one run from the finish of the final race, the Racing division leader, Neil Pryde had sailed his Farr 52 into a regatta winning position - then the wind stopped. Pryde watched the fleet sail up to him. Behind him the entire fleet, from the largest Grand Prix racer Frank Pong’s 25 metre Jelik, down to the eight metre sports boats, joined the parking lot.

Behind Hi Fi, Paul Winkelmann’s Island Fling was caught in the windless zone and drifted into the mark. She completed her 360 in painfully light conditions. Gradually the fleet ghosted round the buoy, with boats heading offshore looking for the sea breeze. Instead it infilled from the land and Hummingbird Konka reached along the inside of the fleet, with her larger rivals still waiting for the breeze. Within a minute Dhevatara Drumstick, the second smallest boat in the Grand Prix fleet was reaching up to the bottom mark, at 17 knots. For Pryde the regatta was just about over.

Dockside the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club skipper Toby O'Conell commented, 'We knew we had to win and Hi Fi and Island Fling had to be well down in the places. Two thirds of the way round, Hi Fi was having a great race and Island Fling not so great, but not too far back. When we reached the parking lot at the mark, we edged around the outside of fleet. We were heading down to meet a sea breeze but saw it coming off the land.

'We hooked into it; hit 16-17’s, we were sailing deep and that helped us. The breeze stayed to the finish. Those conditions were the reverse of the first day, which was a big boat day. We are very happy boys!'

Konka Hummingbird, with Tiffany Koo at the helm, won Race 8 for the Racing 1 division on corrected time, from Toby O’Connell’s defending champion Dhevatara Drumstick, with Karakoa, helmed by Jamie MacPhail third. Frank Pong’s Jelik recorded the fastest time around the course.

Going into the last day's race Dhevatara Drumstick needed to place three spots above Neil Pryde’s Hi Fi to maintain her crown. The happy team on Drumstick achieved their goal and were presented with the King’s Cup. Hi Fi was second and Island Fling (Paul Winkelmann) finished third.

In the Coutts Premier division Race 7, Frangipani Girl (David Ross) won by nearly ten seconds on corrected time from Strewth (Geoff Hill) with Australian Maid (Jon Wardill). Yasooda registered the fastest time.

As a result of a second place, Strewth took out the overall Premier Championship from close rival, Moon Blue 11 (Peter Churchouse). Strewth and Moon Blue 11 were on even points going into the last race of the regatta. Moon Blue 11 finished second, with Andrew Rickards’ Moon Blue, third.

Race 7 belonged to Madam Butterfly on corrected time, in the Racing 2 division. Second on corrected time was Phoenix (Niels Dgenkolf) and third was Lunch Cutter 11 (Keith Dunn). The fastest time was recorded by Panic. The win ensured Madam Butterfly the Overall top placing, with Phoenix and Happy Endings filling the minor placings.

Risotada (Keisuke Nagamatsu) scored the corrected time win in Race 7 for the tightly fought Sports Boat division. Motornet (Kenichi Takahashi) was thirty-eight seconds back followed by Just (Shuji Hagihara). G4S Somtam Express registered the fastest time. Overall, Motornet had already won the regatta and yesterday's sail was just ‘icing on the cake’. Scott Dunsanson’s G4S Somtam Express finished second, with Just (Shuji Hagihara) third.

In IRC 1, Race 7 Big A, Andy Pape’s Swan 55 won on corrected time, from Di Hard (Valdemar Bandolowski) and Sita (Peter Wintle). Line honours belonged to Sita. The winner of this division, Rhythm Stick, the X442 helmed by Japanese skipper Ryuji Nakata did not sail the last race after convincingly winning her division earlier in the week. Octopussy and Sita filled the minor placings.

In the Firefly 850's division Race 7, Twin Sharks (Bill Phelps) won on corrected time from Mamba (Henry Kaye) with Moto Inzi (Roger Kingdon) third. Chi Machine, after becoming the overall winner elected not to race yesterday. Instead, they enjoyed the sunshine and atmosphere at the Phuket Kings Cup. Twin Sharks and Moto Inzi completed the podium places.

In Multihull racing, Race 5 The Sting (Philip Day) won from Seekronghuk (Tim Milner) with Charro (Mervyn Owen) third on corrected time. Atmosphere took line honours. The win secured the Overall Championship for The Sting crew, with Seekronghuk second and Benoit Lassaffre’s Atmosphere in third.

In the Performance Multihull division, Race 5, Liam Nichols’ Gone with the Wind took the honours on corrected time, from Tony Roberts Tactical Directions and third Larry Pollock’s Running Cloud. Raimon Land Chameleon also recorded the fastest time.

Overall, Running Cloud was triumphant, with Gone with the Wind second and Raimon Land Chameleon finishing in third.

In IRC 2, Royal Thai Navy 1 (Lt. Peera Sagultem) won on corrected time from Master Blaster (Andrey Novoderezhkin) and Minx (Rob Taylor). Royal Thai Navy 1 clearly won the division overall, with Master Blaster and Minx takings the minor placings.

Princess Christina (Robert Yeltes) won the Sunsail One Design division yesterday on corrected time. Princess Anna (Christian Eschenberg) was second and Princess Isabella (Keith Harding) was third. Princess Athena (Antonio Escribano) secured the Overall Sunsail trophy. Princess Isabella finished second, with Princess Christina third.

In the Bareboat Charter division, Fidgi (Naoki Wada) was the corrected time winner, with Intan (Theodore Bakker) in second and Bintang (Doug Maddern and Keith Blankly) third. Bintang recorded the fastest time. The Overall championship in this division went down to the wire, with Bintang winning on a countback from Intan. Fidgi finished in third.

In the Ocean Rover division Race 5, Waconda (Simon Dupe) made her regatta debut on the podium winning on corrected time from the consistent performer Calypso JJ (Geoff Wilson). Rainbow Dream (Simon Piff) finished third. Millenium (John Clayton) took line honours. Calypso JJ, having already sealed the Overall championship sailed well again in the final race. Rainbow dream finished second and Festina Lente (Nick Pochin) in third.

In the Classic division, Argo (Brendon Baumeister) won on corrected time from Kiara (Roger Brett), with Jubilaeum (Mathew Harsley) in third. Argo recorded the fastest time over the course. Cordelia won the division Overall, from Argo and Kiara.

Overall Placings - End of Racing Protests Pending

20th Phuket Kings Cup Regatta Progressive Series Results Dec 9 2006 2:24 PM

Racing 1

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Total Drop Score Place HKG1998 Dhevatara Drumstick Toby O'Connell HKG 8 1 4 1 6 4 3 2 29 8 21 1 HKG2112 Hi Fi Neil Pryde HKG 3 2 3 2 4 5 2 5 26 5 21 2 GBR 88R Island Fling Paul Winkelmann IRL 2 3 2 3 9 1 6 6 32 9 23 3 HKG600 Jelik Frank Pong HKG 1 6 7 8 3 2 1 8 36 8 28 4 HKG2166 Mandrake Nick Burns HKG 4 8 1 4 5 6 4 4 36 8 28 5 PHI8088 Karakoa Jamie MacPhail PHI 6 4 6 6 9 3 5 3 42 9 33 6 HKG2266 Konka Hummingbird Adam Ng CHN 7 7 8 5 1 8 8 1 45 8 37 7 HKG 2238 Ffree Fire 52 Russ Parker HKG 5 5 5 7 2 7 7 7 45 7 38 8

Coutts Premier

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Total Drop Score Place AUS6188 Strewth Geoff Hill AUS 5 1 1 4 2 2 15 5 10 1 CAY 8888 Moon Blue II Peter Churchhouse HKG 1 4 7 2 1 11 26 11 15 2 HKG1887 Moon Blue Andrew Rickards HKG 3 2 3 5 7 4 24 7 17 3 GBR 703 R Yasooda Hans Rahmann GER 2 7 8 1 3 8 29 8 21 4 AUS4100 Australian Maid Jon Wardill AUS 4 6 5 3 6 3 27 6 21 5 VBI 612 Nix Nico Cortiever NED 6 5 2 7 4 5 29 7 22 6 53023 Frangipani Girl David Ross SIN 11 3 4 11 5 1 35 11 24 7 666 Lawana Pana Trungkabunchar THA 11 8 6 6 9 11 51 11 40 8 NZL 8818 Intrigue Gary Foster HKG 7 10 10 11 8 7 53 11 42 9 NED 5916 Bolero Ed van den Heuvel NED 11 9 9 11 10 6 56 11 45 10

Racing 2

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Total Drop Score Place 4497 Madam Butterfly Peter Dyer GBR 1 3 2 2 2 1 1 12 3 9 1 JPN 777 Phoenix Niels Dgenkolf JPN 4 1 4 3 1 2 2 17 4 13 2 SIN2811 Happy Endings Jonathan Mahony SIN 3 2 1 5 3 3 5 22 5 17 3 MAS31 Panic Jeff Davison SIN 2 4 3 1 4 4 4 22 4 18 4 SIN5625 Lunch Cutter II Keith Dunn SIN 5 5 5 4 5 5 3 32 5 27 5

Sports Boats

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Total Drop Score Place JPN-6287 Motornet Kenichi Takahashi JPN 3 1 1 3 2 1 2 13 3 10 1 HKT801 G4S Somtam Express Scott Duncanson THA 1 5 3 1 1 5 7 23 7 16 2 JST 237 Just Shuji Hagihara JPN 10 2 4 4 6 3 3 32 10 22 3 HKT 804 Vino Phil Wardrop THA 2 6 2 2 5 7 8 32 8 24 4 THA-806 Risotada Keisuke Nagamatsu JPN 10 4 7 10 3 6 1 41 10 31 5 118 Platu Ket Manghlaseranee THA 10 3 5 10 7 4 4 43 10 33 6 THA-129 Sakura Toshio Furuta JPN 10 8 6 10 4 2 5 45 10 35 7 62 Moon Shadow David Rule THA 10 7 8 10 8 8 6 57 10 47 8 T4167 Porn Star Kipsan Beck THA 10 9 9 10 10 10 10 68 10 58 9

IRC1

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Total Drop Score Place HKG10945 (1998 on spi) Rhythm Stick Ryuji NAKATA HKG 2 1 1 2 1 1 10 18 10 8 1 THA99 Octopussy Jaray Tipsuk THA 5 5 2 1 3 2 6 24 6 18 2 HTG 2033 Sita Peter Wintle AUS 3 6 3 3 2 4 3 24 6 18 3 SIN 888 Switch Blade Mike Downard SIN 1 4 5 5 4 6 7 32 7 25 4 9290 Di Hard Valdemar Bandolowski THA 7 3 7 10 6 3 2 38 10 28 5 5793 Orinocco Brian Rogers GBR 6 7 4 4 8 5 5 39 8 31 6 HKG1683 Beaux Esprits Keith Gary HKG 4 8 6 7 7 7 4 43 8 35 7 MLT1295 Big A Andy Pape THA 10 2 8 10 5 10 1 46 10 36 8 SUI4901 Blue Juice Beat Bosshard SUI 8 9 9 6 9 8 8 57 9 48 9

Firefly 850 Sport

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Total Drop Score Place FF 888 Chi Machine Marc Cudennec THA 1 2 1 1 4 1 6 16 6 10 1 298 Twin Sharks Bill Phelps THA 2 5 3 6 2 2 1 21 6 15 2 ff 222 Moto Inzi Roger Kingdon THA 4 4 2 2 1 3 3 19 4 15 3 ff 559 Mamba Henry Kaye THA 3 1 4 3 3 4 2 20 4 16 4 F111 Pink Lady Andrew Marshall THA 5 3 5 4 5 5 4 31 5 26 5

Multihull Racing

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place 011 The Sting Philip Day THA 5 2 1 4 1 13 5 8 1 888 Seekronghuk Tim Milner THA 6 1 8 1 2 18 8 10 2 HKG8675 Atmosphere Benoit Lasaffre HKG 4 7 2 2 6 21 7 14 3 THA-94 Cedar Swan Radab Kanjanavanit THA 2 3 8 5 4 22 8 14 4 M296 X Catriot Bob Brindley AUS 3 5 8 3 7 26 8 18 5 159 Chimera Christopher Edwards GBR 1 6 8 7 5 27 8 19 6 459 Charro Mervyn Owen THA 7 4 8 6 3 28 8 20 7

Performance Multihull

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place 24 Running Cloud Larry Pollock USA 2 5 1 1 2 11 5 6 1 14 Gone with the Wind Liam Nichols AUS 6 1 2 4 1 14 6 8 2 20 Raimon Land Chameleon Chris Runnegar THA 1 2 3 2 3 11 3 8 3 N50 Tactical Directions Tony Roberts AUS 6 4 6 3 6 25 6 19 4 007 Ambre Alfred Poulsen THA 6 3 6 5 6 26 6 20 5

IRC2

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place THA 1993 Royal Thai Navy 1 Lt. Peera Sagultem THA 1 3 1 2 1 8 3 5 1 GER4105 Master Blaster Andrey Novoderezhkin RUS 3 4 2 1 2 12 4 8 2 THA777 Minx Rob Taylor THA 2 1 4 7 4 18 7 11 3 SIN2626 Next Page Peter Forbes SIN 4 2 3 4 3 16 4 12 4 SIN333 Waka Tere Kenn Eyears SIN 5 5 14 3 8 35 14 21 5 139 Cinders Stewart Crowe GBR 14 7 14 8 5 48 14 34 6 44 Jemini Jo Larry Emerson USA 14 6 14 5 11 50 14 36 7 GBR 6010T Tag Fiona Hicks GBR 14 9 14 6 7 50 14 36 8 GBR 519R Chetak Jim Kane THA 14 8 14 12 6 54 14 40 9 43057 Perky Jimmy Watts USA 14 10 14 10 9 57 14 43 10 YC360 Patrice III James Hardie VTM 14 12 14 9 10 59 14 45 11 THA 19 Tong Fa Jakarapong Supthayi THA 14 11 14 11 12 62 14 48 12 17 Free Wind George Foose USA 14 14 14 14 14 70 14 56 13

Sunsail One Design

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place S3 Princess Athena Antonio Escribano ESP 2 1 1 1 7 12 7 5 1 S5 Princess Isabella Keith Harding HKG 1 2 5 3 3 14 5 9 2 S4 Princess Christina Robert Yeltes GBR 3 3 7 4 1 18 7 11 3 S1 Princess Anna Christian Eschenberg GER 4 7 3 2 2 18 7 11 4 S6 Princess Sharda Philip Bowring GBR 6 4 2 6 4 22 6 16 5 S2 Princess Arieta Peter Jung GER 5 7 4 5 5 26 7 19 6

Bareboat Charter

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place S10 Bintang D. Maddern/Keith Blankly UAE 1 1 6 4 3 15 6 9 1 S12 Intan Theodore Bakker NED 4 3 2 2 2 13 4 9 2 051 Fidgi Naoki Wada JPN 7 2 1 6 1 17 7 10 3 14 Amadeus Masakido Kato THA 2 11 3 1 6 23 11 12 4 S13 Paprika II Peter Beaumont GBR 3 4 5 8 5 25 8 17 5 S9 White Cloud Schibler Andre SUI 5 6 11 5 4 31 11 20 6 THA4239 Sudawadee Simon Denye GBR 8 5 11 3 7 34 11 23 7 S11 Singa Besar Christopher Limpert-Peers GER 9 7 4 7 8 35 9 26 8 S17 Madisson David Craig RSA 6 8 11 9 9 43 11 32 9 17 Alissa R & P. Sym THA 10 9 11 11 11 52 11 41 10

Ocean Rover

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place N112 Calypso JJ Geoff Wilson AUS 1 1 1 4 2 9 4 5 1 19 Rainbow Dream Simon Piff GBR 10 2 3 5 3 23 10 13 2 GBR 5506L Festina Lente Nick Pochin GBR 4 3 4 2 10 23 10 13 3 NOR 8775 Embla Gunnar Myhre NOR 2 4 10 3 7 26 10 16 4 AUS 5419 Millenium John Clayton AUS 3 6 10 1 8 28 10 18 5 0 Rusalka Kevan Perrins GBR 10 7 2 7 4 30 10 20 6 903489 Abracadabra Philip Strauss USA 5 5 10 5 6 31 10 21 7 WYT Waconda Simon Dupe GER 10 8 10 10 1 39 10 29 8 724810 Minico Gartmann Ricco SUI 10 9 10 8 5 42 10 32 9

Classic

Sail No Boat Name Country Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total Drop Score Place 4176 Cordelia Tim Wilson AUS 1 1 1 1 4 8 4 4 1 54 Argo Brendon Baumeister BVI 3 3 2 2 1 11 3 8 2 GBR 777 Kiara Roger Brett GBR 5 2 3 4 2 16 5 11 3 15 Jubilaeum Mathew Harsley AUS 2 4 5 3 3 17 5 12 4