Tiny Firefly stars in Phuket sailing regatta

by Event Media on 1 Feb 2009 The tiny Firefly Voodoo Child was the toast of sailors last night after running up a very credible performance during the four day annual Phang Nga Bay Regatta which ended yesterday. Helmed by owner Hans Rahmann, the twin hulled Firefly – the first out of the batch – ran up a 3,1,1 and a 2 over the Regatta week. On one occasion (Day 2) Rahmann sailed right through the record-sized fleet of 51 yachts to take line honours six minutes ahead of the much larger Yo!2, a Farr 40. His performance is even more incredible given he only bought the Firefly just before the King’s Cup Regatta last December.

This year’s Phang Nga Bay Regatta began on December 27 and ran from the new Ao Po Grand Marina at the north-eastern end of Phuket Island to Laem Sak in the far north on day 1, south to the Paradise Resort on Koh Yao Noi on day 2, then across to Railay Beach in Krabi on day 3 then back to Au Chalong on day 4.

Conditions were near perfect on day 1 as a 6 to 7 knot north-easterly forced yachts to zig zag up the bay past beautiful limestone cliffs and idyllic islands till the wind petered out and then filled again.

Although conditions lightened later in the week, the courses for the six division fleet were rarely changed. At times the fleet looked as though it was standing still on a painted sea, but then ribbons of breeze would appear, and away the yachts would sail again.

Peter Ahern from Perth put up a huge performance on Y0!2, chalking a 1,1,2, and a 1 to take the Racing Division 3 points ahead of rival Katsu (Ben Copley). Yo!2 is a high performance Farr 40 built by DK Yachts of Malacca. It is normally berthed at Port Dickson.

Katsu is a 42 foot Swan New York Club 1 Design class which is normally anchored off Panwa Bali in Au Chalong. Both yachts put up a stunning performance in the generally light airs of Phang Nga Bay.

Other notable performers over the week included Phoenix (Niels HS Degenkowl), Remington (Jim Ellis), Sunsail Princess Sharda (Luke Mills) and The Sting (Dave Wales).

Seven teams competed by the Darwin Yacht Club, and according to Race Director Simon James, all are keen to compete again next year.

There were a few incidents during the week. One charter boat sailed too far north and ended up on a sand bar. Another was caught by the out-going tide at the Paradise Resort and ended up on the reef, much to the skipper’s embarrassment, a couple of the Darwin crew misjudged strong current and ended up under the very long bowsprit of start boat Seraph, and on one occasion, the huge super yacht Silolona got close enough to Seraph for their dinghies to kiss and make up!

Major sponsors of the highly popular regatta included Raimon Land, SEA Yachting, Kingfisher Beer, QBE, the Ao Chalong Yacht Club, Ao Po Grand Marina and Outrigger Serenity Terraces Resort.

Final results were:

Racing

Yo!2 (Peter Ahern)
Katsu (Ben Copley)
Wings (Fredrick Roswold)

Cruising A

Phoenix (Niels HS Degenkowl)
Minx (Mick Keeley)
Tua Lek (David Hery)

Cruising B

Remington (Jim Ellis)
Thalassa (no name given – Russian team)
Cunning Plan (Rob Azzopardi)

Darwin One Design

Sunsail Princess Sharda (Luke Mills)
Sunsail Princess Athena (Mike Savage)
Sunsail Princess Arieta (Michael Bates)

Firefly 850

Voodoo Child (Hans Rahmann)
Twin Sharks (Bill Phelps)
Moto Inzi (Roger Kingdon)

Multihull

The Sting (Dave Wales)
Summersalt (Mark Pescott)
Pimalai Charm (Bob Garner)