The Platus are coming. Top of the Gulf 2009

by Kev Scott, Ferret News on 13 Apr 2009 As at 12 April the following Platus are signed up for Top of the Gulf and Coronation Cup 2009:

102 Owned by K Surapol and chartered to the SMU youth team. These students from Singapore had an excellent Open Championship here in March, shocking a few more experienced crews and coming third overall. Definitely in contention for the podium. This team seem to produce good results in all types of weather and have experience way beyond their years. They are also an extremely nice bunch of guys and gals (off the boat!)

103 Emma Matilde XX, owned and sailed by Morten Jacobsen and Neil Semple. Probably hoping for light airs. Returning mixed results recently, mainly because of constant crew changes .

108 Available for charter.

109 Wombat , owned by Gary Baguley and chartered to Ben Williams. Ben is an excellent sailor, and is bringing a first class team from Hong Kong, including Marty Kaye who is a past winner of the event. Definitely one to watch. It's interesting to know that Ben used to sail with Scott Duncanson’s Dad... and no need to tell you who is Marty Kaye’s Dad (Henry will also be at TOTG, but not on a Platu!)

110 Available for charter.

112 Magic Dragon, owned by Simon Makinson and chartered to Jason Pong. This crew has an impressive CV and it will be very interesting to see how they perform.
Helm - Maximilian Soh (Laser Class Champion - Asian Games in Doha)
Crew - Xu Yuan Zhen (Represented Singapore at last year Olympic on 470 men)
Crew - Ivan Tan (Keelboat champion - Asian Games in Doha)
Crew - Toh Liying (Represented Singapore at last year's Olympic on 470 girls)
Bow - Justin Wong Ming Ho (Keelboat champion - Asian Games in Doha)
This is a collection of the very best young sailors in Singapore.

114 Team Puma, owned and sailed by K. Aey. These guys race here all the time and if enjoying yourself could win races no one else would get a chance. But they have their moments and may be bringing in some more experience this time, so watch out for that Puma.

116 Naiad, sailed by its owner, Khun Aek. Aek is one of the best sailors around here, but (unfortunately for us) his family and business keep him too busy to sail as much as we would like to see him on the water. And this time he suggests his team are his simply some friends, not hot shot sailors. I will believe that when I see it! Watch this one - he won this event two years ago.

117 Stingray, owned by Tom Whitcraft and chartered to Nils Razmilovic. Nils comes to this event from Singapore . He tried his hand at Platus for the first time in March at the Platu Open, and as well as being a very nice guy is a world class Etchells sailor. One to put your money on for a podium place .

120 The Weasel, owned by Kev Scott and chartered to Al Chase. Al and his team are making the long trip from Australia so you can bet it’s not to sail at the back of the fleet. Al first came here about three years ago and sailed to third overall in this event. No mean feat for the first time on a Platu and with crew he had never met before. This time he will have his own crew, so watch him go.

121 Motornet. Not much known at this stage , but we are hoping the Japanese team will be on this one.

122 Owned by Khun Pote and chartered to a Singaporean team. This will be the SMU (Singapore Management University) second team. All very new to sailing except one, so please look out for this boat and offer all the help you can (did I hear someone say 'and also avoid them on the start line'? …you are cruel!). Thank you for your entry , welcome to the Top of The Gulf Regatta and all the best of good luck to your team.

124 The Ferret, owned by Kev Scott skippered by Scott Duncanson. Now back as The Ferret after a year as The Lofts , and with a new go-faster chrome paint job. This team won the event last year. They are the current Coronation Cup holders, and last year’s Raimon Land One Design Platu Championship winners. With just one change to the crew list, Scotty D will be hoping to win again but knows that this One Design Championship is gaining credence and a lot of top sailors are being attracted to join in. Scott says, 'with this increased quality of entrants, whoever wins this one, will have earned it'.

124 Gulf Charters 1, owned and skippered by Ray Waldron. Ray has put in a lot of hard work to encourage racing in Pattaya. He has just bought a second boat, a Duncanson-designed Phuket 8 sportsboat, which will be sailing as Gulf Charters 2. But for this event Ray will be back on board the Platu where he will be hoping to get a win for his sponsors. More than capable of winning this event: good luck Ray.

130 The Fox, owned by Kev Scott and chartered to the VS team. This team are also coming all the way from Australia. We do not know a lot about them at this stage so maybe this could be the 'dark horse' that shocks us all.

132 Jellyfish Kiss. Available for charter.

257 Pine Pacific, owned and sailed by Khun Ithinai. After a long rest, this boat is now sailing regularly and is building a good team of Thais. They have shown good speed at times and will get a well-deserved result before long. Hoping the lucky number 257 will be fast for them.

So, at the moment 14 Platus will contest this year's event but there are still some entries pending and we hope to have all 17 on the start line. At the Open in March, three races out of seven were decided by less than one second on the finish line, and that is pretty exciting stuff, especially when the points difference is low as well. If you want the best One Design racing possible, in warm waters with good breeze, come to the Top of The Gulf Regatta in Pattaya.

Platu details, Kev Scott: kevscott@hotmail.com or Thai mobile (+66) 0878 25 00 11
Event details: www.topofthegulfregatta.com