Koh Samui Regatta - day 1

by AsianYachting.com on 2 Jun 2009 As the yachts left the mooring and made their way out to the race course, a light south westerly breeze miraculously sprung up from around the headland and PRO Ross Chisholm decided it was a good day to hold two windward / leeward courses for most classes and three for the racing class to complete the first day of racing. The wind gradually increased and clocked around to the west for the second race providing a spectacular sight in front of the sunbathing crowd on Chawaeng Beach. The shifty nature of the gusts had crews tacking to take advantage of each gust and the ones that played their cards right and scored a few lucky breaks came out on top at the end of the day.

The crafty fox Ray Roberts stayed true to form and steered his DK46 Quantum Racing to win Race 1. Not to be out-gunned, Neil Pryde and his Welbourne 52 Hi Fi crew cranked her up to score two wins in a row and go directly to the top of the leader board. A big concern before racing started was including Matt Allen's Beneteau First 44.7 Ichi Ban into the Racing Class because of her low IRC rating. They have some of Australia's top sailors on board that can squeeze every last tenth of speed out of her, and by sailing up to her rating should be in amongst the top placings if the weather conditions suit. Two second places and a fourth evens out the score and does not constitute the earlier concerns. With only a boat length separating them, the Bill Bremner/Andy Cocks owned TP52 Foxy Lady IV and Sam Chan's TP52 Ffreefire 52 had a ding dong battle around the course, with Foxy Lady IV eventually getting the better of them. Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake slipped into second place in Race 3 to climb up the rankings and stay within reach of the leaders. Quite a few tired sailors - lacking match practice after a few months rest - welcomed the cold drinks (especially the Margarita's) at the Tavern Bar after the race. Frank Pong's R/P 75 Boracay took all three line honours but did not have the legs to convert them into podium places.

The seven Premier Cruising class yachts provided a spectacle to behold at the starting line. Two wins for Marcel Leidts’ Beneteau 50 Blauwvoet gives them the boost they were looking for. Second and third places for Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid gets the sentimental favourite off to a flying start. Pana Trungkabunchar's all-Thai crew on the X-512 Lawana scrambled into third place in Race 1 and Gary Baguley's Holman & Pye 52 El Coyote jumped up into second place in Race 2 to share the points around the fleet. Dr Ian Nicholson's Dubois 80 Intrigue is the biggest boat competing here and despite scoring line honours needs more separation to convert it into a handicap win. With the wind expected to increase into the high teens over the next few days, a few good performances on the lengthy passage races could change everything for the heavy displacement boats.

In the IRC/Sportsboat class Jeff Davison's Mumm 30 Panic scored the daily double of Line and Handicap honours in both races held today and went to the top of the class. The three other entries followed suit with Ken Eyear’s Oracle 32 Waka Tere scoring two second places, Kipsan Beck's Shaw 6.5 Pornstar two third places, and Mick Grover's Elliot 7 Moonshadow two fourth places. That makes it Displacement Boats 2 - Planing Boats 0.

The seven Multihulls set off at a frantic pace, and going on past performances anything can happen. Surprisingly Kirati Assahul's heavy displacement Crowther 43 Bandara Sonic triumphed in the light air Race 1. Fergus Wilmer and Henry Kaye's all carbon, ultra fast Seacart 30 Thor scored second place on their first outing and after ironing out a few problems took first and fastest by the proverbial country mile in Race 2. Third and second places for Peter Dyer's Firefly 850 SEA Properties puts them amongst the leading trio. Not to be left out in the cold, defending Samui champion Radab Kanchanavanit's F9-A Cedar Swan fourth and third places today is a good first day as they have specialized in coming back from behind at events before.

The four Bareboat Charter Class boats tussled all day with Aussie Andrew Short's Oceanis 461 Constanza from Gulf Charters getting the better of them all in both races and take the overall lead. Aussie Howard Blowes on a Sunsail 43 Milliebella scored two second places, Hong Kong's Chin Yew Seah on the Sunsail 39 Bussakorn scored two third places and John Stall's Sunsail OC361 Perigot with the Samui youth sailors onboard took two fourth places. You can't get more consistent than that!

Racing continues tomorrow and with the wind expected to increase further into the double digits plenty of action is yet to come.

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