Monsoon breezes kick in at Six Senses Phuket Raceweek

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 24 Jul 2009 Yesterday the rain came down by the cartload, making for a very bedraggled Registration Day for the 31 entrants. But never mind, paperwork and formalities over, and the skippers’ briefing as well, and the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek kicked off in the usual style with a buffet dinner and party at regatta headquarters, the Evason’s Into the Beach.

New faces in the crowd included Neil Pryde and the crew of Hi Fi, keen to defend their AYGP crown right from the beginning of the season, with Ray Roberts (Evolution Sails, formerly Quantum Racing) there to keep them honest (and try to knock them off the perch).

Henry Kaye appeared in the 'new boat, familiar name' category, with his new super-go-fast carbon Sea Cart trimaran, Thor. And also putting in a first appearance in the Multihull division is Da Vinci Nina, a new Andaman Cabriolet catamaran part owned-and-built by Gren Fordham, Phuket Raceweek organizer.

There were more buckets of rain – and more than a capful of breeze – overnight, so it looks as if the south-west monsoon is definitely here. Phuket Raceweek was started in 2004 as an antidote to light-air sailing in Thailand’s ‘high’ season, and has billed itself as 'Phuket’s Green Season Regatta' and even as 'Thailand’s Windiest Regatta'.

Today started more grey than green, but five divisions went away on a windward-leeward course in 8-10 knots of breeze, and gradually the overcast cleared and the breeze piped up to a high of 15 knots by mid-afternoon. The second race of the day was a figure-of-eight around Koh Aeo and Koh Bon.

In the first race Hi Fi set the pace all the way round the racecourse, but it wasn’t quite quick enough to hold off the smaller Evolution Sails and even Peter Ahern’s Farr 40 Yo!2 - that scored eight bullets from eight races last year.

For the record, Yo!2 pipped Hi Fi for second place by a scant two seconds. Going round the islands in the afternoon was again a test of concentration at the front of the fleet for the Hi Fi crew, but once again it was Evolution Sails that collected the handicap honours – first by 14 seconds.

There must have been some snakes and ladders on the racecourse today for the IRC 1 fleet, with three boats ending the day on 5 points and one on 6. Peter Dyer’s IOR ½ tonner Madame Butterfly scored 1,4 and Jaray Tipsuk’s Platu Mitrmitri – cleverly disguised as a newspaper – swapped 2,3 with Niels Degenkolw’s ¾ tonner Phoenix’s 3,2. Next on 6 (5,1) points is Stuart Williamson’s Skandia Endeavour of Whitby.

'Obviously, it got better,' said Williamson. 'The first race was a bit of a disappointment, but the wheels were back on for the trip round the islands, and the breeze and the sea conditions suited us jus fine. All we need to do to stay at the front now is keep the crew work up to scratch.'

The Firefly 850 division produced what might well be described as 'consistent' results, with the four entries coming home in the same order in both races: Voodoo, Moto Inzi, The Frog, Blue Nose. These were potentially tricky sailing conditions for the colourful little cats – enough breeze to really put the pedal to the metal on the spinnaker reaches, but watch out for the occasional speed bump!

There were some entertaining moments out there, with spray a-plenty, and The Frog chancing it with a bit of hull-flying. Round the back and through the ‘hole’ at the southern end of Koh Aeo, Roger Kingdon’s Moto Inzi got the better of Voodoo, but it was still owner Hans Rahmann and Firefly designer Mark Pescott in front at the finish.

Stepping down to a Firefly from his luxurious 80’ Yasooda, Rahmann says he is having the time of his life – 'and organizing four crew instead of 15 is so much easier!' he says.

There’s a very mixed bag racing in the Multihull division, ranging from Henry Kaye/Fergus Wilmer’s Sea Cart 30, Thor, to Arnold Duckworth’s Happy Feet – the former is a Swedish production all in carbon, with a furling Code Zero enough attitude to stop a traffic cop.

Duckworth’s unusual-looking cat has two unstayed mast, square-top high aspect sails about the same proportions as a regatta banner, and two foils attached to a central ‘pod’ (which doesn’t touch the water and is therefore not a hull). The boat goes well upwind, but suffers from lack of downwind sails as soon as she turns the corner at top of the course.

(Picture here, and we’ll have more later.) And there's the brand new, only-launched-last-week Da Vinci Nina, an Andaman Cabriolet belonging to Image Asia's Gren Fordham, and skipered by designer Alan Carwardine, that pulled two wins out of the bag on her first day's racing.

There’s a Classics division too, but with only one entry. 'We’re so good, we scared away all the other entries,' said Merv Owen this evening. So Tom Howard’s stately Seraph circumnavigated Koh Lon in style today, and at a relaxed pace, and then went home for tea. 'Tomorrow we might go round two islands – if the wind is right,' said Owen. (And if the beer holds out! – Ed).

Racing round the islands of this south east corner of Phuket is very much a feature of Six Senses Phuket Raceweek, and this afternoon’s sunshine and breeze was just the ticket.

But the short hop from the finish line to the anchorage involved many crews getting a major drenching as another tropical squall passed overhead – yes the monsoon is with us, and the forecast says it’s here for a couple of days, so stand by to stand by for more good racing.

IRC Racing Race 1 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points 8889 Evolution Sails Ray Roberts (AUS) 1.206 1:24:10 1:41:30 1 1 AUS2000 Yo!2 Peter Ahern (AUS) 1.177 1:27:31 1:43:00 2 2 HKG2112 Hi-Fi Neil Pryde (NZ) 1.338 1:17:00 1:43:02 3 3 HKT801 Quantum Fusion M Scott Duncanson (AUS) 1.121 1:33:07 1:44:23 4 4 AUS 1943 Katsu Ben Copley (AUS) 1.180 1:30:01 1:46:13 5 5   Tantrum Robert van Paridon John Vause (NED) 1.110 1:36:06 1:46:40 6 6 MAS 99 Baby Tonga Antony Hastings Fraser Jonson (GBR) 1.167 1:34:29 1:50:16 7 7

Fastest Time Hi-Fi

IRC Racing Race 2 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points 8889 Evolution Sails Ray Roberts (AUS) 1.206 1:53:15 2:16:35 1 1 HKG2112 Hi-Fi Neil Pryde (NZ) 1.338 1:42:15 2:16:49 2 2 AUS2000 Yo!2 Peter Ahern (AUS) 1.177 1:58:18 2:19:14 3 3 HKT801 Quantum Fusion M Scott Duncanson (AUS) 1.121 2:05:54 2:21:08 4 4   Tantrum Robert van Paridon John Vause (NED) 1.110 2:09:01 2:23:13 5 5 AUS 1943 Katsu Ben Copley (AUS) 1.180 2:02:55 2:25:02 6 6 MAS 99 Baby Tonga Antony Hastings Fraser Jonson (GBR) 1.167 2:07:49 2:29:10 7 7

Fastest Time Hi-Fi

Current protest time limit for IRC Racing Class 15:44

IRC 1 Race 1 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points GBR4497 Madame Butterfly Peter Dyer (GBR) 0.999 1:11:50 1:11:46 1 1 1234 Mitrmitri Jaray Tipsuk (THA) 0.970 1:14:10 1:11:56 2 2 JPN 777 Phoenix Niels Degenkolw (DEN) 0.981 1:13:49 1:12:25 3 3   Windstar Peter Wood (IRL) 0.935 1:20:00 1:14:48 4 4 MAS88 Skandia Endeavour of Whitby Stuart Williamson (GBR) 1.007 1:14:30 1:15:01 5 5 THA777 Minx Mick Kealy Kevin Gillow (AUS) 0.953 1:19:17 1:15:33 6 6 JPN6373 Emma Toshio Furuta (JPN) 1.094 1:09:35 1:16:07 7 7 THA118 Coco ColaTuay Lek Sail in Asia David Iszatts (THA) 0.970 1:19:26 1:17:03 8 8

Fastest Time Emma

IRC 1 Race 2 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points MAS88 Skandia Endeavour of Whitby Stuart Williamson (GBR) 1.007 2:22:34 2:23:34 1 1 JPN 777 Phoenix Niels Degenkolw (DEN) 0.981 2:26:49 2:24:02 2 2 1234 Mitrmitri Jaray Tipsuk (THA) 0.970 2:28:44 2:24:16 3 3 GBR4497 Madame Butterfly Peter Dyer (GBR) 0.999 2:24:30 2:24:21 4 4   Windstar Peter Wood (IRL) 0.935 2:35:23 2:25:17 5 5 THA777 Minx Mick Kealy Kevin Gillow (AUS) 0.953 2:33:13 2:26:01 6 6 JPN6373 Emma Toshio Furuta (JPN) 1.094 2:16:06 2:28:54 7 7 THA118 Coco ColaTuay Lek Sail in Asia David Iszatts (THA) 0.970 OCS OCS OCS 9

Fastest Time Emma

Current protest time limit for IRC 1 Class 16:15

Club Charter Race 1 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points AUS 36 Awatea Andrew de Bruin (AUS) 0.969 1:31:40 1:28:50 1 1 181 Prosafe Cunning Plan Rob Azzopardi (AUS) 0.988 1:32:17 1:31:11 2 2 MLT 1295 Big A Horst Lakits (AUT) 1.045 1:30:58 1:35:04 3 3   NRG Alissa Elite Yachting Benjamin Dupal (THA) 1.042 1:42:09 1:46:26 4 4 M Amandla Star Chrisotpher Kingsley-Smith (GBR) 0.997 DNS DNS DNS 6

Fastest Time Big A

Club Charter Race 2 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points AUS 36 Awatea Andrew de Bruin (AUS) 0.969 2:49:28 2:44:13 1 1 MLT 1295 Big A Horst Lakits (AUT) 1.045 2:41:32 2:48:48 2 2   NRG Alissa Elite Yachting Benjamin Dupal (THA) 1.042 3:17:53 3:26:12 3 3 M Amandla Star Chrisotpher Kingsley-Smith (GBR) 0.997 DNS DNS DNS 6 181 Prosafe Cunning Plan Rob Azzopardi (AUS) 0.988 OCS OCS OCS 6

Fastest Time Big A

Current protest time limit for Club Charter Class 16:57

Multihull Race 1 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points   Madame Cholet David Thomson (GBR) 0.706 1:33:12 1:05:48 1 1   Da Vinci Niña Composite Catamarans Alan Carwadine (THA) 0.761 1:33:45 1:11:21 2 2   Thor Henry Kaye/Fergus Wilmer (GBR) 1.017 1:15:42 1:16:59 3 3 234 Shanghai Baby Neil Ayre (GBR) 0.803 1:37:37 1:18:23 4 4 20 Chameleon Faraway Yachting Shane Smith (THA) 0.839 1:35:37 1:20:13 5 5 GBR 720M Miss Saigon David Liddell (GBR) 0.884 1:33:48 1:22:55 6 6 00 Happy Feet Arnold Duckworth (USA) 0.914 1:31:47 1:23:53 7 7

Fastest Time Thor

Multihull Race 2 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points   Da Vinci Niña Composite Catamarans Alan Carwadine (THA) 0.761 2:07:13 1:36:49 1 1   Thor Henry Kaye/Fergus Wilmer (GBR) 1.017 1:37:45 1:39:25 2 2 20 Chameleon Faraway Yachting Shane Smith (THA) 0.839 2:06:28 1:46:06 3 3 234 Shanghai Baby Neil Ayre (GBR) 0.803 2:14:02 1:47:38 4 4 00 Happy Feet Arnold Duckworth (USA) 0.914 2:02:24 1:51:52 5 5 GBR 720M Miss Saigon David Liddell (GBR) 0.884 2:09:00 1:54:02 6 6   Madame Cholet David Thomson (GBR) 0.706 2:52:19 2:01:39 7 7

Fastest Time Thor

Current protest time limit for Multihull Class 16:42

Firefly 850 Race 1 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points FF777 Voodoo Hans Rahmann (GER) 1.000 1:20:03 1:20:03 1 1 FF222 Moto Inzi Roger Kingdon (GBR) 1.000 1:22:30 1:22:30 2 2 690 The Frog Andaman Sea Club John Newnham (THA) 1.000 1:26:09 1:26:09 3 3   Blue Nose Damian Kimble Mark Horwood (CAN) 1.000 1:28:55 1:28:55 4 4   SEA Property Peter Dyer (GBR) 1.000 DNS DNS DNS 6

Fastest Time Voodoo

Firefly 850 Race 2 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points FF777 Voodoo Hans Rahmann (GER) 1.000 1:38:11 1:38:11 1 1 FF222 Moto Inzi Roger Kingdon (GBR) 1.000 1:38:16 1:38:16 2 2 690 The Frog Andaman Sea Club John Newnham (THA) 1.000 1:48:35 1:48:35 3 3   Blue Nose Damian Kimble Mark Horwood (CAN) 1.000 1:58:32 1:58:32 4 4   SEA Property Peter Dyer (GBR) 1.000 DNC DNC DNC 6

Fastest Time Voodoo

Current protest time limit for Firefly 850 Class 15:43

Classic Race 1 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points 59 Seraph Tom Howard Bao (GBR) 0.839 1:27:47 1:13:39 1 1

Fastest Time Seraph

Classic Race 2 (Provisional)

Sail No Boat Name TCF Elapsed Time Corrected Time Place Points 59 Seraph Tom Howard Bao (GBR) 0.839 DNS DNS DNS 2

Current protest time limit for Classic Class 15:56

Jul 23 2009 8:25 PM