Phuket King's Cup - too close to call the multis

by Henry Kaye and Sail-World Asia on 26 Nov 2009 It’s looking like a red-hot entry list for multihulls across the board for this year’s Phuket King’s Cup, and a sure indication that those boats with 'too many hulls' are garnering more and more interest around the world.

There will be at least seven – and maybe eight – boats on the line in the Firefly 850 division. Heading the list are Twin Sharks, Moto Inzi, Voodoo Child and Sea Properties, every one a favourite. But The Frog will be always knocking on the door, and nobody can forecast the final result.

I looks as if it not just the America’s Cup where multihulls are making a new mark on events – they now account for a full 20% of the Phuket King’s Cup fleet. Brad Butterworth has suggested that multihulls may continue to feature in the AC, and maybe the exclusion of Tornados from the Olympics has had the effect of gee-ing up the sailing world and set world and has set off some more enthusiasm!

This year the Cruising Multis class is somewhat depleted (only two boats at the moment – but there’s always a chance another one will pop out of an anchorage somewhere). But just look at the racing class – 12 entries and rising, even though all the Pescott cats are out on charter and missing from the list.

There are even two new foilers signed up! Happy Feet and Seahorse: Arnie Duckworth, the great experimenter, has augmented his crew with an experienced sail designer from Queensland, and chasing along with him will be that very experienced Samui resident-KT-sailing a new build-Storm-what to make of these unknowns??

Returning to the more conventional tris and cats, there are eight possible podium entries… or maybe 12 – every one of them a competitive boat.

In alphabetical order (so as not to distort personal egos)

Cedar Swan (Khun Radab), a multiple winner in Phuket.
Da Vinci Nina (Gren Fordham), winner of the 2009 Six Senses Race Week on her very first outing.
Pimalai Charm (Bob Garner), a Corsair 31, fast and with lots of potential.
The Sting (David Wales), so very nearly a winner last year.
Thor (Fergus Wilmer and Henry Kaye), has sailed four regattas and come away with two wins and two second places.
Shanghai Baby, second in the last Multi Regatta.
Zhuka (Richard Eyre), winner in RMIR, and hungry for more.
And of course, Silk Purse (Merv Owen), a rebuilt F 28 - very fast and maybe even unmanageable in a blow…
…and one other unknown, an 11m cat from Indonesia which will be rated tomorrow!

In the last event, the smart money was on Thor, but she was beaten at the end of the day by one point and one second. The Phuket King’s Cup could be just as close (a credit to the OMR rating system, so thank you the Queensland Multi Club for that). The forecast is for light airs – good weather for The Sting. Anyone care to make book for this year’s regatta? You’d have to be brave!