Sawadee.com Regatta - Neil Pryde begins his title defence

by Ian Grundy/Rachel Raeburn on 1 Jun 2010 The 2010 Sawadee.com Regatta began today in glorious conditions, with blue skies overhead and clear blue waters below, as the racing fleet headed out to sea for this tropical island regatta off the shores of Chaweng Beach, located on the eastern coastline of Koh Samui, Thailand.

2009 Sawadee.com Regatta Racing Class Winner, Neil Pryde and the crew of Hi Fi, have returned to defend their title – and will be expecting fierce competition in their division from Ray Roberts of Evolution Racing, Frank Pong of Jelik II (Boracay) and Nick Burns/Fred Kinmouth of EFG Bank Mandrake.

The regatta will see five classes battling it out over the week-long event: Racing, IRC-1, Premier, Bareboat/Cruising and Multihulls.

On Day one, after a short delay while the start boat headed for a wind line that looked promising, all classes got away in five to seven knots of wind. PRO Ross Chisholm elected to send the Premier Cruisers, Bareboat/Cruising and Multihull Classes on Coastal Course one, up to Koh Phangan. The Racing and IRC Classes stayed close by for short windward/leeward courses.

The much-anticipated clash between Ray Roberts TP52 Evolution Racing and Neil Pryde's Welbourn 52 Hi Fi came alive again today, with both fully intent on not giving an inch to each other. Frank Pong's 76ft Jelik II (Boracay) is prepared to get in amongst the mix and the Nick Burns/Fred Kinmonth co-owned Mills 51 EFG Mandrake are definitely not here just to make up the numbers. Two close but clear starts saw the racers either heading for the coast or staying further offshore.

Not only was the adverse current stronger offshore, but the patchy nature of the breeze had tacticians constantly scratching their heads. So much so that during Race one, Hi Fi and Evolution Racing changed places on nearly every leg of the race and much to everyone's surprise in.

Race two all three 50 footers led Frank Pong's 76ft Jelik II around the first mark and both Pryde and Roberts crossed the finish line in front of Pong. After a good opening round jostle, Neil Pryde's Hi Fi came out on top in both races with Ray Roberts Evolution Racing in second and the co-owned Nick Burns/Fred Kinmonth EFG Mandrake in third.

In the IRC Class, a battle of big proportions developed between Ben Copley's Club Swan NY 42OD Katsu and David Ross' Kerr 32 Kukukerchu. Race one was shortened at the top mark on the second rounding, which saw Katsu take out the daily double in front of Kukukerchu. However the roles were reversed in Race two with Kukukerchu taking out the handicap honours which has them tied on overall points after Day one. Brad Kirk's Farr 42 Dynamite did the best of the rest by posting two third places and making the Thai based foreign crew members very happy in their home waters.

The early leaders in the Premier Cruisers sailed into some light patches on the long run home. At the end of the day it was the smallest in the class, Gary Baguley's Holman & Pye 52 El Coyote, that took handicap honours from Peter Forsythe and Jing Lee's X55 Xena that sailed solidly to claim line honours. Jon Wardill's Cassidy 55 Australian Maid was one of the yachts that sailed down the middle of the course to settle on third place.

The interesting mix of entries in the Bareboat/Cruising class on the coastal race saw John Stall's Atkins 34 Lanta Concept take out the daily double in front of the Sunsail boats. Nigel Hopkins Oyster Lightwave 48 Celere jumped up into second place after handicaps have been applied. Scott Finisten's Oceanis 461 Andrew Short - Constanza slipped into third place - the first time in two years at this event that this boat has lost a race.

In the Multihull class Kirati Assakul's (Nim) Crowther 42 Sonic is up against three locally built bi-plane rigged catamarans and despite all of their best laid plans, Sonic managed to come out on top on the coastal race. Kunta's (Samui Ocean Sports} Radical Bay Team Zazen is one of the first bi-plane rigged boats to be built on Koh Samui and scored second place in front of the new designs from the home of the bi-plane rigs. Kim Thomas' Storm maybe a Tornado look alike but had to settle on third place today.

Peter Churchouse, Skipper of Moonblue 2, summed up this tropical island regatta at yesterday’s opening Press Conference by saying, 'We love the sailing here – it’s great fun and offers us the opportunity to come together at a great destination with friends and family from around the world – great sailing, great food, great parties and great camaraderie – what more can you ask for?'

Callum Laing, Chairman of the Sawadee.com Regatta, commented, 'The Sawadee.com Regatta 2010 is off to a great start with Neil Pryde and his crew on Hi Fi setting the pace for the week ahead. The on-the-water action has been spectacular and we’re all set for a great week of racing'.

Adding to the action at this year’s regatta are two entries from the Royal Thai Navy. ‘Naval Academy 1’ & ‘Naval Academy 2’ – both Farr MRX design boats are competing in the IRC-1 Division. Crewed by Naval cadets between 20-22 years of age, the regatta experience not only helps develop their competitive sailing skills, but also provides them with valuable life and social skills. The cadets, who are based at the Sattahip Royal Thai Naval Base South of Bangkok, have trained extensively for the regatta over the past two weeks and clearly enjoy this sailing development opportunity. Lt Commander Atthasit Wongpaibool directs the cadet programme, 'The last time the Royal Thai Navy competed in Samui, we came first in our division. We’ll be pushing hard for a similar result in 2010'.

The Regatta continues through to Saturday 5th June, with a daily spectator boat following the racing fleet.

For more information, please go to: www.samuiregatta.com