Top of the Gulf 2017 - from feisty to feeble
by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 5 May 2017
Oops. Top of the Gulf 2017. Guy Nowell/ Top of the Gulf Regatta
There were massive thunderstorms rolling around last night, big winds and torrential rain. Having optimistically called the weather yesterday as sunshine and blue skies, at 08.00h today it was a case of “I’ll eat my hat” - if it had’t already blown away: outside Ocean Marina there was 25kts of wind and breaking rollers across the bay – fun if you can hack it, but not to everybody’s liking.
By start time the breeze had moderated to 16kts or maybe a hair less, from 180 degrees, and by the end of racing it had blown itself out from “full and feisty” all the way to “sweet Fanny Adams” and was coming from 020. At 1600h there was sunshine on the Regatta Lawn in front of OMYC; the cold Singhas and Mount Gay was going down a treat. Situation normal.
Start lines are not much fun to look at when there are only two or three boats in a division (see pics below), especially when one of them is a minute late, but the Platu class contesting the Coronation Cup provided some interest, with a good mix-up at the pin end with a port tack bias on the line.
Two windward-leeward races for all classes. With not too many boats to account for, here are the full results:
IRC 1
1. Emagine 1, 1 (2)
2. THA 72 3, 1 (4)
3. Loco 2, 3 (5)
IRC 3
1. El Coyote 1, 1 (2)
2. Magic 2, 2 (4)
3. Sail Quest HiJinks 3, 4 (7)
4. Nautical Wheeler 4, 3 (7)
Cruising
1. Lady Bubbly 1, 1 (2)
2. Le Vent 2, 2 (4)
3. Thida Waree 3, 3 (6)
Multihulls
1. Sonic 1, 1 (2)
2. Bladerunner 2, 2 (4)
Platu (top 3 only)
1. Pine-Pacific (Ithinai Yingsiri, THA) 1, 1, 6 (8)
2. East Tiger III (Chris Way, AUS) 2, 6, 2 (10)
3. Team Viewpoint (Rolf Heemskerk) 5, 2, 3 (10)
More information at www.topofthegulfregatta.com
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