Please select your home edition
Edition
RS Sailing 2021 - LEADERBOARD

Sail-World Asia at the Phuket King's Cup.

by Guy Nowell 6 Dec 2018 07:41 PST
Under the watchful eye of the Buddha. Phuket King's Cup 2018 © Guy Nowell / Phuket King's Cup

Of course it’s all about the Phuket King’s Cup at the moment: 32 years after it was started as a tribute to the late King Bhumiphol Adulyadej, the ‘Sailor King’ of Thailand, and two years after his sad demise, the King’s Cup continues albeit with a somewhat reduced entry list. If you want to max out the numbers as much as possible, then 72 keelboats and 97 dinghies make it, once again, far and away the biggest regatta in Asia. Going into the Lay Day after three days of good sailing breeze (even if it was a bit soft on the Tuesday) with all scheduled races completed, and the cream is starting to float to the top of the divisions. Ray Roberts went shopping for yet another TP52 (formerly Provezza 8) in order to beat Kevin Whitcraft’s all-conquering THA72 (formerly Provezza 7), and so far the Team Hollywood programme is bang on target. Mandrake III (Nick Burns/Fred Kinmonth) would very much like to follow-on from a win at the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta last month with an IRC 1 win at King’s Cup. Yes, they are leading with seven of the ten-race card completed, but they’ll have to fight for it, with the top three boats scoring presently on 13, 13.5 and 14 points.

Antipodes (Geoff Hill) and Firstlight (Andy Cox) are level on points in the Premier division, while Team Scallywag are being given a good thrashing on corrected time by Dan Fidock’s 40ft tri, Fugazi. The Charter and Bareboat divisions are dominated by Russian (12) and Chinese (7) entries. If you want to grow your regatta fleet around here, we suggest you make friends with a nearby charter operation, and start issuing NORs and SIs in Russian and Chinese!

The China Cup people (Across Four Oceans Sailing Event Management) are spreading their wings. The 2019 Inaugural Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Greater Bay Area Regatta & Macao Cup International Regatta is, presumably, a way to better occupy the huge office secretariat that runs CCIR - we have always wondered why it takes so many salaried staff to run one five-day regatta per year. And of course it gives the China Cup fleet of Beneteau 40.7s something to do.

“Organized by the Sports Bureau of Macao SAR Government and China Cup International Regatta Organizing Committee, the inaugural Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Greater Bay Area Regatta & Macao Cup International Regatta is scheduled to take place 10-13 January 2019,” in the turbid waters off Hac Sa Beach, Coloane. “We hereby sincerely inviting international teams to join and participate in this first ever sailing carnival in Macao,” says the blurb.

One month is rather short notice for most people, and not everyone will be willing to fork out HKD10,000 to charter a boat of highly questionable one-design-ness. The China Cup Beneteau fleet is notorious for being far from ‘One Design’, and the skipper of one of the entries this year described the sails as “the worst-cut sails I have ever seen. I had a sailmaker in the crew, and we were intending to re-cut the No 1 before the event started, but that would have been against the One Design regulations. So I guess they were all just as bad.”

In the current climate of anti-corruption and anti-excess promoted by the central Chinese government, sailing is an aceptable way of spending dollars because it is a sport. And as all boat owners know, you can spend a lot of dollars on a boat - every year. Just saying.

If you are interested in a few days in Macau, all expenses paid (except for the entry fee, of course), please contact Yuna Zhu yuna@chncup.com

Meanwhile, standing by on 72.

Related Articles

Where to purchase adaptive sailing equipment
Seats, hoists, etc for sailors with a disability Several organisations have contributed their knowledge regarding where to purchase adaptive sailing equipment such as seats for dinghies and hoists for wheelchair users to get into boats. Posted today at 11:00 am
America's Cup Power Plays
And Growing Sailing Through Learning There's always so much speculation and intrigue in-between each edition of the America's Cup. Everyone wants to know what is happening behind closed doors, inside the teams, and when the Challengers meet with the Defender. Posted on 28 May
Hyde Sails Flying Fifteen Video Tuning Guide
Ben McGrane explains how to get the most out of your B1 mainsail with B1 or 2H jibs Hyde Sails release new detailed video guide for tuning the Flying 15 for use with the B1 mainsail with B1 or 2H jibs. Posted on 22 May
Gladwell's Line: - May 22 - A big month
Kiwi's loss is Italy's gain - our thoughts on the hosting debacle. Kiwi's loss is Italy's gain - our thoughts on the hosting debacle. Paul Whiting's tribute - 45yrs on. Surprise winner of biggest ever two-handed nationals. Chalkie Bland remembered. Posted on 22 May
Puget Sound sailing, Etchells, J/70s, Cup news
Seeking Goldilocks conditions on Puget Sound, Etchells NAs, J/70 U.S. Nationals, AC38 news As the saying goes, 'you don't know unless you go'. While I've mostly heard this phrase applied to climbing, skiing, and mountaineering, four late-winter and springtime races on Puget Sound this year exemplified the fact that this line. Posted on 20 May
The appeal of offshore
Is there still appeal? Have we made it too onerous? Why would someone take it up now? I had been pondering. Yes. Marquee events have no issue attracting entrants. Middle Sea, Transpac, Cape to Rio, Fastnet, and Hobart all spring to mind instantly, but what of the ‘lesser' races? Lots of boats in pens (slips) a lot of the time Posted on 18 May
Banger Racing, Back Racing and No Racing
Racing on the cheap, a return to racing for young Aussies, and ILCA struggles We start with racing on the cheap at the Colander Cup, then focus on a return to racing for the Aussies at the Youth Worlds, moving on to a complete lack of racing at the ILCA Worlds, and then looking at how SailGP should be back out on the water. Posted on 14 May
Exposure Marine Fastnet Race Kit Video Review
A set of 3 torches specifically designed for offshore racing crews It's a huge year for offshore sailing, and arguably the biggest event of the summer is the Rolex Fastnet Race. Within an hour of entries opening the Royal Ocean Racing Club had received a record 435 yacht registrations. Posted on 14 May
Touching base with Francesca Clapcich
Francesca Clapcich on her 2028-2029 Vendee Globe campaign In late March, Italian-American sailor Francesca “Frankie” Clapcich announced that her Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing will campaign for the 2028-2029 edition of the Vendee Globe race. Posted on 13 May
How Seldén Carbon Masts are made
I took a look around the Seldén Mast factory with Richard Thoroughgood to find out more I took a look around the Seldén Mast factory with Richard Thoroughgood from Seldén to find out a bit more about how the carbon tow reels become the masts that we use when out sailing. Posted on 12 May
Palm Beach Motor YachtsRS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERVaikobi 2024 December