Phuket King's Cup 2024 Registration Day
by Guy Nowell 30 Nov 2024 06:09 EST
30 November - 6 December 2024
Phuket King's Cup 2024. At Beyond Kata © Guy Nowell / Phuket King's Cup
With 41 boats on the entry list, the Phuket King's Cup is really starting to feel like its old self. So it's not quite the 80+ boats that we were accustomed to seeing in the pre-Covid years, but it's a major improvement on the 12 boats that started in 2022. Dwindling numbers at Asian regattas is a topic for lengthy conversations over an elastic number of beers, but this event is growing once again. Hooray.
With 12 nationalities represented in the IRC Racing divisions alone, it's a healthy-looking fleet from Kevin Whitcraft's Vayu (THA, TP52, IRC 0) to Blitz (Nick Burns, GBR, IRC 1), and Shahtoosh (Peter Cremers, BEL, Premier). Today and tomorrow are registration and measurement days, when the Kanda Hall at Beyond Kata becomes a sail loft floor before it gets gussied up for visiting royalty at the end of the week (see below). Tomorrow the Race Committee will be exercising the flag halyards with start sequences every five minutes for an hour or so from 13.00h. Whether this is for the benefit of the halyard-handlers or the competitors we are not quite sure. At the same time the International Dinghy Regatta section of the event starts racing.
In front of the Beyond Kata Resort, headquarters of the Phuket King's Cup, Kata Beach is packed - and that's an understatement. A few years ago, local authorities totally banned sun loungers and umbrellas, and the beach was gorgeous. Now, you can hardly see the sand, and some of the early fleet arrivals reported difficulty landing a dinghy, and even more in carrying sails through the crowd. The Ska Bar has disappeared behind a wall of deck chairs, and the dinghy launching area at the north end of the beach has been 'occupied'. Heigh ho.
Last year Their Majesties King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida visited the Phuket King's Cup on the lay day, and HM Queen sailed a practice race on Kevin and Tom Whitcraft's TP52, Vayu. The Queen returned to race on the last day of the regatta, and then to present the glittering prizes at the Royal Presentations. This year Queen Suthida will be sailing on board Vayu, and His Majesty the King will make the Royal Presentations on Friday afternoon - making 2024 the first time that the King will present the King's Cup since the regatta began in 1987. Now there's a prize worth winning!
For more information, results etc, go to www.kingscup.com