37th Phuket King's Cup under way
by Scott Murray 3 Dec 2025 01:15 AEDT
29 November - 6 December 2025
Phuket King's Cup - under starter's orders. Dinghies waiting for the launch flag © Guy Nowell / Phuket King's Cup
Dinghy racing started today in the 37th Phuket King's Cup, set against the beautiful backdrop of the Andaman Sea, with 80 young sailors competing for eight titles. Titles being contested include Boy's and Girl's Optimists, ILCA4 U18 (mixed), the ILCA 7 class, the ILCA6 Open Class, the International 420 class, the Open Skiff U18 class and the Inclusive S/V14 class.
Dinghy sailing has racers competing from Thailand, Singapore, Kazakhstan, China, India, the UK and Hong Kong. But many of Thailand's top young sailors are in Sattahip preparing for the next week's SEA Games, so many of the classes do not have a clear favourite to win, making it even more exciting and competitive.
Forty sailors are competing in their boy's and girl's Optimist classes. YRAT has the top three spots after three races, as Surapa Muangngam leads Pakornkiat Chaiya-o-cha by nine points and Aummarin Juntajon by 18 points.
Then, the ILCA 4 class has 14 sailors (8 male, 6 female), Karit Phramanee is a sailor to watch in this class, but today he finished tied for second with fellow Thai Kitchakhun Somkhanngoen three points behind Pinchanok Klaysomboon, and two points ahead of Thanaporn Phokaew.
The ILCA6 class has three sailors including the brother-sister pairing of Panwa and Thorfun Boonrak; ILCA 7 has five male sailors; while the International 420 class has three mixed boats - watch for the pairing of Pitipoom Jaroenpon and Worrakan Saksriklom in this class.
ILCA6 Open, ILCA7, and the 420s are scored together and after three races Voravong Rachrattanak of the RTNA leads fellow-Thai Thorfun Boonnak by four points, and Gass Anton of Kazakhstan by five points.
There are nine boats competing in the Open Skiff U-18 class. UWC's Punthita Werotjanakul came out of the start line on fire winning all three races on the first day and she has a commanding seven-point lead over UWC's Andries Kosuge & Alexander Kramer, all representing Thailand. UWC's Owen Wong-Forhart and UWC's Henry Kuratle sit tied for third eleven points back.
Disabled Sailing Thailand (DAT) has a strong presence in the regatta, entering six boats from Phuket and Pattaya in the S/V14 class. This class actually got under way yesterday with one race. Suraphong Chitkhong (helm) & Mak Sarawat (crew), last year's winners, will be hard to dislodge from the top of the podium, but after four races so far Tanat Upatising (helm) & Tatiana Kaurova (crew) lead Suraphong & Mak by one point.
Keelboats competing in the regatta were invited to participate in a non-scoring practice session conducted in the area off Kata Beach. The Race Committee, led by Principal Race Officer Simon James, set a start line, and windward and leeward marks approximately 1nm west of Kata Beach. The Committee then ran a series of non-class specific start sequences on a rolling basis with the warning signal displayed every 10 minutes between 13:00 and 14:00.
At the evening's opening party, Kevin Whitcraft, President of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta, gave a welcoming speech and then invited Khun Proomookpisitt, the owner of Beyond Kata, on stage to deliver a few remarks. Whitcraft and the Chief of Thailand's 3rd Naval Area Command officially opened the regatta by "ringing the bell."