YACHTING
PETER CUMMINS
PHUKET : Day Two of the ongoing Phuket King's Cup Regatta, dedicated to His Majesty the King for his 81st birthday, dawned with a beautiful sky, an early north-easterly blowing around 14-18 knots and a moderate sea, the type of image Phuket has always tried to project.
 |
| The action on day two. GUY NOWELL |
A slight altercation caused abandonment of the day's second event for the Racing Class. Otherwise, all went well.
Defending Racing Class champion Hong Kong's Frank Pong scraped in 27 seconds ahead of Tuesday's race winner, Paul Winkelmann (HK)/Steve Dodd (GBR), with Asian regional yachting champion Aussie Ray Roberts third, just six seconds behind.
A very similar pattern followed in the Premier Class Race Two, with Belgian Peter Cremers finishing 59 seconds ahead of Australian David Ross who, in turn, was four seconds ahead of third-placed Russians Somov Vyachteslav/Emakov Ilya.
Race Three of this class saw the erstwhile second and third placings of the earlier race finishing first and second, relegating Cremers to third.
Sports Boat champion Phuket's own Scott Duncanson replaced Japan's Kenchi Takahashi as leader in this class, with Aussies Ray Waldton/Andy Whitboorne coming in third.
In IRC Two class, the crack Royal Thai Navy team under skipper NC Pontap Sukudom racked up their second win, beating out Peter Dyer (GBR) and the Irish lads Gould and Cusack, second and third, respectively.
In the Sunsail One Design class, the Netherlands leader added another win to his tally, leaving German Jakob Handte and Nick Rose (GBR) in his wake.
German Jan Kisteit maintained his top place with another win in the Bareboat Charter class, keeping out compatriot Daniel Schwalb and Japan's Toru Inoue.
Phuket's Henry Kaye beat Great Britain's Peter Dyer and German Hans Rahmann to move to the leaderboard of the Firefly Division, while Japanese skipper Keitaro Kurihara administered a sound thrashing to Russian Krasnoperov Oleg and USA entry Chapus Marc in the Ocean Rover class.
Neil Ayre (GBR) piloted his Vietnamese-built Corsair trimaran into first place just three minutes ahead of renowned sailor Thailand's Radab Kanchanavanit, with Britain David Liddell just 21 seconds behind in third.
IRC One saw Aussie Matt Allen continue on his winning ways to keep UK compatriots Rob Bottomley and Jeff Davison, second and third, respectively.
Finally, the beautiful old ladies of the sea making up the Classic Class was won by two British sailors Paul Brunning/Chris Edwards. James Stoll was a long way behind in second place and almost an hour ahead of New Zealand's Roger Foley.
Another entry adding much interest to this year's regatta is the Classic Class schooner Argo which finished second in the 2006 King's Cup. But that is a minor achievement compared to the real purpose of Argo's circumnavigation. Argo, built in Thailand two years ago, is owned by the appropriately-named company, Seamester.
Under the careful tutelage of company boss James Stoll, Argo has taken some 200 students on board at various times, now arriving in Phuket with some 22 teenaged students.
For these fortunate youngsters the three months sailing the world is part of their college education, fully accredited by the University of Florida, whereby they study oceanography and marine science as well as being imbued early in life with a vast experience.
Although today was designated as a rest day due to the problems many sailors had in arriving, a full racing programme is scheduled.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
Next
