Bangkok Post : Thai sailors show a great future lies ahead after Royal Varuna success

>>PATTAYA : The Kingdom's boys and girls took out the top placings with brilliant sailing and strong finishes on the last day of the ASEAN Optimist and the Byte CII Asia-Pacific Championships.

In the two regattas raced concurrently off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in South Pattaya this week, their world-class performances have placed Thailand into the top echelons of yacht racing world-wide and bodes well for the future of the sport in the Kingdom, the region and the world at large.

In fact, it was a Thai whitewash of the total event, with Thai team No 1 also winning the team racing competition with a perfect zero score.

It was the daunting Thai sub-teen girls, Noppakao Poonpat and Jittiwa Thanawitwilat, first and third, respectively, in the ASEAN Optimist regatta, with exactly the same pattern in the Byte Division, except it was Thai boys this time.

Byte World champion, Keerati Bualong and Natthawut Paenyaem were first and third respectively.

Taking the Opti class first, Malaysia's Ahmad Syukri Abdul Aziz was second, with first Singaporean (and girl) Kimberly Lim, in sixth place, Eri Fukasawa, Japan's first, in 12th place, Burma's first sailor, Thiri Ye Win, in 22nd place and little Sri Lankan lady Dani-Elle Svendson, first for her country, in 42nd place overall.

In the Byte CII, Singapores Terence Choo, after a valiant tussle with the Thai boys, finished second, with a cluster of Singaporeans, filling fourth to seventh places.

Indonesia's finest, Boby M H Sanjaya was 22nd overall and Burma No 1, (and first lady) Khin Nyo Lynn, was 24th.

It was so refreshing to see all these young people, their managers and their supporters, smiling, competing and enjoying life, after the gloom and doom surrounding the big world outside.

Flag Commodore of the host club, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, Kevin Whitcraft presided over the most impressive closing ceremony, in the glow of a glorious Pattaya sunset.

"The Royal Thai Navy, the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand and our own Royal Varuna Yacht Club, of which His Majesty the King is Our Royal Patron, have been delighted to welcome 53 young people from six regional countries, to join our own 33-strong Thai team, in a week of superb sailing, fun and camaraderie, this week," said Kevin.

"I know that the teams from Burma, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka have enjoyed our own people, our hospitality and our culture," he added.

The generous sponsors who supported this regatta were Oskabatt, B-ing, Speedo, Suniture, Coca Cola and Nam Thip.

They were joined by the paramedics of the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, who were constantly alert and ready to administer to any mishap.

Their very presence instilled confidence in the boys and girls competing and, perhaps, some of the older folks, rocking out there on the bay, on the committee vessels, the rescue craft and the jury boat.

Thus, the curtain rang down on a superb week of sailing, fun and god-fellowship among Asia's neighbours and Thailand goes up a notch on all counts.