This was supposed to be a lay day in honour of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday, but as a lack of wind forced the cancelation of keelboat racing on Tuesday, the lay day was used to get in two more races for IRC Zero, IRC 1, IRC II and Premier, while the bareboat charters and monohulls sailed one race each.         

And Ray Roberts’ Team Hollywood took full advantage of the make-up day, sailing two bullets beating THA 72 Vayu by 38 seconds on corrected time in the first race and 00:01:31 in the second race. Steve McConaghy’s Aftershock was third in both races. After six races, THA 72 Vayu and Team Hollywood sit tied for first with eight points (factoring in one drop race as the class has sailed the minimum five races), while Aftershock is four points back, setting up a very exciting winner-take-all finale tomorrow.   

PRO Simon James went back to the spot he found wind the previous two days, an area between Koh Kaeo Yai and Koh Kaeo Noi, off of Rawai, sending the big boats (IRC Zero, IRC 1 and IR II) on an around-the-islands course and then a two-lap windward-leeward course, while sending Bareboat A & B, the Monohull Cruising class and the one multihull racing on one around-the-islands course. 

The seven-boat IRC 1 class saw Nick Burns’ Blitz bounce back winning two races today, the first by 48 seconds and the second by 17 seconds on corrected time, both over Rolf Heemskerk’s The Next Factor, though Rolf’s boat was first across the line in the class in both races. Craig Nichols’s Alright was third in both races 00:01:43 behind The Next Factor in race one, and 00:02:16 behind The Next Factor in race two. After six races in this class, The Next Factor has a one-point advantage over Blitz, while Alright is four points behind Blitz, making for another thrilling finale tomorrow.   

Thailand’s Ithinai Yingsiri’s Pine Pacific and Hans Rahmann’s Yasooda unfortunately had an incident just before the start of the first race in the Premier class, when they both swerved to avoid hitting a boat that shouldn’t have been near their start line. With the wind gusting to about 12 knots, Pine Pacific and Yasooda were both on port with Pine Pacific three-boat-lengths ahead. Pine Pacific tacked to starboard, sailing close hauled, Yasooda then luffed but failed to keep clear of Pine Pacific, and it was not possible for Pine Pacific, who had right-of-way, to avoid contact, so the boats bumped causing damage to Pine Pacific’s hull and she retired from racing. Yasooda, meanwhile, suffered damage to her bowsprit and forestay chainplate, took a penalty turn and then retired from the race. 

Pine Pacific protested Yasooda and the protest was upheld, with Pine Pacific being given redress in that they are to be scored in race five and onwards on points equal to the average, rounded to the nearest tenth of a point, of her results from races one through four. Both yachts will be unable to race tomorrow: so, after six races Thailand’s Pine Pacific has won this class again, Shahtoosh will finish second and Yasooda third.   

The seven-boat IRC class 2 saw Zhao Fei’s Di Hard win the first race of the day and Sergei Muskhin’s Madame Butterfly win the second. After six races in this class, Madame Butterfly sits in top spot, and is all but assured victory with a six-point advantage over RTS-Baltic and an eight-point edge over Igor Puzanov’s Jolt.        

The four-boat Bareboat Charter A class saw Andrei Novikov’s Gloria earn its second straight victory beating Feng Chen’s Isabella by two minutes and ten seconds on corrected time. Aleksei Brunov’s Moonshine was third, almost six minutes behind Isabella. After four races in this class, Gloria has a three-point advantage over Isabella, who, in turn, has a one-point advantage of Moonshine.

The four boats competing in the Bareboat Charter B class saw Maximillian Soh’s (CHN) Piccolo earn its first victory of the regatta finishing four-and-a-half minutes ahead of Takashi Ito’s Team Miyakomuru (Sariya) on corrected time. Hideyuki Miyachi’s Amigo II was third, finishing a minute and ten seconds behind Sariya. After three races in this class, Amigo II sits tied with Sariya, each with seven points, and both boats have a three-point advantage over Piccolo, who, by-the-by, won the prestigious Rolex Sydney to Hobart race back in 1976.      

Eight boats are competing in the monohull cruising class and Selwyn Enoch’s Suraya won the class today by two minutes and fifteen seconds ahead of Igor Ginzberg’s Wind of Change. Oleksly Borysov’s Ronin was then just under two minutes back of Wind of Change, though Ronin was first over the line in the class. Overall, after four races, Ronin has a two-point advantage over Wind of Change, who has a one-point advantage over Swan II. 

Ryan Merrill’s Compass Rose is the only boat racing in the multihull class, and the catamaran again raced with cruising monohulls to give it some company on the water, though Simon did shorten the course for them as the wind started to die down.    

Let’s hope the wind holds for the final day’s racing as so many divisions are still up for grabs. After racing tomorrow, the royal awards ceremony will be held and King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana will preside over the ceremony held at the Kanda Ballroom in the Beyond Kata hotel.        

Sponsors for the regatta include the Kata Group of Hotels (host), Amazing Thailand, Centara Hotel & Resorts, the RMA Group, Coca Cola Haad Thip PCL, Bangkok Airways, Garmin Thailand, Ford Thailand, RICOH (Thailand), the National Telecom Public Company Limited, Primus Marine, Ao Po Grand Marina, B & G Marine Electronics, Bangkok Hospital, and Singha. 

For more information and result, please visit www.kingscup.com.

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About the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta – Asia’s legendary yacht race under Royal Patronage 

Under Royal Patronage, the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta was founded in 1987, organized by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Royal Thai Navy and the Province of Phuket.

For more information and result, please visit www.kingscup.com

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