Phuket King's Cup Regatta 2024 Day 2
by Scott Murray 3 Dec 2024 08:39 PST
30 November - 6 December 2024
Kevin Whitcraft's Team Vayu TH 72 and Ray Roberts' Team Hollywood swapped spots today in the two races held in Class Zero of the 36th sailing of the Phuket King's Cup with Team Vayu TH 72 winning the first race, a windward-leeward, and Team Hollywood the second, an island course. Ex-Australian Olympian Steve McConaghy's Aftershock finished third in both races in the three-boat class.
Principal Race Officer Simon James staged the same start sequence as day one with six rolling starts to begin racing: first off was IRC Zero, followed by the Premier Class, and then IRC 1, and IRC 2. The Bareboat, Cruising and Classic classes all started together and then the Multihull fleet was the last to cross the start line.
Nick Burns's Witchcraft (HKG) had an outstanding day winning both races in the seven-boat IRC 1 class. Craig Nicholls/James Bury's Alright (AUS) placed second in both races, although it was first across the line in both, while Sandy Farquharson (AUS) placing third in the first race of the day and Rolf Heemskerk's Next Factor (MAS) was third in the second race.
Mati Sepp's Gern Kard (Estonia) won its third straight race in the seven-boat IRC 2 class. Maksim Lisun's Uminoko (NEU) grabbed second spot while Lee Yi Min's (Singapore), brand-new J99 Jolt was third in the class.
Peter Cremers Shatoosh took top spot in the Premier Class today on corrected time with Thailand's Ithinai Yingsiri's Pine Pacific placing second in the three-boat Premier Class. Hans Rahmann's Yasooda was first across the line but settled for third spot when handicap was applied.
The six-boat Bareboat Charter Class saw the Japanese Luminous-Tiburon won its third straight race, BW's Flyingware Sailing Team from China placed second and Taiwan's Penghu Ocean Mists was third.
France's Philippe Dallee's Swan II, took to spot in the seven-boat Monohull Cruising class. Igor Ginzberg's Wind of Change (NEU) placed second while William Wu's Team Whitewave from China was third. The competition is graced by the presence of Lijia "Lily" Xu, who is sailing on Team Whitewave. She won a gold medal in the Laser Radial division of the 2012 Olympic games held in London.
John Newnham's Twin Sharks (GBR) won its third straight race to take a commanding lead in the Multihull class while Andrew McDermott's Trident (GBR) was second with James Baxter's Zephyrus coming in third. There are many individuals and personalities competing in this regatta including Brigadier James Baxter, OBE, the owner/skipper of Zephyrus. His honors are too numerous to list but include being Director of the NATO Advisory Team in Macedonia, having previously served in Kosovo, Bosnia, the Congo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, the Falklands and Northern Ireland and he was decorated for his work in the Balkans conflict.
After four races, the ILCA4 U18 female class has Prin Subying atop the leaderboard with 12 points, including one drop race. Next up is Paranee Muangngam (21 pts), followed by Pichayapa Kamutatira (29 pts), all Thai sailors, representing the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT). The ILCA4 U18 male class was also dominated by Thais with the skillful Ton Rattana taking spot (4 pts), followed closely by Darwin Hsu (9 pts) and Wasawat Puengpradit (10 pts), all representing the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC).
The ILCA6 Open Class also was a clean sweep for Thais as YRAT's Kan Kachachuen sits atop the scorecard with three points after four races and one drop. He's followed by RTNA's NC Voravong Rachrattanaruk (5 pts) while last year's winner Claudia Nazarov sits in third spot with 9 points. Claudia is the daughter of famed naval architect, Albert Nazarov.
After four races in the Open Skiff U17 class UWC's Punthita Werotjanakul is in first place (4 pts), followed by India's Eashaan Mehta (8 pts) and UWC's Andries Kosuge (9 pts).
The ILCA/7 OK Dinghy class also has three sailors representing Thailand on top as NRS' Bowonnan Chanram sits first after four races, factoring in one drop (3 pts). RVYC's Morten Jakobsen performed a number of acrobatic tricks on the water while placing second (5 pts) and RTNYC's Chairat Dangdeemark sits in third place with eight points.
The International 420/470 Open Class had three Thai teams atop the scoring table as well as the YRAT duo of Chalisa Krittanai and Nut Butmarasri sit first with three points after four races and one drop. Next up is YRAT's team of Pitipoom Jaroenpon & Worrakan Saksiriklom followed by YRAT's Suthon Yampinid & Kram Chantarawinij.
It was also a clean sweep for Thais in the first day of racing in the female Optimist class too as Surapha Muangngam leads the pack with eight points followed by Pariyaporn Chantarawong (10 pts) & Prapassorn Kaewpron (16 pts), all representing YRAT. Thais also dominated the top three spots in the male Optimist class with Sorawit Naksuk (10 pts) leading followed by Suthinan Nakpasom (12 pts) and Nattapon Chailob (15 pts), again all YRAT sailors.
After two days of sailing in the SV-14 Open Class, the team of Suraphong Chitkhong & Mak Sarawat, representing Ocean Marina Jomtien, sit in first place with a net total of five points, factoring in one drop race. Next up is the team of Montri Nakchuai & Nils Degenkolw with 8 pts. The team of Nikkon Kaewnoi & Suppachart Sooparnich sit in third space tie with Tanat Upatising and Sorawit Suwannapat, both with 8 pts. Each disabled sailor in this class is team with an able-bodied sailor. Mr Degenkolw is the only non-Thai competing and his relationship with Khun Montri stretches way back as Montri used to be a boat boy for Nils before a tragic car accident paralyzed him a decade ago. The accident didn't slow Montri down though as he continued to sail with Nils on his X-yacht Phoenix.
In total, there are 40 keelboats and multihulls competing (383 sailors) in the big boat classes, while there are 118 dinghies (130 sailors) competing in the dinghy series.
The Regatta's sponsors, including Host Sponsor Kata Group, Amazing Thailand, Centara Hotel & Resorts, Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, RMA Group, Coca Cola Haad Thip PCL, Garmin Thailand, Ford Thailand, RICOH (Thailand), the Singha Corporation, and National Telecom Public Company Limited.
For more information and results, please visit www.kingscup.com.