Phuket King's Cup Regatta 2024 Day 1
by Scott Murray 2 Dec 13:17 UTC
30 November - 6 December 2024
Kevin Whitcraft's Team Vayu TH 72 had a terrific opening day in Class Zero as the 36th sailing of the Phuket King's Cup got under way winning both its races on elapsed and corrected time. It narrowly defeated long-time rival Ray Roberts' Team Hollywood in both races, while ex-Australian Olympian Steve McConaghy's Aftershock finished third in the three-boat class.
Principal Race Officer Simon James dropped the AP flag at 9:44am and after a slight delay the regatta was under way with good wind under bright sunny skies as the racing stretched out towards Phuket's Cape Promthep. Simon staged two windward-leeward races for the keelboats and multihulls. There were six rolling starts in both races: 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) leads the seven-boat IRC 1 class as it won the second race and finished second in the first race leaving it with three points in total. Craig Nicholls/James Bury's Alright (AUS) sits is in second spot having won the first race and finished third in the second, giving it four points. Rolf Heemskerk's Next Factor (MAS) sits in third with five points on the basis of a third-and-second-place finish.
Mati Sepp's Gern Kard (Estonia) dominated the seven-boat IRC 2 class winning both races on elapsed and corrected time. Lee Yi Min's (Singapore), brand-new J99 Jolt was second overall in the class, placing second in the first race and third in second race. Zhao Fei's Asia Sailing Team from China placed third overall in the class with seven points.
Thailand's Ithinai Yingsiri's Pine Pacific does what it does best - win, as it took both races today on corrected time in the exquisite three-boat Premier Class. The other two boats in this class (Shatoosh and Yasooda) are so sleek that they draw oohs and aahs from fellow competitors every time they swoosh by. The custom-built Yasooda (GER) really strut its stuff today taking line honours in the class in both races.
The six-boat Bareboat Charter Class saw a clean sweep in the top three positions as the Japanese Luminous-Tiburon won both races, Xiong Ting's Mermaid from China placed second twice and Japan's Yu Fujinaga & Hironori Kobayashi's Inlova was third in both races.
John Newnham's Twin Sharks, the only Phuket-built Firefly competing in the regatta, proved how important local knowledge is. John's experienced crew knows these waters like the back of their hand. The quick Mark Horwood build and Mark Prescott design, burst across the start line and never lost momentum winning both races on elapsed and corrected time in the Multihull class to lead that class with two points. Ryan Merrill's Compass Rose (THA) and Andrew McDermott's Trident (GBR) sit tied in second spot with six points while China's Fang Jiang Zhou's JoyJoy sits in third with 8 points in this six-boat class. This class is being scored on performance handicaps.
Igor Ginzberg's Wind of Change leads the Monohull Cruising class winning race one and finishing third in race two, giving it four points. Tim A Hartnell's Cariad (GBR), the historic gaff rigger, proved that she is more than just a beautiful boat to behold as it placed fourth in the first race and won the second race to sit second overall with five points. The regatta is truly blessed to have such beautiful and historic vessel taking part in the competition. France's Philippe Dallee's Swan II, another beautiful boat to behold, sits tied with Cariad with 5 points while William Wu's Team Whitewave from China sits in third spot with 6 points.
The wind was too shifty today to give the Optis, Lasers and Open Skiffs any racing, but the Disabled Sailors of Thailand were able to get in two races just off of Kata beach in their SV14s. After the first day of racing, the team of Suraphong Chitkhong & Mak Sarawat sit in first place with a net total of three points. They are followed by Montri Nakchuai & Nils Degenkolw who are tied for second place with Tanat Upatising and Sorawit Suwannapat (7 pts), while the team of Boonkoed Ratchapon & Sittinon Prachumphan sits tied in third spot with the team of Thitapa Saelim and Pattaphon Phoomiravi with 8 pts.
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 result, please visit www.kingscup.com.