Phuket King's Cup Regatta 2024 Overall
by Scott Murray 8 Dec 05:22 NZDT
30 November - 6 December 2024
Highlighted by Royal Presence, Team Vayu captures 36th Phuket King's Cup
In the ever-so-close Class Zero — the battle of the TP52s — Kevin Whitcraft's Team Vayu beat Ray Roberts' Team Hollywood cementing victory on the final day of racing with Her Majesty Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana crewing on board. The racing in this class was exceptionally close with Vayu beating Team Hollywood by seconds in many of the races, including one race, earlier in the week, which saw fifteen tacks off the beat.
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua climbed on board and steered Vayu to the start line, a terrific moment for Thai sailing as this regatta was first held in 1987 as part of the national celebrations marking the auspicious 60th birthday of His Majesty's father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Queen Suthida also graciously presided over the regatta's royal awards ceremony held at the Beyond Kata Resort later in the day.
The seven-boat IRC 1 class saw Rolf Heemskerk's The Next Factor (MAS) and Nick Burns's Blitz (HKG) tie for points factoring in the drop race but The Next Factor took the title as it won the last race in the series, in which Blitz finished second (this was déjà vu for Blitz which saw the same result at the recent Raja Muda regatta). Craig Nicholls/James Bury's Alright (AUS) took third spot in this division.
World match racing star Mati Sepp helming Gern Kard (Estonia) raced a terrific regatta winning seven of the nine races staged in the seven-boat IRC 2 class. Lee Yi Min's (Singapore) finished second, winning race five, and Maksim Lisun's Uminoko (KGZ) placed third, winning race seven, and having a DNS in race five.
The Premier Class saw Peter Cremers Shatoosh edge Thailand's Ithinai Yingsiri's Pine Pacific by two points, winning five of the eight races in this three-boat class. Pine Pacific won the other three races while Hans Rahmann's Yasooda, despite winning many of the races on elapsed time, finished third overall due to its handicap. It was twenty years ago that Hans sailed Yasooda with crewmate Ian Coulson all the way from Denmark to Southeast Asian waters.
Japan's Luminous-Tiburon won all but one race in the nine-race series to capture the six-boat Bareboat Charter Class. Xiong Tin's Mermaid from China took the other victory in race eight and finished second overall. Third place went to Allen Chai's Penghu Ocean Mists (TWN) who edged Yu Zhengjun's BW's Flyingware Sailing Team (CHN) by one point.
Igor Ginzberg's Wind of Change (NEU) won six of the nine races to capture the seven-boat Monohull Cruising division. Philippe Dallee's sleek Swan II finished tied with William Wu's Team Whitewave, with Olympic champion Lijia "Lily" Xu on board, but Swan II took second overall as it won the final race in the series. Tim A Hartnoll's magnificent gaff rigger Cariad was fourth in the class and the grace and beauty of the historic vessel were truly a sight to behold as it sailed the waters off the southern coast of Phuket.
Twin Sharks (Firefly 850) skipper John Newnham (GBR) and his crew of all-stars sailed hard and fast to overcome a punitive handicap and win the six-boat Multihull class. Andrew McDermott's trimaran Trident (GBR), who sails with Twin Sharks at the Phuket Yacht Club was next up, followed by Ryan Merrill's Compass Rose (THA) in third spot.
There was not a lay day in this year's regatta and the dinghy series finished on the final day, the same as the keelboats and multihulls.
After eleven races, the ILCA4 U18 female class saw Prin Subying capture the title. Next up was Paranee Muangngam, followed by Pichayapa Kamutatira, all representing the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT). The ILCA4 U18 male class had Ton Rattana at the top of the leaderboard, followed closely by Darwin Hsu and Ton's twin brother Torn, all representing the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC).
YRAT's Kan Kachachuen sailed extremely well to capture the eleven-race ILCA6 Open Class. He was followed by RTNA's NC Voravong Rachrattanaruk and Claudia Nazarov, who finished third overall.
The eight-race Open Skiff U17 class saw UWC's Punthita Werotjanakul and Puttisun Limpanon finish first and second respectively, followed by India's Eashaan Mehta.
NRS' Bowonnan Chanram put on a strong showing to win the ILCA/7 OK Dinghy class over the acrobatic Morten Jakobsen (RVYC), who was second and RTNYC's Chairat Dangdeemark, who was third in the eleven-race series in this class.
Despite being disqualified in the final race, Suthon Yampinid & Kram Chantarawinij's excellent showing in the first ten races allowed them to capture the International 420/470 Open Class. Chalisa Krittanai and Nut Butmarasri were second overall while the duo of Pitipoom Jaroenpon & Worrakan Saksiriklom placed third. All competitors in this class represented YRAT.
It was also a YRAT sweep in the female Optimist class as Prapassorn Kaewpron held the lead throughout the eight-race series and won the class over Pariyaporn Chantarawong, who placed second with Surapha Muangngam in third. Adison Ein was the male Optimist class champion, followed by second-place finisher Nattapon Chailob and Sorawit Naksuk, who placed third — again all YRAT sailors.
The SV-14 Open Class took a break yesterday, but returned to the water today and the team of Pol Chitkhong & Mak Sarawat, representing Ocean Marina Jomtien, ended up winning the seven-race series. Next up was the team of Ning Nakchuai & Nils Degenkolw. The pair of Tanat Upatising and Sorawit Suwannapat placed third in the class.
This year, the regatta used an arbitration system for resolving protests between sailors without staging a full protest hearing, flying in Tom Sheppard from Hong Kong to be the adjudicator. In this system, the arbitrator's decision is final: the sailors tell the arbitrator what happened, and the arbitrator decides if a rule was broken. If it there was, the boat in question may receive a reduced penalty (30 percent), the protestor then withdraws the protest if they accept the arbitrator's decision.
What sometimes is forgotten is the economic boom that the King's Cup brings to both Phuket and in particular the Kata Beach region. During the event, competitors, organizers, friends and family flood the area benefitting all from taxi drivers to souvenir shops, clothing stores, bars, restaurants, and hotels. The area took a big hit during Covid when the regatta was canceled for two years, but the King's Cup has proven to be an integral part of the fabric of the Kata Beach community for years.
Special adaptations were made this year. To get the disabled sailors to their SV14s a beach mat was stretched vertically across Kata Beach allowing wheelchair access; then the sailors were stretchered to a catamaran where they were then ferried to their dinghies in Kata Bay. And to accommodate their majesties, an amphibious RIB with 2 x 300HP outboards was provided making access to Vayu easier.
In closing, Kevin Whitcraft, the President of the 35th Phuket King's Cup Regatta Committee said, "This was a very auspicious year for us as we were graced by the presence of their Majesties, the King and Queen of Thailand during his Majesty's72nd year and sixth cycle. The number of sailboats and sailors increased; and the wind was very good with the racing very close. We are very pleased that the event is coming back up to speed and the size that it should be, making the Phuket King's Cup the most prestigious regatta in the region."
In total, PRO Simon James staged 71 races; 40 keelboats and multihulls competed (383 sailors) in the big boat classes, while there were 118 dinghies (130 sailors) competing in the dinghy series.
The year's regattas sponsors included: 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.