Nip and tuck

Four boats jockeying for the lead at the Phuket King's Cup

In the Grand Prix fleet it has been rooster to feather duster and back again. Anyone of four boats could still win the series.

Two days ago the score sheets had two bullets for Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing, but a time sheet revision returned Neil Pryde's Welbourn 52 Hi Fi to the top of the leader board.

This morning Quantum Racing won on IRC handicap from Paul Winkelmann's TP52 I sland Fling with Hi Fi third.

On the first leg of this afternoon's race, Hi Fi headed hard to the right hand side of the course looking for pressure. It was a costly decision, as the wind swung and suddenly the Hong Kong flier was stone motherless last. She recovered to third place, but she has lost the regatta lead.

At the end of the day Quantum Racing, with two wins today, climbed back up into second place. Now just two points separate the leader, Island Fling, on 11 points from Quantum Racing and Hi Fi on 13.

Ray Roberts, the owner/skipper of Quantum Racing, commented this afternoon: 'it was tricky out there today. The wind was oscillating and you just had to read the breeze very carefully. We stayed mid-course for most of the day and worked the shifts. It's going to be a tough day on the water for us tomorrow. We wish the last race was a windward leeward, but it's a trapezoidal and with reaching legs that will suit the TP52."

Another prominent crew made the same hard right hand mistake this afternoon. Having won the morning race in the IRC 1 Division Matt Allen and his Ichi Ban team decided before the second race start that they would head to the right hand side of the course.
They dawdled in the pre-start area, heading last towards the Committee boat, and swung onto port. They then headed for the eastern horizon.

At the top mark, Ben Copley's Swan CS 42 Katsu was leading the fleet, with Rob Bottomley's Beneteau 47.7 Sailplane second. Well back was the right hand cowboy's aboard Ichi Ban.

Ichi Ban recovered to finish second on handicap, however after five wins she cannot be beaten tomorrow and is, therefore, the first 2008 Phuket King's Cup divisional winner.

It's been a good year for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore, as he campaigns on the Asian Circuit. His first regatta with the Beneteau 44.7 was in February in Duibai when she won the Maktoum Sailing Trophy. In May she went on to win the seventh annual Koh Samui Regatta. Allen commented today, 'It's been a lot of fun; this is a great regatta."

There is a Naval battle going on in IRC Race 2. The Royal Thai Navy 1 boat has been a regular winner in this division, however, their Farr 38 MRX was dis-masted last Sunday, and so she missed the first race and has been on the back foot until the last two races. Lt. Veerasit Puangnak, the skipper of Navy 2, said this afternoon: "Yesterday and today our boat has been slow. We are hoping we will have more speed tomorrow."

Going into the final race, Royal Thai Navy 1 leads by two points from Royal Thai Navy 2 in second place. Peter Dyer's Madame Butterfly is now third overall, after scoring two bullets today. Stuart Williamson's Skandia Endeavour Of Whitby is in second and Gould and Cusack's Di Hard third.

In Sunsail One Design, Achim Griese's Princess Anna still holds first place. Jan Ruedel's Princess Arieta is second place overall, with Jakob Handte's Princess Isabella third.

In the Bareboat Charter division, Toru Inoue's TAG still did a wonderful job after winning on race four today. In second place is Jan Kisteit's Little Eva, followed by Trevor Joyce's Mariner Boating entry Kinnon in third.

Joyce commented today: 'We are having a blast here at the King's Cup; we are enjoying it hugely. Our crew are not experienced, but are having a lot of fun. The first question our new bow girl asked when she was appointed was 'what part of the boat is the fore-deck?'"

For overall series results in Firefly 850 Class, Peter Dyer's Sea Property still holds onto first place ahead of Hans Rahmann's Voodoo Child and Brent Gribble's Twin Sharks.
The fifth race of the Firefly 850 was very competitive today after Sea Property took line honours from Voodoo Child by only two minutes, with Gribble's Twin Sharks in third.

Today the Multihull Classfound Radab Kanjanavanit's SEAMICO Cedar Swan still on the top of the series, with David Liddell's Corsair 37 Miss Saigon in second. In third place overall is Bob Brindley's Whitehaven X Catriot.

In Ocean Rover class, Keitaro Kurihara's Magic Lady won on handicap, but in overall results she is still behind Krasnoperov Oleg's Thalassa. In third place is Charles Hay's Smystery.

In the Classic fleet, once again Paul Brunning's Dondang Sarang won on handicap today and still holds first place. In second place is James Stoll's Bangkok-built Sailing School Schooner Argo, follwed by Ralph Goetz's Waconda in third.