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4th Top of the Gulf
Regatta 2008
AY
Race Report 2
 Drama
on the high seas...
Persistent 15 to 20 knots of wind has caused havoc
amongst some of the yacht crews not used to racing
in these conditions. Wild broaches, wrapped
spinnakers, Man Over Board, shredded sails were only
some of the more noticeable items seen from the
press boat. To cap it all off, most of the Platu
fleet did not take full notice of the course change
for race four and headed out to where the previous
windward mark was laid and rounded what became the
wing mark for the multihull class. Only five yachts
rounded the correct mark on the first beat to sail
the correct course and where recorded as finishers.
Despite rounding the correct windward mark on the
next two beats most skippers did not realize the
error of there ways and eventually forced to either
retire or be disqualified. The one meter chop
whipped up by the wind is a bit bumpy going upwind
but provides for some exhilarating rides downwind.
As the Race Four results are subject to protest and
lengthy deliberations are taking place at the time
of going to press this Race Report only contains
race three results.
 IRC
Racing
David Bell's Magic Roundabout continued on
their winning ways and added a further win to there
tally, making it three wins out of three races.
Leray Pascal's bigger Breakaway still
managed to take line honours but misses out by only
a couple of minutes on handicap and will have to
find an extra knot of boatspeed if they are to make
in roads on Magic Roundabout's lead.
Singapore's Wildon Goh and the SMU Team claimed
third spot on the chartered Hi Jinks.
 Platu
One Design
Kevin Scott's Ferret "The Lofts" helmed by
Scott Duncanson have been at the top of their game
around Ocean Marina for some years now and showed
their pedigree by winning Race Three but may have
come unstuck in Race Four despite leading the fleet
across the finish line. After being disqualified
from first place in Race One, Wiwat Poonpat's
defending champion crew on Naiad rebounded
with second place and as they are one of the five
boats that rounded the designated windward mark may
have put themselves back into overall contention.
Andy Whitbolirne's Gulf Charters scored
third place in Race Three and may carry forward a
slight edge in the overall pointscore but was one of
the boats that rounded the wrong windward mark in
Race Four. As the series continues it may come down
to the drop race to determine the overall winner.
 Multihulls
Mark Pescott skippering Sea Property had
the Firefly 28 back on the pace and despite
misinterpreting the course had enough time up his
sleeve to rejoin the race to take first and fastest
by a country mile. Henry Kaye this time skippering
the Cosair 28 Zenith stayed in the running
with second place and showed some remarkable bursts
of speed despite the aging dacron sails. Krirati
Assakul's heavier displacement catamaran Sonic
fully powered up is a sight to behold and third
place keeps them on the podium but completely
destroying two spinnakers during Race Four may see
their chances fall by the wayside.
Cruising
 Only
one race, a simple 8nm beat out to sea and run back
via a few islands was scheduled for the cruisers.
Even then some made a hash of it by mistakenly
rounding the wrong windward mark, then proceeding
onto the islands and returning to the finish. As no
race official witnessed this incident it was left up
to the individual boats to either withdraw or be
protested by the competitors that completed the
correct course. The busy protest committee have
decided to open the hearing tomorrow morning before
the boats head out for Race Four.
Sportsboat
After repairing the main halyard Kipsan Beck was
back out on Pornstar to secure first place
and finished way in front of some of the much bigger
racing class yachts that they started with. The only
other competitor in the class is Ian Day's Team
Simpson Marine who found the going difficult in
the heavy conditions and will have to fight hard to
keep their overall lead if Pornstar manages
to hold everything together.
Off The Beach Classes
 Over
170 boats in four classes hit the water in
Optimists, Beach Catamarans, Super Mott and 420
Dinghies. Malaysian sailors Nik Ashrhf Qhedi on a
catamaran, Ku Anas and G. Kuzamil on a 420 did the
best of the International teams represented here to
finish on the podium. A young Thai girl Nuppakao
Poonpat is a rising star to take the lead in the
National Optimist Championship in front of 126 other
competitors.
Racing continues on Sunday with one long passage
race for the keelboats and multihulls. The Off the
Beach Classes continue on with an extensive program
of races and as the courses are laid in front of the
marina breakwater anyone visiting Pattaya over the
long weekend are welcome to come down and watch the
young sailors in action.
More detailed info and results will be posted at:
http://www.topofthegulfregatta.com |
And
they are off, faster than a Thai girls nightie...
IRC
Racing
The
hotly contested Coronation Cup saw the provisional
race one winner disqualified over a port/starboard
incident, which opened up a flood of different place
getters to fill the podium places. Nick Henley's
The Weasel came out on top for race one and
popular Thai skipper Jaray Tipsuk on
Pine-Pacific scored second place but did not
finish race two. Andy Whitbolirne's Gulf
Charters third place plus a resounding first
place in race two has them posted as overnight class
leaders going into the second day of racing. Kevin
Scott's Ferret "The Loft" named after the
regattas main sponsor, Raimon Land climbed back into
contention with second place in race two as did the
co-owned Jakobsen/Semple Emma Mathilde XX
with third place to keep them in the early running.
Multihulls
Cruising
Sportsboat
TOTGR
Welcomes all sailors...
The
annual