2002/03 Asian Yachting Regatta Season ends on a high

Despite some overall class results being decided yesterday all competitors where back out on the water in force for the final days racing. Their eagerness was converted to close racing which showed on the time sheets as only a few seconds separated some of the eventual placings.

After a string of 2nd places and a 1st in race 3 after a recalculation, Ray Roberts on Hollywood Boulevard firmly grasped this years trophy with a 1st place on the final race. Andres Soriano's Swan 80 Maligaya hung on by 15 seconds to take 2nd place today and 2nd overall from Peter Ahern's Malaysian based Yo! who eventually finished up 3rd.

The tie on points between Greg Coops Abraxas and Melissa Olivit's Big Buzzard was broken by a mere 4 seconds on corrected time in favour of Big Buzzard. Steve Walkers Next Page hung on to take 3rd overall.

Mark Jewells Reflex 28 The Dogs II finished up with 6 wins to completely dominate this class despite some faster yachts consistently beating them around the course. Scott Duncansons Somtam Express ended up second overall and David Bells Fremantle 8 Marara 3rd overall despite withdrawing and letting Catherine Fong's Attitude 8 into third place today. Oh! by the way anybody wanting to join this exciting class should look no further as The Dogs II and a number of Platu 25's are available on the Yachts for Sale page at: http://asianyachting.com/boats/yachtsforsale.htm

Despite a spectacular nose dive in front of Maligaya the biggest yacht on the course Daniel van Kerckhof's 4.9m Taipan clung onto 1st place to become the convincing overall winner in the off the beach classes. Thailand's Damrongsak Yongtim took 2nd place today after a couple of bad races to rebound back up the leaderboard and after a count back displace Scott McCook and Alice Lim back to third overall.

Further updates be sure to visit the KSIR 2003 site at: www.samuiregatta.com

Summary
Although the successful running of 2nd Koh Samui Regatta marks the end of the 2002/03 Asian Regatta Season the future looks bright indeed for world class yachting events in Asia. The Thai CIQ officials should all be thanked for their co-operation in swiftly clearing the yachts and the Royal Thai Navy for performing the start / finish boat role in style plus the transportation of catamarans to and from the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Bangkok.

This regatta has had it all - strong wind, wild downwind rides, ripped sails, dismastings, numerous capsizes, shredded spinnakers, close racing and finishes, just to mention a few. The wonderful relaxed location of Koh Samui mixed in with the pleasant Thai hospitality and top racing makes this venue one of the best in Asia.

The appearance of many new yachts and players on the racing scene puts sailing as a participatory sport in a good position to go to the forefront of marine and sporting tourism over the next few years. The numerous sponsors supporting yacht racing in the Asian region must be thanked and we look forward to your future support and assistance.

The tropical depression Linya near the Philippines is sucking in wind from over the South China Sea and probably the cause of the windy conditions (up to 25 to 30k) presently being experienced. This is playing havoc with the catamaran sailors who are not familiar with strong wind and the race committee spending most of their time righting upturned boats.

Coincidently Andres Soriano's Swan 80 Maligaya from the Philippines has benefited the most from the fresh conditions by adding another first and fastest to their Race 1 win. The ever consistent Ray Roberts on Hollywood Boulevard recorded his forth 2nd place being piped by a mere 56 seconds to be level pegging with Maligaya at the top of the leader board. Although only taking 3rd spot Peter Ahern on Yo! described Race 4 as one of the best races he has ever raced in Asia and all the boats recorded speeds up to 18 knots as they surfed down wind between Koh Samui and Koh Phang Ngan.

Melissa Olivit's Big Buzzard recorded another first and fastest in Class 2 and is better suited to the long passage races and lumpy seas than the smaller sized competitors in this class. Greg Coops Abraxas and Steve Walkers Next Page the two X372's placed second and third respectively to keep in touch with Big Buzzard in the overall pointscore race.

Another win for Mark Jewells Reflex 28 The Dogs II makes it 4 bullets in a row to take a unbeatable lead in the Sportsboat class. David Bells Fremantle 8 Marara reversed the positions with Scott Duncansons Phuket 8 Somtam Express who has taken line honours by the proverbial mile in every race but suffers from a very high handicap rating after corrected times are calculated.

Racing for the off the beach catamarans was cancelled as the strong winds and long course would have added further carnage and mayhem to the over worked race committee. As it turned out several rescues where needed for the cats that did venture out as they were returning to the beach. This nautical scribe surprised many on the press boat by diving into the water and helping to right a capsized cat from Singapore then sailing it all the way back to the beach in extra quick time. Bringing back some of the skills and memories from my childhood days at the Darwin Sailing Club.

Thursday is a scheduled lay day and when racing resumes on Friday the cats will race 2 back to back windward leewards set in Chaweng Bay and if the present conditions prevail the keel boats are expecting some exciting rides on the long passage race set to the north of the island again.

Two 1.6 nm trapezoid races held back to back had the crews working very hard trying to get there sail hoisting and lowering drills together. A wonderful sight when everything goes smoothly but could be devastating on crew morale when things get out of sync and any breakages may turn out to be very expensive on the owners pocket. The 20 man crew on Maligaya from the Philippines must be congratulated on a brilliant effort for getting the big Swan 80 around the short course in extra quick time to finish with 2 Line Honours today.

It will be drinks all round and allot of 'Chok Deeing' tonight for Schle Wood's Thai racing team on the Farr 40 Pasaya as they celebrate two wins in Racing class A today. They have been training for months and deservedly rewarded for participating on all the major Asian Regatta's during the 2002/03 season. Ray Roberts on the Farr 52 Hollywood Boulevard slipped in 2 seconds to stay in the running at the top of the leaderboard. Frank Pongs Mandrake and Peter Ahern's Yo! shared the 3rd placings to stay within reach of the leaders coming into the 2 lengthy passage races scheduled for tomorrow and Friday.

Steve Walkers Next Page and Greg Coops Abraxas two X372's shared the  1st place honours today with Melissa Olivit's Big Buzzard taking two second places. Abraxas and John Busch's Joan Marie divided up the third places to even up the pointscore and keep everyone in the running for overall places.

Mark Jewells Reflex 28 The Dogs II has firmly topped the leader board in the Sportsboat division with another convincing two first places over Scott Duncansons Phuket 8 Somtam Express and David Bells Marara one third place before ripping the mainsail and retiring from race 3. Catherine Fong's newly launched Phuket 8 Attitude 8 is living up to her name sake as they have experienced some ironing out problems and are yet to complete a race.

Daniel van Kerckhof and Kingsley Pursch put in another dazzling display on their off the beach Taipan catamaran to record one 2nd and a 1st place on top of yesterdays run away win to show why they are ranked the No 2 team in Australia and possibly soon to be crowned the No 1 team in Asia. Although they have not had it all their own way with Thailand's Damrongsak Yongtim's Nacra 5.8 sp taking the honours in race 2 by 22 seconds and ever consistent Scott McCook and Alice Lim recording 2 third places to keep them in the running for overall honours.

Tomorrow 26 nm passage race starts of Chaweng Bay and takes the fleet north about Koh Samui between Koh Pha Ngan (famous for the full moon parties) to Maenam Beach and return. Which if conditions remain unchanged should be a hard slog to windward followed by a quick down wind leg with some exciting surfing and planning on the sea swells generated between the islands.

Inaugural 2002 KSIR - AY Race Reports with photos can be browsed by clicking on: http://asianyachting.com/news/KoSamui02.htm

Sea, Sand, Sun and now Sailing - Koh Samui has it all

A fresh 15 to 18 knot breeze saw the yachts make quick work of the short windward leg after the start set in Chaweng Bay and experience an often hair raising down wind ride as they headed out into the South China Sea. The committees decision to stage the regatta at the end of May has proved successful as the SW tradewinds have set in and are likely to last for the rest of the race week.

A 10 nautical mile slog to windward after rounding the offshore mark sorted the men from the boys and Andres Soriano's big Swan 80 Maligaya showed her pedigree form up wind in the building 20 knot plus wind and revel on the return downwind sleigh ride to take Line and Handicap honours. The 50 footers of Ray Roberts Farr 52 Hollywood Boulevard, Frank Pong's Mills 51 Mandrake and Peter Ahern's MBD 50 Yo! staged a close tussle all day to respectively finish in that order. Unfortunately the finish line was laid in the lee of the hills surrounding Chaweng Bay so as the yachts approached from seaward the breeze became patchy and they saw their chances on corrected time progressively fade away.

Racing Class 2 saw Melissa Olivit return Big Buzzard to a familiar place at the top of the result sheets and only a couple of minutes on corrected time separated the X372's of Greg Coops Abraxas and Steve Walkers Next Page.

In the Sportsboat class Mark Jewell and his crew from Singapore on The Dogs II continued on their winning ways to record first place over David Bell's Fremantle 8 Marara on their first outing and Scott Duncanson's Phuket 8 Somtam Express who may have suffered in the short choppy sea conditions.

Many of the beach catamaran sailors had their egos bruised and battered during today's race which saw numerous capsizes and breakages forcing over half of the 34 boat fleet to retire. Daniel Kerekhof and crew on a Taipan 4.9 sp put in a impressive performance to overtake the entire keelboat fleet despite starting 5 minutes later only to be pipped by Maligaya on the approaches to the finish. Scott McCook and Alice Lim have teamed up again this time on a Taipan to take second spot and Thailand's Damrongsak Yongtim's third place is the best of the Nacra 5.8's.

After an exciting first day of racing the friendly rivalry is expected to hot up during tomorrows back to back bay races to be held offshore from Koh Samui's popular Chaweng Beach.

Provisional Entry List as of 1st May 2003
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

THE 2003 KSIR GOES AHEAD - The show must go on!

While the SARS threat is still lurking around and the damaging effects of issuing national travel warnings during the war on terrorism have been blamed for bringing the local airline and global tourism sector almost to a stand still, the 2^nd Koh Samui International Regatta on Thailand's east coast is going ahead as planned from the 25^th to 31^st May. Any healthy sailors left in Asia seeking a crewing position should quickly make there way to Koh Samui for the last outing on the 2002/03 Asian Yachting Regatta Season. The entry list and turn out is looking good, as organisers guess allot of the racers are eager to get in a event after the cancellation of the San Fernando Race and keen to carry out some tests or modifications in preparation for the forthcoming 2003/04 season.

The regions yachting administrators and dedicated racers should be given a full round of congratulations as they have been able to put together an ever increasing number of International standard sailing events at some of South East Asia's usually popular tourist destinations despite the present economic slow down and all! To go forward from here, the show must go on! Perhaps it's time for a reality check but I am looking forward to getting out of the office, meeting up with fellow sailors and back to the island way of life.

About 20 keelboats and 30 beach cats are presently making a bee line for Koh Samui for the 2nd running of the regatta which promises to be allot of fun in a very friendly and competitive way, that feels like it has been with us forever. Peter Ahern and Yo! look unbeatable on the recently released 2002/03 AsianYachting Rankings but may suffer this time as some of the rockstar crew have been worried about traveling about in Asia. He is looking forward to renewing the Kings Cup duel with Mandrake which is now in the hands of Hong Kong's Frank Pong. Thailand's Schle Wood (no relation to Tiger) Thanan's Farr 40 Pasaya racing team are expected to put in a good showing while Andres Soriano's big Swan 80 Maligaya from the Philippines and Sam Chan's Hong Kong based 70ft Ffreefire will be keeping everybody honest at the front of the fleet

The highly respected and celebrated Aussie yachting journo, Bob Ross is expected to head over and cover the event, in particular Ray Roberts shipping his Farr 52 Hollywood Boulevard to Singapore especially to partake and hoping to improve on his 3rd place last year on Luna Nuova. As well as all the ‘on the water’ action the committee have lined up an exciting ‘off the water programme’ for all participants, their supporters and friends. (See Schedule of Events below).

A good gathering of smaller Class 2 yachts and Sportsboats includes 3 X yachts and The Dogs 2 the Sports class winner at the inaugural RLIR from Singapore taking on the Thai Navies two Far MRXs who have won at the King's Cup and the impressive Phuket 8 that showed some tremendous bursts of boat speed to take 4 line honours trophies in Langkawi.

As the yachts are arriving from Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and neighbouring Phuket and Pattaya the Organising Committee will be adhering to the guidelines and procedures laid down by the Thai Government Health Authorities. On arrival in Koh Samui waters all yachts are asked to anchor at Bang Rak (Big Buddha) Bay on the north eastern end of the island. Delivery skippers have been advised when approaching Samui to contact the Health, Immigration and Customs departments to give current position and ETA at Bang Rak. Follow up medical checks will be carried out every third day during the regatta and a doctor will be in the Regatta Office at the Central Samui Beach Resort every day from 08.00 to 09.30am in order to carry out any medical checks for all crew (and other participants) that have been issued with a Medical Card. With the hectic social program planned lets hope they can distinguish between bad hangover symptoms and the common flu. At present there are no SARS cases on the island and we trust that the procedures in place and the commonsense of visitors will keep it that way.

Go to the Inaugural 2002 KSIR - AY Race Reports with photos can be browsed by clicking on: http://asianyachting.com/news/KoSamui02.htm

Be sure to visit the web site for further updates www.samuiregatta.com

The Provisional Entry List as of 1st May 2003

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Saturday 24^th May – for those that arrive early Registration can be completed at the Central Samui Beach Resort from 12.00 to 16.00.

Sunday 25^th May 2003 – Registration Day

10.00 – 15.30                Registration at the Central Samui Beach Resort

14.00                            Practice Race – Chaweng Bay

16.30                            Press Conference

17.30                            Skippers Briefing at the Central Samui Beach Resort

18.30 – 20.00                Opening Cocktail Party for participants at Zico’s Grill & Bar, Chaweng

Monday 26^th May – Race Day One

10.30                                Start – Bangkok Airways Ocean Race

Chaweng – Hin Ang Wang – Lamai - Chaweng

18.30 – 20.00                Cocktail Party – Weekender Resort, Lamai

Tuesday 27^th May – Race Day Two

10.30                            Start – Strategic Catering Race Series

                                    Back to back races Chaweng Bay

18.30 – 20.00                Cocktail Party - Big Buddha Café, Bang Rak

Wednesday 28^th May – Race Day Three

10.30                                Start – Santiburi Dusit Resort Ocean Race

Chaweng – Mae Nam – Chaweng

18.30        - 20.00              Cocktail Party – Santiburi Dusit Resort, Maenam

Thursday 29^th May – Lay Day

Races may be rescheduled in the event of earlier races being abandoned.

Friday 30^th May – Race Day Four

09.30                            Start - Coconut Land & House Ocean Race

Chaweng – Bang Po – Ko Tae Nok – Chaweng

18.30 – 20.00                Cocktail Party – Impiana Resort, Chaweng Noi

Saturday 31^st May – Race Day Five

10.30                                Start - Central Samui Beach Resort Race

Olympic Racecourse - Chaweng Bay (half day, morning only)