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Thai
Junior Sailors Show The Way The diminutive Noppakao Poonpat out performed all ages and the boys to take first Overall for the second year in a row plus first in the Female division, displaying great on-water skills with four bullets over the nine race series. Second Overall went to Thacharin Naborn who also took home first place in the Under 12 division. Third Overall and second in the Female division was won by Jongkol Channart turning in a consistent results over the series. Third place in the Female division went to Kancharika Janpol while third place in the Under 12 division went to Chusitt Punjamala. In the Hobie Tigers, seven teams competed in seven races over the three-day series and Aroon Ruangjarongpong/Narongrit Beakeaw took first place with three bullets. Richard Eyre/Dave Littlejohn came second with Stefaan de Vos/Apple third.
He may not be a household name, but in the world of Hobies, Damrongsak Vongtim has won consecutive Hobie Asian Championships for the last three years and is feared by many and admired by many more. Today Damrongsak and his crew Kidsada Vongtim added the prestigious Top of the Gulf trophy onto their list of achievements. Rob and Kerry Waterhouse came in second and and Bob Enguirda teaming up with Danai Sila managed to hold on for third place. More details on the off the beach dinghy and catamaran classes can be found at: http://www.thailandmarineguide.com Summary More TOTGR 2009 news and results can be found at: http://www.topofthegulfregatta.com TOTGR 09 Photo Gallery: http://www.asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?TOTGR09 Race
Report 3: http://asianyachting.com/news/TOTGR09/3.htm AY Race Reports are proudly sponsored by the following advertisers.
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All
over bar the bragging..
Although
Matt Allen's Beneteau 44.7 Ichi Ban have rapped up the series
with five wins out of five races the pressure was on to break the run
of wins. Perhaps they were suffering from over indulgence at last nights
Ocean Marina sponsored party as Pascal Leray's Jarkan 38 Breakaway
finally broke through on Race 6 to claim handicap victory by one second.
This also secured Breakaway second overall and two fourth places
for Gary Baguely's Holman & Pye El Coyote gives them third
overall. The strengthening breeze saw Espen Sanderberg's Phuket 8 Vino
and Kipsan Beck's Shaw 6.5 Pornstar get up and do some planning
around the course to score fourth and fifth respectively.
The
Ocean Multihull class was still open for the taking. Despite Peter Dwyer's
Firefly 850 Sea Property dropping the mast yesterday, they were
back out on the water and hoped to hold onto their slim overall lead but
could not afford to have any more bad results. Race six saw Kirati Assakul's
Sonic correct out in first place and David Race's C28R Free
Wheeler in second place. Despite taking line honours Peter Dwyer's
Sea Property finished down in eight place and left the door wide
open for his close competitors to come marching in. Radab Kanjanavanit
F9-A Cedar Swan took advantage and by scoring 3rd and 2nd places
today allowed them to leap frog Dwyer for the title and secure bragging
rights. Staging a comeback to win Race 7 was not enough and Sea Property
had to settle on second overall. David Race's C28R Free Wheeler
has had an up and down sort of a regatta but second and seventh today,
was enough to take third overall and Kirati Assakul's Sonic much
improved 1st and 3rd lifts them to 4th in the overall standings.
Coming
into today's IRC Racing 2 Class final, Leif Ho's RS Elite OD Carrera
held a commanding lead, so it came as a surprise to see both RS Elite's
sitting in the marina unattended as everyone else was out ready to race.
Damrongsak Pongwichlen's Farr MRX Thai Navy 1 was the beneficiary
of the situation and scored two wins which catapults them to the top of
the podium. Two second places for David Bell's Jeanneau 35 OD Magic
Roundabout also has them displacing the RS Elite's for second overall.
Scoring two Did Not Starts (DNS) and 20 points for the day relegates Leif
Ho's RS Elite OD Carrera down to third overall and John Higham's
sistership Prosecco down to fourth. It's a shame they had to
go to work but as they say in the classics "Some one has to do it".
There
is no stopping Singapore's Renfred Tay on Amanda in the IRC Cruising
Class. Four wins and a second place has them comfortably winning the class
for the second year in succession. Clean starts, good speed and pointing
ten degrees higher than the opposition has rewarded them graciously. Tetsuro
Ogino's Sun Magic 44 Missy is the only one that has come close
to toppling Amanda had to settle on second overall. A string
of third places for Fredrik Anderson's Oceanis 46.1 Constanza
has them finishing in third overall.
Yesterday
was the last day for the Hobie Tigers, Monohull Dinghies and Optimists,
with the latter competing for the Thailand Optimist National Cup. In fact,
the Optimists were racing in three divisions: Female, Under 12 (open to
both male and female) and Overall (open to all ages and both sexes).
The
other class to finish yesterday was the Monohull Dinghy Class which was
won by 420 sailor Navee Thamsoomtorn with Benjamas Poonpat second and
Keerati Bualong came third overall.
It is
absolutely amazing how the organisation headed by none other than Bill
Gasson and the superb Ocean Marina facilities combine to create a great
event that is enjoyed by all levels of the sailing fraternity. Nature
has provided the rest. What more would you want? Good wind, warm weather,
full marina facilities, racing area just outside the breakwater, great
parties and every sort of entertainment imaginable just up the road in
Pattaya, if your looking for that extra bit of fun. It just does not get
much better than this. After all the Gulf of Thailand has produced the
best sailors (past, present and future) in Thailand. If your looking for
a great place to pit your skills against the best in a warm tropical climate
the Top of the Gulf Regatta is place to go. Each year the event gets bigger
and attracts overseas yachts men and women. Who would of thought Ray Roberts
could sail a Platu 25 and Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Matt Allen would bring a host of Sydney Hobart rockstars to compete with
distinction in Pattaya. They have also enjoyed themselves so much that
they are committed to help with further development of sailing in the
region and spread the word on how much fun they have had at Asian events.
So mark down May 1st to the 5th next year in your racing diary as 'Must
attend' if you are any sort of serious racer.
