As the Personal Representative of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua, Queen Suthida betsowed royal awards to winners in the Keelboat and Multihulls classes and the International Dinghy Classes in a ceremony held at the Beyond Kata Resort.
Earlier in the day, Queen Suthida sailed on Vayu THA 72 in the prestigious IRC Zero class in the final day of racing, with her presence proving fortuitius as the TP52 won both races in the eleven-race series.
Ray Roberts’ TP52 Team Hollywood won the IRC Zero class and the overall King’s Cup title for the fourth straight year. James & Kate Murray’s Callisto, a Pac 52, placed third in the four-boat IRC Zero class with Steve McConaghy’s Aftershock Syndicate, a Davidson 55, finishing fourth in the class.
Ithinai Yingsiri’s Thai vessel Pine Pacific, an X-Yacht 55, won the Premier class after triumphing in all seven races, with Peter Cremers’ Shatoosh, a Warwick 75, finishing in second. Hans Rahmann’s JV 72 custom-built Yasooda chances were hurt with a DNF in race three, meaning he had to settle for third overall. Bernard Huybens’ Aphrodite, a Vitters 92, was fourth in the class and did not sail on the final day.
Nick Burns’ Witchcraft, edged out Rolf Heemskerk’s The Next Factor in the seven-boat IRC One class, just as it did two weeks ago at the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta. Witchcraft won seven of the ten races sailed in this class. Craig Douglas/Gordon Kettleby’s Ramrod, finished third in the class.
Craig Nichols Alright nosed out Susurnu Kurose’s Char Chan by one point to take fourth spot in IRC One. Robert Carr & Sandy Farquharson’s Aquarii was hurt by a DNS in race eight and had to settle for sixth overall. Clayton Craigie’s Anjo had a challenging regatta with four DNFs & one DNS and finished last in the class.
The six-boat Bareboat Charter Class saw Dean Peng’s & Tiffany Khoo’s Gragonborn win five of the seven races sailed in this class. Mike Downard’s Piccolo narrowly edged out Toshihiko Iijima’s Hippocrates by one point to take second in the class. Moonshine featuring the ASA Sailing Dream Asia, was fourth while Team Hayato took fifth in the class. Alan Anderson’s Judy did not start the last three races in this class and as such was relegated to sixth position.
The five-boat Monohull Cruising class was the tightest class going into the final day with three boats tied with nine points. But when it was all sailed and done, Philippe Dallee’s Swan II edged out Steve Maine’ Enavigo by two points and Jianhao Yang’s Isabella by three points, the latter disqualified in the third race for carrying an anchor on the bow. Thomas Veltin’s Brisk was fourth in this class with Mo Yiwei’s Sumalee, fifth.
The two-boat Multihull Racing class saw Dan Fidock’s Kata Rocks Parabellum zip around the course winning seven of the nine races sailed in its class. John Newnham’s Kata Rocks 2, aka Twin Sharks was the only boat competing in this class. The flashy Parabellum won overall line in evey race in the regatta.
Andrew McDermott’s Trident has won all five races in the Multihull Cruising class after having to sit out day one because of a dismasting. It won out over Frank Kastelein’s Team No Escape (Pooichat), the only other yacht competing in this class.
The regatta’s International Dinghy Classes this year competed in a three-day competition off of Kata Beach. The event was divided into four classes: Monohull Dinghy Handicap (12 boats); ILCA 4 (15 boats); Open Skiff (17 boats); and Optimist (79 boats).
The overall Optimist winner was Patcharaphan Ongkaloy, continuing on her gold-medal performance from the Southeast Asian Games. Pailin Jaroenpon was second followed by Karit Phrammanee, all Thais.
The Open Skiff class was won by India’s Anandi Chandavarkar – no surprise as she won the class each day. Dom Kaewpradab of Thailand placed second each day capturing that position and India’s Ayaan Nath was third.
The ILCA4 class was swept by Thailand with Nanvatorn Supaamphonwit capturing top spot each day, Ton Rattana finishing second overall and Thanaphat Sirichaoren placing third.
The Monohull Dinghy Class (Handicap) was won by Claudia Nazarov with Voravong Racharattanaruk coming in second and Morten Jakobsen in third.
At the awards ceremony last night, Kevin Whitcraft, the President of the 35th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organising Committee said, “The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is considered an important international sailing competition in Asia. The event is organised in line with Phuket’s Development Plan which wants to develop Phuket as a leisure marine hub making it a world-class yachting destination. This will help spur on the country’s tourism industry, which is one of the ten industries targeted to drive Thailand’s future economy. Phuket generates the most tourism income from any of the southern provinces on the Andaman coast, which combined generate the highest tourism numbers in the country.
“This year, the 35th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta achieved its objectives as expected. More than 200 million baht was circulated throughout the week of sailing. The regatta is also an excellent platform for young Thai sailors who want to improve their sailing skills pitted against some outstanding international sailors.”
The awards ceremomy was attended by: Admiral Adoong Pan-Iam, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy; Admiral Somprasong Nilsamai, President of the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT); Pramookpisitt Achariyachai, President of Kata Group Resorts Thailand; Thomas Arthur Whitcraft, Phuket King’s Cup Organising Committee; high ranking naval officers representing the Royal Thai Navy and dignitaries, hundreds of sailors, VIPs and honored guests.
The 35th Phuket King’s Cup Royal Awards Ceremony marked the end of a week of spectacular racing involving keelboats, multihulls, dinghies all competing in the beautiful waters of the Andaman Sea for some of sailing’s most prestigious trophies, bestowed by His Majesty the King of Thailand.
For more information and results please visit www.kingscup.com.