Ferrari's on the water at Phuket King's Cup

12:36 PM Thu 4 Dec 2008 GMT

'Phuket King’s Cup 2008. Day 3 racing. Voodoo Child giving owner Hans Rahmann a hell of a ride. Designer Mark Pescott on the helm.' Guy Nowell &copy Click Here to view large photo

Today, the Phuket built 28 foot Firefly 850 (8.5 metres) Sports catamarans blasted past the Grand Prix fleet of 50 to 75 foot monohulls like they were standing still on the long reach down to Ko Kaeo Noi.

'Ferrari's racing past Lorries', was the comment from one of the multihull fans.

These boats are part of an Asian boat industry success story. Phuket based Australian designer Mark Pescott modified his existing Firefly design and then Latitude 8 Yachts in Phuket began producing the first of the Firefly 850 Sports cats.

The first boat out of the moulds was Voodoo Child and with Pescott on the helm she won the multihull division at the 2004 King's Cup. This week the big Australian is back driving the same boat.

Pescott says, 'Sailors have called these Formula One racers. They are easy to sail and fast, but it's tough to win, as the fleet is very close. It all comes down to a good start, sailing in free lanes, and trimming every second.

Part of today's excitement included Brent Gribbles Twin Sharks eating up the course, with Voodoo Child just 21 seconds behind.

Overall Peter Dyer's Sea Properties continues to lead the series; she was impressive in her big weather first day win and has two seconds and a third today.

In addition, the Firefly is a race catamaran for all ages, the oldest driver, Henry Kaye on Seahorse Interiors Mamba is 70+.

Hans Rahmann, who also owns the magnificent 80 foot monohull Yasuda and now Voodoo Child reports 'we are having a wonderful time. It's very physical racing. I am exhausted every day and now have very great respect for all the old men racing in the Firefly class. '