Yesterday's lay day was used for racing, and try to get the racing programme back on track. There was breeze on the water 'first thing' and down came the AP. By the time the course was laid seven knots was being recorded at the top mark as race three got underway. As the breeze stayed in, and RO Tony Denham quickly re-laid the marks and fired off race four much to everyone's delight. With up to two knots of adverse current it came down to getting a good start and a matter of positioning the boat in the wind lines to stem the current.

The racing class were keen to get going, and a close start followed with Ray Roberts and Quantum Racing nicking a slight advantage at the pin end. By the time the first round was completed Frank Pong's 75ft R/P Jelik had established themselves at the head of a closely packed bunch of fifty footers. Trying as hard as they could, they could not shake Quantum Racing who went on to record their second win of the regatta. Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi climbed up to second place and Sam Chan's FfreeFire 52 in third place. The surprise of the series came during race four when Bill Bremner's TP52 Foxy Lady IV nailed the start line, lead the fleet around every mark (usually Frank Pong's domain) and went on to take out the daily double for race four. The Nick Burns/Fred Kinmonth-owned Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake made somewhat of a comeback to score second place by a mere ten seconds, in front of Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi. After four races the overall table has Quantum Racing on nine points and Hi Fi and Foxy Lady IV tied on sixteen points.

A grudge match seems to be developing between Matt Allen's Beneteau 44.7 Ichi Ban and Jeff Davison's Mumm 30 Panic! that are desperately trying to defend the title. Both have come off the start line with speed and despite Ichi Ban's bigger size, Panic continues to stay up with the leaders. Race three saw Matt Allen sail some hotter angles on Ichi Ban down the middle of the course to take out the daily double just in front of Panic. As the wind started to fade and the current increased the entire IRC 2 class struggled to make way on the last windward beat to the shortened finish line. Once again staying in the center of the course paid dividends and Matt Allen's Ichi Ban got the better of Jeff Davison's Panic. Ben Copley's Club Swan 42 Katsu stayed with the leading pack to score two third places and edge into third overall behind the two clear frontrunner's.

Kipsan Beck's Shaw 6.5 Sportsboat Pornstar continues to dominate the other sportsboats by scoring four wins in a row. Mick Grover's Elliot 7 Moon Shadow managed to turn the tables on Yachting Siam's sister ship Ice Bucket on the two races held today. As they have equally shared the places this result has them tied for second place overall but they will need to pull something out of the hat to overcome Pornstar.

Once again in the Cruising Class Andrew Short's Constanza took the daily double on both races by a healthy margin. John Stall's Sunsail Odyssey 35 Princess Sharda with sailors from the Samui Junior Sailing Squadron onboard scored second place. Gulf Charters Big Blue took out third place and all three boats have ended up in the same order as they finished in both races and in the overall pointscore.

In the multihull class the Firefly 850 Sports catamarans continue to take line honours but the Farrier and Corsair trimarans have been picking up the handicap honours. Henry Kaye's Firefly 850 Sea Horse Interiors may have crossed the line first but it is Khun Radab's Farrier tri Cedar Swan that took out first place on race three. David Wales Corsair Sprint 750 The Sting slipped into second place and Toby O'Connell's lower handicapped Firefly 850 Dhevatara Frog took third place just in front of Sea Horse Interiors down in fourth. In race four Toby O'Connell's Firefly 850 Dhevatara Frog led from the current affected startline and disappeared into the distance. Being in the second row was disastrous and after ten minutes of racing struggled to get away from the starting area. That ten minutes made all the difference as Toby O'Connell's Dhevatara Frog finished that far in front of Khun Radab's Cedar Swan in second place and Peter Dyer's SEA Property in third place. This result puts Dhevatara Frog at the top of the overall table and Cedar Swan then the The Sting in second and third respectively.

Racing continues tomorrow and weather permitting one of the passage races maybe selected on the penultimate day.

by AsianYachting.com

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