'Hi Fi, firmly in charge at Koh Samui'
AsianYachting.com
The south westerly tradewind has set in with a vengeance, producing champagne sailing conditions and huge thrills for crews on their flying machines. After a short two lap windward/leeward race the Racing Class and Multihulls joined the rest of the classes that had set off earlier on a passage race to the islands south of Samui and back.
The conditions were so good that Race Director Simon James is even considering sending the racing class around Samui on Friday, if the wind stays in. This would be the first time it has been attempted and will certainly go into the record books.
After further alterations last year to Neil Pryde's Welbourne 52 Hi Fi they have been on fire and virtually unstoppable. The crew have also responded to the boat's new-found speed and performed faultless maneuvers that others would not even attempt. By winning the windward/leeward and passage races today, they showed the extent to which they have progressed in both disciplines, and have gone a long way towards wrapping up this regatta.
The battle seems to be for second place as there has been a lot of jumbling up and down the order between Ray Roberts DK46 Quantum Racing, Matt Allen's Beneteau First 44.7 Ichi Ban, Bill Bremner/Andy Cocks' TP52 Foxy Lady IV, Sam Chan's TP52 FfreeFire 52 and the Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns' Mills 51 Fortis Mandrake who are fighting over the remaining podium places.
As per usual Frank Pong's R/P 75 Boracay led the way around the course but could not establish enough separation to convert it into a handicap victory. Fourth and second places today for Boracay sees them join the race for podium places and as the drop race is introduced today, the pointscore has narrowed in and all these boats are still in with a chance.
As the Premier Cruising skippers voiced their displeasure about doing windward/leeward races when the wind is so conducive to passage racing, PRO Ross Chisholm changed his call to accommodate their wishes. All fired up after yesterday's Line Honours win, Dr Ian Nicholson's crew on his Dubois 80 Intrigue pulled of a master stroke today by taking out first and fastest.
Peter Churchouse's Warwick 64 Moonblue 2 is regaining the form of past years with second place today, climbing back into contention for a podium place. Third place for Marcel Leidts' Beneteau 50 Blauwvoet has them securing top spot in the overall stakes and if they keep scoring podium places may be hard to topple.
In the IRC/Sportsboat class it was Ken Eyear's Oracle 32 Waka Tere turn to post a win. Although there are only four boats in this class, the corrected times have been extremely close and the top three boats have shared the wins. Jeff Davison's Mumm 30 Panic! slotted into second place and takes a slim one-point lead in the overall point score. After yesterday's swashbuckling win Kipsan Beck's crew on his Shaw 6.5 Pornstar are complaining of sore muscles and weary bodies, but after several massages they still managed third place and are only a couple of points away from the overall lead.
Fergus Wilmer and Henry Kaye have had a steep learning curve on their Seacart 30 Thor, but as the regatta continues they just keep getting better and better. Two wins today has them catapulting to the top of the leader board. Second place for Radab Kanchanavanit's F9-A Cedar Swan has them closing in on second overall. Third place for Peter Dyer's Firefly 850 SEA Property sees them hand over the lead to Thor, but with only a few points separating the podium places this class is still open for the taking - that is, if they can keep up with Thor.
In the Bareboat Charter Class the Aussie charge led by Andrew Short's Oceanis 461 Constanza added a further win to their tally, making it four out of four. They seem to point ten degrees higher and are that much quicker than the other boats.
Hong Kong's Chin Yew Seah on the Sunsail 39 Bussakorn is on a roll scoring another second place to take over second overall. John Stall's Sunsail OC361 Perigot with the Samui youth sailors on board sailed into third place and Aussie Howard Blowes' Sunsail 43 Milliebella ran into some difficulties for the second day running and was forced to retire again.
Tomorrow is the layday, and Cap'n Squall has organised the 2nd Kids Optimist Regatta, 1200-1400 hrs. Some of the big boat owners have kindly donated boats to the cause and no doubt will be there to cheer the young sailors along.
Cape Leeuwin, WA
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