First Time Guide — Part 2
Berthing and accommodation
There are no marina based venues on the Bay Regatta. However, limited marina berths in Phuket and Krabi** may be available close to some venues. Boats are usually anchored off or near to our host resorts. In the event of exceptional weather conditions, some boats may seek additional shelter at nearby islands.
** (Port Takola is situated about 1 hour from the Krabi race area, but tidal access may be limited for some boats).
For those yachts not travelling with dinghies, a chargeable "longtail" service is usually available at each destination after racing for transport to resorts and official functions.
PAYMENT SHOULD BE MADE DIRECTLY TO THE LONGTAIL DRIVER.
Please arrive early as the number of longtails available in these venues is limited and it can take some time to deliver crew to all the yachts.
If you need assistance with accommodation, please take a look at our list of Hotel Partners on the stop-over pages.
Class Flags
Boats racing at The Bay Regatta do not need to display a class flag.
You will need to have your sail number displayed on your mainsail, overlapping headsails and your downwind sails.
In exceptional circumstances (i.e. if you are forced to borrow a sail from another boat) it may be possible to display a different number on that sail - so long as it does not conflict with the number carried by any other Bay Regatta competitor.
Dispensation for these exceptional circumstances must be applied for as early as possible.
Event Branding
As allowed under the Racing Rules of Sailing, the regatta reserves the forward 20% of the hull for our title sponsor decals which each boat is required to carry (there are a number of exceptions to this). Those boats not carrying decals will be required to fly a sponsor pennant from the backstay. Details of these requirements are in the Notice of Regatta.
The Bay Regatta uses three different rating systems, IRC and Bay Regatta’s own for monohulls and OMR for multihulls. These give good racing within the handicap classes to boat types where there are not enough of them to have their own one-design class. Details of the systems are provided below:
Entry Information
Registrations must be completed before racing commenced . Registration will be held between 16.00 - 18.00. at Supalai Scenic Bay Resort & Spa is the central hub of information for all registration related queries during the opening day (19th February 2025). Once registration is completed, the regatta office will relocate to the "Start Boat".
Protest information will be posted on the notice board at the "Regatta Venues".
All boats have to comply with the specific Bay Regatta safety equipment regulations for inshore races - found on the World Sailing website at http://www.sailing.org. However, if your boat cannot fully comply for some reason then you can apply in writing for dispensation. Common examples include boats that do not have guardrails, or boats that cannot comply with the required size of cockpit drains.
The Sailing Instructions and Course Diagrams for The Bay Regatta will be available for download prior to the event. Printed versions will be available at registration.
They are generally similar to other regattas in Asia. However, the first and most important piece of advice is to read the Sailing Instructions (SI's) thoroughly, read them again, and then get someone else on the boat to read them too! There will often be amendments as changes are made or errors are picked up after the SIs have been printed. It is vital that these are read and ideally integrated into the body of the SIs.
Don't get caught out! Every year, boats are penalised unnecessarily. Read the SI's. It's just as important for regular Bay Regatta competitors as it is for newcomers to read the SI's thoroughly as changes are made each year.
Start lines
All starts happen from a committee boat line as indicated in the course diagrams, so please bear in mind that it may take considerable time to get to your start, depending on where the line is positioned.
When you are starting from the committee boat line, make sure you listen to the VHF from 08:00 to ascertain where the line is likely to be The start sequence are normally every 5 minutes, so make sure you understand how the sequence is signalled by reading the SI's.
