Good wind greets Raymarine Race Day

Yesterday's SEA Yachting/Jungceylon Race Day from Ao Po to Koh Yao Noi was followed today by Raymarine's Race Day. Participants in the 22nd Bay Regatta continued to enjoy great sailing weather, desite low wid forecasts, as the party that sails around continued to do just that.

PRO and race organizer Simon James again staged two starts for the competitors today: first off were all the multihulls followed by all the monohulls, as Linda was late to the strt due to the start line due to engine trouble, and again there were no major incidents to report, just a nice clear spinnaker run down Phang Nga Bay.

The 20nm course left from east of Koh Yao Noi, rounded to starboard Koh Pang, passing Koh Pak Bia, and then past Koh Ka to starboard through the gate at Koh Heng (keeping the committee boat to port), then rounding Koh Ngang to port before passing between Koh Deng and Koh Samet and finally finishing between the committee boat and Koh Ya Man.

The six-boat Racing Class saw East Marine Emagine first across the line on elapsed time (03:17:42) but Aquari won the race on handicap with Ramrod in third, followed by Megazip, Jessandra II and Uminoko, in that order.

Paul Merry's Night Train took Cruising A honors today with Brandon Roscoe's Lola coming in second and Hellmut Schutte's Aquavit 6 in third though Hellmut's boat beat Lola in elapsed time. Winds of Change, Sand Grouper and Linda rounded out the six-boat class in that order.

The sixboat Cruising B class saw a similar finish to the Racing Class today as Niels Degenkolw's Phoenix had line honors in the class but ceded first overall on handicap to the Gillows and crew on Poco. Sergei Kataev's Hope was third in the class with

The Bareboat Class saw Russians finish one, two, three. Konstantin Nazarenko's Kinnock was first, Stanislav Pechenkin's Venture was second and Denis Aksenov finished in third. Russell Waddy's AllSail Tonicola, the only non-Russian entry in the class, was fourth. The Russian contingemt is very strong in this regatta with eight Russian boats competing.

Line honours again went to Fugazi with a time of 02:36:00, as they finished a half-hour ahead of Blue Noze, with Twister 2 in third Alan Carwardine's Phantom 5 in fourth and Ray Waldron's Surf Patrol in fifth. Blade Runner IX DNF'ed and Twin Sharks had to withdraw from the regatta yesterday. Adrenaline and The Sting were also supposed to compete in this class during the regatta but had to withdraw at the last minute.

The Bay Regatta takes sailors through the three provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi allowing participants to experience the best of southern Thai hospitality and the unrivaled sailing grounds in the area. They sail amongst 200-metre high karsts and past hidden bays on their way to a party under-the-stars on an idyllic beach.

In the deep channels between the spectacular, vertical rock walls, the Bay Regatta's philosophy of fun-amidst-beauty shone through for all to see. The hallmark of this event is a casual, fun-filled atmosphere. Many friends join together to sail the four-day event and while the sailing is serious for many racing class yachts, a large number of cruisers join for the experience of sailing through some of the world?s most amazing maritime scenery.