By Scott Murray - Sea Yachting Magazine.

The fourth and final day of the 28th Bay Regatta saw PRO and race organizer Simon James start the multihulls first and then the monohulls second in the Coca Cola Race for a quick zip back from Railay to Ao Chalong in good, strong wind.

The competitors sailed the 26-mile course, which started using the downwind committee boat to port & preceded through the gate at Mu Sang Nua, to the finish at the entrance to Ao Chalong.

Ray Roberts’ TP52 Team Hollywood won the three-boat IRC Racing Class though the yacht did slip to third place on the final day as Craig Nicholls Alright, a Sydney 40, overcame a major setback on the start line when their main came down with 2 mins, but thanks to Chong Wei Yong mast climb, they staged an upset and won the race on corrected time, edging out Steve McConaghy’s Aftershock, a Davidson 59. So, it was Team Hollywood, followed by Alright, and then Aftershock in the final points standing. And Ray Roberts did promise to bring his boat back next year.

The six-boat IRC Racing Class B saw the Estonian team on Gern Kard, led by Matti Sep, win comfortably. Andrey Novoderezhkin’s Madame Butterfly placed second and Niels Degenkolw’s Phoenix edged out Sergei Musikhin’s DSA Venture by one spot for third. DSA Venture then nipped Andrei Mororov’s Gateway Ichi by a point to secure fourth overall in the class.

The eleven-boat Monohull Cruising Class saw Philippe Dallée’s Swan II (a Swan 43 - 1969) also win comfortably with Polina Mikhailenko’s Ventura placing second and Boris Burmentev’s Winds of Change coming in third.

The three-boat Corinthian Class is Philippe Dallée’s Swan II win this new division, which was created to encourage more traditional boats to join the regatta. Steven Wong’s Snap Dragon placed second and Mark Sennett’s Madam was third.

Both Multihull Classes were decided on a tie-break. The methodology is the number of wins is the first tie-break, followed by the number of second and then third place finishes. If it’s still tied after all that the winner is the boat who had the best finish in the final race.

So top spot in the five-boat OMR Multihull class went to Dougal Jackson’s Stealth Haruki as even though it sat tied in points with John Newnham’s Firefly Twin Sharks, it had more first-place finishes (two to one). David Liddell’s Stealth Wow placed third in the class. Haruki also won the three-boat OMR Stealth division over Wow as Bliss demasted the first day of racing.

The four-boat Multihull Cruising Class saw three boats finish with eight points each. But when all was said and done, Lt Col Brigadier James Baxter (OBE)’s Zephyrus took top honours, based on more wins in the class, followed by Tim Hawkins’ Quoll (better result on the final day) and Rob Azzopardi’s North Star.

The final party was once again held at Kan Eang 2 restaurant, overlooking Chalong Bay and a great time was had by all. Described as the “party that sails around” this regatta just keeps entertaining all those who participate and it certainly didn’t disappoint this year, many promising to be back again next year.

You have to excuse first-time competitors to the Bay Regatta if they appear gobsmacked when they first head out through the regatta’s cruising grounds on their four-day nautical journey – rarely have they seen such stunning and picturesque scenery.

With over 30 boats on the water and terrific party venues the Bay Regatta certainly did not disappoint. Tentative dates for the 2026 Bay Regatta are February 11-15.