2009 Sailing News
Page updated
28 March, 2010
ACYC Club Sailing
Race 3 April 5 2009
A modified Course 4 and windward/leewards in light winds provided an opportunity for new kids on the block - boats, crew members and race officials - to get to know each other Sunday. 14 boats set off from the start line in a sequence of two starts with the six-member FireFly class, offering the biggest turnout, getting over the line five minutes behind Racing, Cruising and Multihulls.
A precarious start with a round-up on the port tack and with the starboard tack trouble-free Happy Feet looking to fly
across the line, saw Emerald
Blue cross first and lead the fleet around the Baan Nit Channel Marker. The course followed an around-the-buoy by the mosque and island course with a long series of tacks up to and around Koh Lon and Koh Ae and a downwind sail back to the Baan Nit marker to complete the racing day. Although positioned well, the ketch lost her lead fairly early in the game and had to settle for second to Katsu who manged to overcome them despite a bad start.
Arnie Duckworth's home-designed and grown Happy Feet graced the ACYC scene for the first time, strutting her stuff and perfecting technique with a brief rise up on her foils. Good sailing tactics earned her the Multihulls top prize for the day. Her closest rival, Miss Saigon, kept her crew onboard, with no man overboard scenarios.
Awatea with her all-star crew of boat brokers and a race offical crept up Koh Lon, out of a hole and performing better than others struggling with the light winds on the beat up. Perhaps local knowledge as well as great tactics? Awatea came first in Cruising - beating all in her class of one.
Some in the know and some not? A shortened course due to the light winds meant some knew where the cutoff was and took their own times whereas others plowed on through looking for the pre-arranged finish line described at the briefing. Typhoon timed herself at four-and-a-half hours - the last of the fleet to be recorded. For two of the Multihulls, Mamba Wamba and Charro, the lack of wind meant a 'gentlemanly retirement', and for the latter, a firing up of the engine ostensibly due to the fact that foresight in provisioning for the long day in the beer department had been poor. The race for beer was on! Happily, skipper Mark Horwood managed restraint and with a sigh of relief, enjoyed the last cold one on the dinghy ride into the yacht club. Fortunately, for the Motley Crew, beers aplenty were to be had onshore for the thirsty and needy!
With the show of the largest number of FireFlys in an ACYC race, sailing - and excitement - was keen. The new owner of Mamba, Robert van Paridon, joined regulars Moto Inzi, The Frog, Twin Sharks, last week's newcomer Pagatoon and this week's newcomer to ACYC races, Voodoo Child. Five members of the class finished within three minutes of each other, with Mamba trailing behind, learning the ropes. And the fate of the FireFly that went topsy-turvey in the first race? Owner Peter Dyer hasn't lost interest in the sport and was spotted sailing on Moto Inzi. Word has it that SEA Properties, with an overhaul at Latitude 8 Yachts and a new mast from Australia, will be back in the water in the near future!
More good times in two weeks!
| Boat |
Name |
Place |
| Katsu |
Ben Copely |
1 |
| Emerald Blue |
Nick Band |
2 |
| Boat |
Name |
Place |
Awatea
|
Andrew de Bruin |
1 |
| Boat |
Name |
Place |
| Happy Feet |
Arnie Duckworth |
1 |
| Miss Saigon |
David Liddell |
2 |
| Typhoon |
Matt McGrath |
3 |
| Boat |
Name |
Place |
| Moto Inzi |
Roger Kingdon |
1 |
| Pagatoon |
Andy Pape |
2 |
| Voodoo Child |
Hans Rahmann |
3 |
Newcomer Alan Giles from BoatShedPhuket deserves a big round of applause for sponsoring his first ACYC race. Thanks Alan for your support and generous prizes of Gordon's best. Also, thanks to the ACYC crew for their hospitality, BBQ,
cold beers and more. Cheers and a toss of beers in the longtail to MC and Race Official Tony
Knight and the club's newest race official, Kathy de Cruz. Good show!
The full results for the day and the performance handicap can be viewed here: http://acyc.asiaaustraliatech.com
Photos of this race can be viewed here. Click here for the ACYC Photo Gallery.
Race 4 of the series will take place April 19. Call Tony on 08 1747 0074 for
more information and visit www.acyc-phuket.com for more information.
See you out on the water!!
Text & photos by Leslie Hand
