The Third SEA Property International Phuket Multihull Championship

The Third
SEA Property International
Phuket Multihull Championship
July 16 - 18 2010

Exciting start to the 'Multihull Only' regatta
By AsianYachting Event Media

July 16th: The 3rd SEA Property Multihull Championship got underway with some exciting thrills and spills in overcast conditions and an increasing SW tradewind. Twenty boats have fronted up and as crews assembled at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club this morning there were distinct signs that a regatta was about to take place. One skipper was heard to say "So this is what a proper yacht club looks like". Everyone was keen to get going and the tension increased as they approached the start line. PRO Simon James choose to send the fleet around a windward / leeward course then on a short passage race up to Koh Bon and back. In Chalong Bay the breeze fluctuated between 5 and 10 knots for the first race then dramatically increased as they left the shelter of the bay and the large sea swell around Koh Bon saw the excitement factor multiply on the spinnaker reach back. A few nose dives, (See photo) shredded sails, snapped prodders and a lot of broken equipment had crews desperately jury rigging the damage or returning to shore for some urgently needed repairs.

All eyes were on the locally manufactured boats to see who would get the jump and end up on the podium. Henry Kaye and Fergus Wilmer's Seacart 30 Thor went into overdrive and after claiming two first and fastest's clearly showed their intentions. While expectations were high on Grenville Fordham's Niña, it was Andy Pape's newly launched Andaman Cabriolet Da Vinci that stole the limelight by scoring second and third places on their first aggressive outing. David Liddel also had the hammer down on his Corsair 37 Miss Saigon to record third and second places to be tied on points with Da Vinci.

The eight one-design Firefly 850 Sport class catamarans lining up at the start is a sight to behold, especially as they charge into the startline. The slightest puff of wind and these nifty cats can accelerate off into the distance, so the name of the game is staying in the wind lines and holding on for dear life. After several lead changes Mark Pescott skippering Twin Sharks this time, eventually took the honours in Race 1 and after breaking the spinnaker prod still managed to come back to slip into second spot in Race 2 and take the overall lead. Hans Rahmann's Voodoo got the jump in the early stages of Race 2 and never looked back, extending their lead at every mark to score an emphatic victory by a country mile. Roger Kingdon's Moto Inzi had an up and down sort of a day with second place in Race 1 and fourth place in Race 2. After a difficult first race Peter Dyer's SEA skippered by Damien Ford managed third place in Race 2. As Peter drove the media boat his running commentary was worse than a nervous Optimist parent watching every maneuver the crew made throughout the racing.

Bill Phelps Seawind 40 Maharani is the only boat in the Cruising Multihull class so it goes without saying that he won both races today.

Racing continues tomorrow and as the weather forecast is similar to today, we can expect plenty more action especially on the outside courses.