Fickle winds rule race day one of the PYC Festival of Sail Regatta
Story by Scott Murray
Day one of the Phuket Yacht Club Yachting Festival, sponsored by Octopus Electrical Services tested both patience and tactical awareness as competitors were greeted by light, shifty winds and a steadily building tidal current. With insufficient breeze to get racing underway on schedule, the fleet remained ashore under postponement while the race committee waited for conditions to improve.
As the afternoon progressed, enough wind filled in to allow racing to commence, and the fleet completed one race before conditions deteriorated once again.
It proved to be a true day of snakes and ladders. The combination of light air and a strengthening current meant fortunes changed rapidly across the course. Boats that found pressure and positioned themselves correctly against the tide climbed dramatically through the fleet, while others quickly slipped down the leaderboard after just a single tactical mistake. Every leg presented new opportunities—and new pitfalls.
Despite completing just one race, the opening day has already produced an intriguing leaderboard, with plenty left to play for as the festival continues. With stronger breeze forecast for the coming days, competitors will be hoping for more consistent conditions while knowing that, after today's racing, every point will count.
In the racing today, Craig Nichols Alright and his crew from Downunder won the Monohull A class on corrected time despite placing third in elapsed time. Sarab Jeet Singh’s Windsikher, a past Phuket King’s Cup & Raja Muda Regatta winner, placed second, and Aftershock, featuring former Australian Olympian Steve McConaghy. was third.
Andrew McDermott’s Nijinsky won the Monohull B class on both elapsed and corrected time with Niels Dgenkolw’s Phoenix placing second and Bill Ashby’s Slip Stream III coming in third. The other boat in the class, Steve Wassel’s Jing Jing unfortunately did not finish the race.
The three-boat Multihull Racing class was won by Dirk Weiblen’s No Fear on both elapsed and corrected time. George Eddings’ Firefly Blue Noze edged out fellow Firefly Twin Sharks (John Newnham) for third spot.
Racing continues tomorrow at the waters in and around Ao Chalong.
