Tenth Multihull Solutions Regatta sees great wind
Photos and story by Scott Murray
The 10th Multihull Solutions Regatta saw fifteen boats divided into four classes compete off the shores of host organizer Phuket Yacht Clubin Chalong Bay in Boat Lagoon Race Day.
Before the regatta started, Multihull Solutions’ Andrew deBruin said, “We are back for the 5th year as title sponsors to the Phuket Yacht Club’s Multihull Regatta and, as usual, we look to be in for the windiest and friendliest regatta in the region. There will be some very exciting racing out on Chalong Bay. It’s a great event for us and of course a natural fit for a company specializing in multihull yacht sales as we do, and I’m sure our involvement will continue.”
The Racing Multihulls and Firefly 850 Sport boat classes had six boats each, while the Pulse 600 had two entries and Cruising Multihulls had three boats.
They come in all shapes and sizes in this year’s Racing Multihull division ranging from Andrew de Bruin’s and Mick Tilden’s Pulse 600s to Peter Wilcox’s recently launched 12m foiling-assisted Stealth Cosmo to Bob Garner’s DM24 Blade Runner, Glywn Rowlands Stealth Twister 2, and Dan Fidock’s, Fugazi, built by Dan Moore, which always draws plenty of attention.
Dan Fidock’s trimaran Fugazi (formerly Three Itch) jumped off the start line in each race and never let up as its main hull spent most of the regatta kissing the water’s surface as it cruised to line honours in each race.
Cosmo, built by Asia Catamarans, had been in the water for less than two weeks, and suffered through a 40-knot bashing on a recent trip to Langkawi. There are only two Stealths in this race, but much Stealth news as Hurricane was recently sold to a fellow in San Diego and was being shipped there by Sevenstar via New York. And past Multihull Solutions competitors Top Cat and Gale Force have both been re-sold so lots of movement for Alan Cawardine’s creations.
In the Firefly division, John Newnham’s Twin Sharks renewed its heated rivalry with Hans Rahmann’s Voodoo. George Eddings Blue Noze. Neil Ayre’s & Mick Coleman’s recently purchased Advanced CAE (Mamba), Ray Waldron’s Surf Patrol and Jonathon Kingdon’s Moto Inzi were the other boats in the division. The Fireflys were designed by Phuketian Mark Pescott, who raced on Surf Patrol for this regatta.
Mick Tilden’s Pixalux and lead sponsor Andrew de Bruin with his Multihull Solutions H30 did battle in the two-boat Pulse 600 division.Tilden, who used to own a share in Fujin, put his competitive monohull racing career on hold when he discovered the joys of sailing a Corsair Pulse 600.
The Cruising Multihull three-boat class saw Anthony Passmore’s DaVinci, sailing against Bill Kane’s The Sting, and Rick Fielding’s Mojo
On the first day, Principal Race Officer (PRO) Simon James ran windward-leewards for most classes for the first two races but sent the Cruising Class off a trip around Koh Lon for their second race of the day; the racing multis, including the Pulses, plus the Fireflies headed out and around the Cape Panwa safe water mark for their third and final race of the day.
Nineteen knots of wind in Ao Chalong greeted competitors as they sailed out to compete in day two of the Multihull Solutions Regatta. Armchair pundits were hedging their bets as to which boats would be damaged by heavy winds. Some thought the Corsair Pulses, who have been a touch fragile in heavy weather, might be in trouble, but the Pulses held strong.
The first casualty of day two occurred around midway through the first race when Jonathon Kingdon’s Firefly Moto Inzi nose dived and hung in the air until Captain Brent McInnis of the Phuket Cruising Yacht Club’s Rescue and Salvage Operation (otherwise known as the PCYCRSO) showed up to save the day, right the ship and tow it back to shore. As we went to print, Moto Inzi was inthe CBS “Coconuts” Boatyard and we were waiting to see if she would be ready for next week’s Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek.
A veteran observer described the Moto Inzi sequence thus, “Sailing downwind, with the spinnaker up Moto Inzi was hit by a large gust and the leeward bow dug in, so she started to nose dive so much so the rudders came out of the water and the boat was on the tipping point of capsizing completely. The crew hung there until the boat capsized and the mast was stuck in the mud with the crew left hanging.” Drama, indeed.
Mitch Olivieri jumped off Mamba to assist Moto Inzi as did Justin Wong and Brent Gribble from Twin Sharks as Brent’s wife Sariwan (Khun Sa) was one of the Moto Inzi crew still in the water with Louis Monge, Hans van der Velden and skipper Jonathan Kingdon. Crew mates Saithon “Oi” Termngam and Charanya Daengthongdee were pulled out of the water by the PCYC rescue boat.
The second casualty occurred about halfway through the second race when another Firefly, this time Hans Rahmann’s Voodoo, ripped the top of its mainsail and had to retire from racing for the day. Later in the day, the crew was seen trying to repair the damage, so they could race in the third and final day of the regatta.
PRO Simon James ran the same set of windward-leewards he had done on day one giving all classes except Cruising Multis three races, while the cruisers had two. Simon wisely decided to keep the fleet within Ao Chalong Bay as the damage would have been undoubtedly much worse if they raced outside.
DaVinci crewmates Paul Baker and Peter and Gary Slattery were mates back in the Kogarah Sailing Club forty years ago and hadn’t seen each in almost three decades but they reconnected to sail as crew on DaVinci (a boat that Baker manages), which was sponsored by PLANIT, a CADCAM cutting-edge solutions company.
The regatta wrapped up with another good day of sailing. Simon James again ran two races, a three-lap windward-leeward and then a triangle course for all classes except Cruising, which did a loop around nearby Koh Lon.
Dan Fidock’s trimaran Fugazi claimed the Racing Multihull division winning six of the eight races it sailed in, finishing with 10 points. Fugazi claimed line honours in every race and was a sight to behold in full throttle. Bob Garner’s Blade Runner claimed the other two victories on handicap, which along with their other finishes, gave them second place overall in Racing Multis with 21 points.
Peter Wilcox christened his new Stealth Cosmo with a third-place finish and 30 points. Mick Tilden’s Pixalux had the same amount of points but settled for fourth as Cosmo had a greater number of higher finishes. Andrew de Bruin’s Multihull Solutions H30 came in fifth overall with 37 points. while Glywn Rowlands’ Twister 2 rounded out the class with 40 points.
In the final race of the Firefly series, positions two and three overall were still undecided. As John Newnham’s Twin Sharks had won every race up until then it had already captured the division with eight points. After the first mark, Surf Patrol took a commanding lead with Blue Noze, Mamba and Twin Sharks trailing in that order, Positions two through four changed throughout the next lap until the final run when Twin Sharks jumped into the lead and Blue Noze finished in third place to take second overall with 21 points to Surf Patrol’s 25.
Voodoo’ two DNS’s on day two hurt it and it slipped back to fourth overall with 36 points. Mamba, which also had two DNS’s on day two came fifth with 41 points, while Jonathan Kingdon’s Moto Inzi had to retire from the regatta after its mishap and finished with 50 points, including four DNS’s and a DNF.
Mick Tilden and Derek Sheppard’s Pixalux defeated lead sponsor Andrew de Bruin and crewmate Zeam Bevan on their Multihull Solutions H30 in seven of the eight races in the two-boat Pulse 600 division accumulating nine points to MS H30’s fifteen. The Cruising Multihull three-boat class saw Rick Fielding’s Mojo beat Bill Kane’s The Sting on tie-break. Even though The Sting finished with fewer points (9 vs.10) both were allowed a drop race,as they had both sailed five races.This allowed Mojo to drop its third-place finish then tying it with The Sting at seven points each (The Sting never finished lower than second). Anthony Passmore’s DaVinci ended up in third spot with 15 points, including a DNF & DNS
Liz Schoch, who sailed on Blue Noze during the regatta, and her initiative Responsible Rubbish (www.facebook.com/ResponsibleRubbish) made an impact in the event as many sailors used Liz’s refillable water bottles during the regatta thereby saving 500 plastic bottles from being used during the event.
Kudos to Commodore Scott Duncanson of the Phuket Yacht Club for organizing the regatta along with his two able lieutenants Tom Cracknell, the on-shore Manager, and Alfie Rowson, a driving force on the organizing committee.
CUTLINES
This event is a veritable who’s who of sailing in Phuket, as everyone who is anyone is involved in the regatta in some way. Dan Fidock’s sleek trimaran Fugazi claimed line honours in every race. Regular cats, trimarans, Pulse 600s and Fireflies all saw action in the regatta.
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