Jelik wins King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET: Under pressure for a perfect start in strong winds this morning, Ray Roberts’ Quantum Racing crossed the start line just three seconds before the start horn sounded, leaving Frank Pong’s 75-foot Jelik to sail off round the course and win the 21st King’s Cup Regatta.
The windiest King’s Cup since 1994 sorted the men from the boys to end on a high note. Throughout the week there have been collisions, a capsized catamaran, shredded spinnakers, many bruised egos and even a whale was reported to have surfaced striking the catamaran The Horse.
Although overall class winners were decided in six out of the 13 classes by the finish of yesterday’s racing, most skippers were happy to go out today and sort out the final podium places.
Ray Roberts knew he had to win both races today to have any chance of regaining the title for Quantum Racing. Approaching the very short start line a tad early with no room for error the bows hit the line as the horn sounded. A few anxious moments followed before the recall signal sounded, which put an end to their title chances.
Frank Pong’s powerful Reichel-Pugh 75 Jelik continued to defy the pundits and set off at blistering pace to claim two wins, bringing his tally to six wins of eight races and for the first time take home the coveted title.
Fourth and second place today kept Quantum Racing in second place overall and two fifth places for Stephen Reith’s Foxy Lady III was enough to score the third podium place.
Fred Kinmonth/Nick Burns Fortis Mandrake and Chris Meads’ swish-looking Corby 43 Full Metal Jacket were always in the hunt, but fell out of contention for the top three places as the regatta drew on.
In the Sportsboat class, Scott Duncanson’s Phuket 8 Raimon Land wrapped up the title yesterday and did not compete today. After scary spinnaker rides with broaches, the Platus decided on more-controlled sailing downwind with poled-out headsails.
Morten Jacobson’s Platu 25 Emma Mathild XX skillfully claimed Race 6 to hold onto second place overall and Nick Southward’s Tuay Lek surprised the fleet with a good win in the last race. Japan’s Keisuke Nagamatsu Risotada placed third overall.
At the start of the day, three yachts were within range of winning the Premier Cruising class. Reefed mainsails and dusting cobwebs from No 2 or 3 headsails has become the order of the regatta. The start was hotly contested and sail selection and configuration in strong breezes was critical, especially for the windward beat.
Geoff Hill’s Strewth seemed to have mastered the heavy conditions and was forced to wait 20-odd minutes for David Ross’s class-leader Frangipani Girl to cross the finish line. This gave Hill’s crew their first win after a string of second places and displaced Frangipani Girl from the top of the podium, earning Strewth a well-earned overall victory.
Second place for Peter Cremers’ Shahtoosh gave them third overall.
In IRC 1, Jeff Davidson’s Mumm 30 Panic were unstoppable. Four wins and two second places gave Panic the series by a nautical mile. Tim Costello’s Farr 43 Switchblade showed they were serious to finish second overall and the best the boat has ever done at a King’s Cup.
A last race win for Jaray Tipsuk on Octopussy lifted the crew’s spirits and elevated them to third overall.
As they had already won IRC 2, Peter Dyer’s Madame Butterfly ventured out onto the course but wisely chose not to race to preserve the boat instead. In their absence, Tani Bassadone skippering the Swan 42 La Samudra took top honors today to finish second overall by one point.
Second place for Lt Cdr Peera Pornprom Sagultem’s Royal Thai Navy 1 gave them third place overall. Unfortunately, the results don’t show how closely contested the podium places have been.
In IRC 3, Fredrick Roswold’s classic IOR racer Wings dominated the class by posting four consecutive wins. A last race win for Dr Basil Diethelm’s Swan 44 Sarabande secured them second place overall. Third place for Larry Emerson’s chartered Remington maintained third place overall.
Henry Kaye’s crew on Mamba put on a fine display of boat handling and restraint when needed to firmly secure overall victory with five wins and a second place in the Firefly one-design class. Much kudos goes to Kaye, who has raced in every King’s Cup Regatta.
Roger Kingdon’s Moto Inzi compensated for missing two races after a collision with the press boat and returned with a vengeance to finish second place overall. With the demise of the other boats, David Hill’s Voodoo Child kept finished all races to take third place overall.
In strong winds, the bigger catamarans held their own against the smaller trimarans in the Multi Racing class. After pushing hard all week, Christopher Edwards’ Spirit of Isuzu excelled in the winds to win the final race and the class series.
Dave Wales’ Corsair trimaran The Sting led the class throughout most of the regatta, but fifth place today saw them drop to second place overall. Second place today for Peter Ball on Summersalt has the crew doing backflips as it rewards
