Phuket Raceweek: Foxy Lady too hot to handle

PHUKET: Bill Bremner’s Foxy Lady VI scored two firsts in the opening day of racing in the Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek Regatta, which began today off the east coast of Phuket.

Peter Ahern’s TP52 Oi! cut a clear lead from the fleet from the outset, but a spinnaker error at the leeward mark handed the advantage to Foxy Lady, who made no mistakes across the rest of the course and finished first on corrected time.

Island Fling sailed well to finish second in the race, followed by Mick Tilden’s Fujin.

Deemed a dark horse in the top-flight class of the regatta, Fujin sailed on to second place in the second race, landing them in second place overall at the end of the day.

Island Fling finished third overall, while Oi! struggled to regain their composure and placed fourth overall.

Roland Dane’s Australian crew on Jessandra II made their intentions clear in the IRC 2 Racing class with two wins from two races.

After being pipped across the line by Greg Reynold’s Foreign Affair in the first race, Phuket yacht Ruby Tuesday returned the compliment to secure second place overall in the class.

In the Firefly 850 class, John Newnham’s Twin Sharks closed the day on course to defend the title of champion by blazing two wins.

It was close racing all the way, however, with Neil Ayre’s Advanced Racing Mamba placing second overall and Hans Rahmann’s Voodoo securing third.

Phuket sailors also dominated the Multihull Racing Class in a battle of the “Stealth Cats”, with Alan Carwardine of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club leading his crew on board Asia Catamarans Hurricane to two wins.

John Coffin’s Java gave good chase around the bay to place second overall, followed by Phuket favorites Grenville Fordham and Bob Mott on the well-known Nina.

After a bumpy start in the first race, a simple windward-leeward chase behind Koh Lone, the winds settled in to a steady 10-12 knots and the swell levelled out to provide near perfect race conditions.

Principal Race Officer Simon James seized the opportunity and sent the faster boats on a longer course around the islands up and to the safe water off Phuket Bay, and ushered the fast Firefly catamarans inside Chalong Bay, providing spectators along the shore with a racing spectacle.

Racing will continue off the east coast tomorrow and the weather forecast is for stronger breezes providing more exciting racing.

For the full race results, click here.

All results are provisional and subject to any protests yet to be filed.

For more information about Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek Regatta, go to phuketraceweek.com, facebook.com/PhuketRaceweekRegatta, twitter.com/phuketraceweek and youtube.com/phuketraceweek

The Phuket Gazette and PGTV’s ‘Phuket Today’ show, the island’s only nationally broadcast television program (aired daily on True Visions channels HD-79 and SD-107), are proud to sponsor the Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek 2014.

— Chris Husted