Multihull Solutions Regatta wraps up with ‘Fugazi’ claiming top honours
The 10th annual Multihull Solutions Regatta wrapped up today with another good day of sailing. Principal Race Officer Simon James ran two races today, 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 (Did Not Start) 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.
Jonathon Kingdon’s Firefly Moto Inzi was the only casualty of the regatta when it nosedived during the second race of the second day. Captain Brent McInnis of the Phuket Cruising Yacht Club’s preformed heroic work orchestrating the rescue.
Good sportsmanship was displayed when crew members from both Twin Sharks and Mamba jumped in the water to aid Moto Inzi. And Blue Noze and Surf Patrol both reefed during those winding conditions, demonstrating good seamanship, earning themselves podium positions.
Liz Schoch and her initiative Responsible Rubbish (www.facebook.com/ResponsibleRubbish) made a big impact in the event as many sailors used Liz’s refillable bottles during the regatta instead of disposable plastic ones, thereby saving 500 plastic bottles from being used during the event. Lizzy, by the way, sailed on Blue Noze in the regatta.
A big thank you must go to Andrew de Bruin and Multihull Solutions for being the principal sponsor; Phuket Boat Lagoon for sponsoring day one’s racing; Octopus Electrical Service for sponsoring the second day of racing. East Marine, Java Yachting and Regattas Asia were generous support sponsors, while SEA Yachting was the media partner and Rainman Watermakers (Bob Mott) kindly supplying skipper bags. Kim Mitchell and his staff did a super job of keeping all the sailors fed and hydrated with delicious meals and drinks.
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.
