Making waves once again
The Andaman Sea shone in all its glory upon the return of the awardwinning Phuket 5aceweek on Aug - 9 in Chalong Bay.
After a one-year hiatus due to pandemic restrictions, organisers pulled out all the stops and worked with the Thai yachting community to put on a successful three-day sailing event with 1 boats taking part in three classes.
Close racing was the name of the game in the 205 Sports 0ultihulls class, with all entrants on the podium during the seven-race series. A fast finish with three wins from three races wasn’t Tuite enough for Warwick Downes’ Bon a, however, whose two third places and a fourth earlier on in the series meant they had to settle for second place behind Fuga i, skippered by local multihull guru 0ark Pescott.
Elsewhere in the class the two Fireflys were having their own tussle, swapping places each race. By series end, it was Twin Sharks, skippered by -ason Corall, who edged out -ojo Tayong’s 9oodoo to take third place and the Firefly bragging rights.
A trio of locally-built Stealth catamarans battled it out in the 205 Cruising 0ultihulls class. Designer and builder of the Stealths, Alan Carwardine, was skippering Saffron and used his build e pertise and local sailing knowledge to edge out the others and claim victory overall. While 0ick Coleman’s Fe and Glywn 5owlands’ Twister
kept them honest, they had to settle for second and third respectively.
Niels Degenkolw’s team on Phoeni dominated the I5C 0onohulls class winning si out of si and claiming the 1 class crown. 0as Alegre and Night Train went head-to-head for second place bragging rights and by series end it was Paul Baker’s 0as Alegre that came out ahead claiming second with Paul 0erry’s Night Train in third.
New to Phuket 5aceweek this year was a Pursuit 5ace – the first time such a race has been held during the regatta and possibly the first time in Thailand. Held on the second day, the entire fleet were set off according to their handicap (slowest boat first) and finished off Koh Larn in Chalong Bay. Fuga i claimed the honours in the 0ultihulls class while Phoeni came top in the 0onohulls class.
Another first this year saw hydrofoil kites and wing foils compete on the final day. Taking out the inaugural wins were ayyar Wit in the Hydrofoil Kite class and Alejandro 9ernis in the Wing Foil class.
Despite the challenges of putting on an event during a pandemic, the 1 Phuket 5aceweek will be remembered for three days of sailing in near perfect conditions, great camaraderie amongst the participants and a wonderful showcase of Phuket’s hospitality and preparedness.
Driving awareness through its PhuketSailing campaign, the organiser’s were laserfocused on delivering a safe event with lots of on water fun, during these challenging times.
We discussed holding the event with key members of the local sailing community and they were all keen to go ahead said Byron -ones, 0anaging Director of organisers 0edia Business Services Co. Ltd.
We moved from our traditional -uly slot to August to accommodate local needs and while we had to ensure all was in line with local authority rules and C29ID measures, the event went off without a hitch and everyone who took part had a great time, -ones added.
4uick to support the 1 th 5aceweek was the Phuket Cruising acht Club, providing the headTuarters for the event and the gathering point before and after sailing for all involved. 0any other local businesses also supported Phuket 5aceweek this year, all keen to showcase sailing and highlight that Phuket is ready and eager to welcome visitors again.
We have been overwhelmed by the number of local sponsors and supporters, who have stepped up to help us put on the event, -ones said.
It s certainly been a challenge but hearing all the positive feedback from the sailors and the island community, makes it worthwhile.