Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Kings Cup Phuket


J/133 Jing Jing sailing in Kings Cup, Phuket, Thailand
J/133 JING JING Having Fun!
(Phuket, Thailand)- The 24th Phuket King’s Cup didn't exactly start out in postcard, Chamber of Commerce conditions.  The practice day was a bit soggy.  But, the forecast for day one of the King’s Cup is for a west-north-west breeze anywhere between six and 10 knots.  As Tracey Johnstone reported, "Overcast sky, with a hint of rain and no wind greeted the sailors as they headed out onto the race course. Thankfully, a light Northerly filled in enough for the race officers on both courses to get all the classes away on Race 1. Some competitors were a little to keen to get started, with IRC 1 having a general recall and several other classes having multiple individual recalls. This comes with the territory when competitors are pushing to the absolute limit. With the wind direction flicking through forty degrees and fluctuating in intensity, choosing the side of the course and sail selection, which would yield the best results, became a tacticians nightmare. After rounding the top mark the boats that went right were looking famous, that is until the boats that gybe set the spinnaker and went left, picked up the incoming breeze first and crossed in front of the early leaders. The next time around the opposite occurred and as the fleet played snakes and ladders, this is reflected in the final results. PRO Jerry Rollin managed to complete three windward/leeward races for the racing classes, in between intermittent rain showers and the cruising classes completed there one scheduled race in area B to successfully get the regatta underway.  After surviving a general recall and then an individual recall, Rick Pointon's Chinese crew on the J/133 JING JING held on for third overall.
J/133 at starting line - Kings Cup, Phuket, ThailandBy the second day, the King's Cup weather has returned to its traditional light airs where knowing the local conditions, studying the tides and keeping your head out of the boat were all important factors on the first day.  With a postponement flag flying on both courses the Phuket King’s Cup fleet of 106 boats waited patiently this morning for a race start.  Soft breeze, an outgoing tide and heavy cloud made for a difficult start.  Then a rain squall passed over the land and moved out to sea. There was hope some more breeze would come with it, but that didn’t eventuate.   In IRC1 the postponement flag was up briefly while the start line was re-laid, then the 15 boat fleet were off. Three boats were recalled. At the bottom mark first time around, Rick Pointon’s J/133 JING JING executed well to finish in the top five.  In the next race, the wind was equally as shifty, but JING JING hung in for second!  In short, it was a day of costly tactical calls, protest flags and changes in the leader board in the second day racing.  The forecasted 10 plus knots and thunderstorms didn’t eventuate today. Instead the course had low cloud, shifty breezes and at places, two knots of current. All the makings of an interesting day of racing.
The sailing Buddha atop the mountain overlooking the fleet at Kings Cup.By the third day, IRC1 Class had two races. First was a windward/leeward and the second was a long race offshore around the cans.  The long race start was delayed for a short time as the race committee re-set the start line in response to a slight wind shift. Rick's J/133 JING JING was OCS at the start, but recovered well as the fleet headed south. A costly tack to make the mark hurt some boats, including JING JING. Currently, JING JING is in third place with 15 points-- perhaps a chat with Buddha atop the mountain might provide divine inspiration (seen here at right).  Phuket Kings Cup Sailing Photo credits- Guy Nowel.    For more Phuket Kings Cup sailing information.