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The
Inaugural Phuket Race Week Date: 12 July 2004 Despite a number of late withdrawals, 17 quality yachts divided into 4 classes (Racing, IRC, Club & Multihull) are fronting up for this inaugural event to be held in the middle of the SW monsoon season. In this tropical region sailing can be conducted all year round and although being the, so called low season, it never ceases to amaze me the number of visitors that choose this time of the year to visit the region. We always enjoy coming to Phuket as the organisers (Image Asia) run a right royal yacht racing event with all the pomp and ceremony, followed by great social activities. This event is no different with the 5 star Evason Resort playing host for the entire event and Aussie Fosters beer will be ensuring the crews throats are well lubricated after racing. By the start of racing the notorious SW monsoon had not materialized and for the early part of the week, light and variable localised breezes are expected to increase during the regatta. A light NE breeze and outgoing tide carried the fleet down to Ko Bon were they concertinaed in the lee of the island. Scott Duncanson's Phuket 8 Somtam Express seemed to carry on round relatively comfortably and left most of the fleet in his wake as they sat motionless with limp spinnakers. Yendys skippered by Richard Grimes in the IRC class was the next to break free from the lackluster pack to head slowly upwind against the tide. As the breeze fluctuated between 3 and 5 knots most yachts spent the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon trying to keep their yacht moving between the many off lying islands towards the lead mark of Phuket's shipping port and then into Ao Chalong where the race was shortened. Provisional results in the Racing Class, saw Securicor Somtam Express first, Stuart Harrison's Panic second and Keith Moore's newly acquired Phuket 8 Skiff Asia Pla Loma third. In IRC, the winner was Yendys skippered by Richard Grimes, followed by Viroj Nualkhair's Octopussy and John Vause's well known Ruby Tuesday third. The remaining two classes, Club and Multihulls, did not finish. Final results can be found at: http://www.phuketraceweek.com/results.htm Race report by Capt. Marty Rijkuris of Asian Yachting.
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