A crash with a jet ski left a hole of about 1 foot wide in the front of his boat, leaving Rdab an afternoon of hard work to repair it, just a day before the race started.

However, the experienced sailor proved the accident would only be a hiccup to his campaign in Asia's most prestigious sailing event as he now stands at the top after two rounds of the division.

Having finished in second and third respectively, Rdab refused to write off other opponents in the class which included many good sailors.

"Although I've had good results in the first two days, it's too early to say that I'll win the event as there are still three more races to come," said Rdab, whose last success in the annual event was in 2001.

"This division is quite competitive as it consists of strong opponents. I think the result will be decided on the final day just like in past years. I won't be looking ahead, just keeping focused on the present job to hand."

On a day with open skies, the light winds prevented the contest from reaching the excitement it was supposed to generate, leaving many boats running at only moderate speed.

Young Thai sailor Peera Sagultem on the Royal Thai Navy 1 boat failed to build on his success on the first day, finishing in third in the IRC2 event.

Peera blamed a false start

for his failure as he was left too far behind to catch the other boats.

"We had encroached on the line before the start signal so we had to turn back to the line while the other boats were already off sailing," Peera said.

"Moreover, the wind today didn't help us as it came intermittently. That made our job even harder. But I was content with the result as we are still in contention for the title."

Before the race started yesterday, a "Sail Past" ceremony was held in honour of His Majesty the King on the occasion of his 79th birthday celebrations.

A large group of yachts with crewmen donning yellow, a colour associated with Monday, His Majesty the King's birth day, queued up to sail past the gate between the buoy and a Royal Thai Navy vessel which was ceremonially kitted out and stationed just outside Kata bay.

After the proceedings the racing got underway in the small-sized divisions, leaving the bigger boats, including a super-fast yacht called "Flyfire", dubbed the "Formula One car", waiting for the wind to pick up.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation

Phuket