The 20th Phuket King's Cup Regatta, one of Asia's most spectacular races, came close to a perfect conclusion only for unpredictable winds to sour the final race yesterday.

It would have been a fitting finale for the continent's most prestigious sailing event had the wind remained as strong as in the penultimate day, when each boat showed off what it was capable of under good conditions.

The start of the final race was postponed twice due to light wind. After almost an hour of waiting, things seemed to go in favour of the sailors as the wind picked up significantly and the contest got under way, raising hopes of an exciting end to the annual competition, which began in 1987.

Just as the race looked bound for another pulsating round, the wind suddenly died down, causing many yachts to be stagnant.

The situation was not improved for the rest of the race as the wind still came intermittently, leaving competitors struggling to finish the round.

There was a big upset in the top-flight event, Racing 1 Class, where British sailor Toby O'Connell on Dhevatara Drumstick came from behind to win with 21 penalty points, leaving two pace setters - Neil Pryde of New Zealand on his new boat Hi Fi and Irishman Paul Winkelmann, who skippered Island Fling - in his wake.

However, there was no surprise in the division of super-fast boats called Firefly, as leader Marc Cudennec of France on Chi Machine cruised to victory with 10 penalty points despite finishing a lowly sixth in the final race.

Despite facing torrid moments on the final day, Lieutenant Peera Sakultem, who captained the Royal Thai Navy boat, kept the Thai flag flying high after crossing the line first for the third time to seal the overall title in the IRC 2 division.

"Today we faced another difficult round, as the wind made our life miserable throughout the race," said Peera, who steered his boat to win the title for the second consecutive time.

"We got off to a good start before the breeze dropped significantly at some stages. At the second turn, we conceded the lead to our main rival, Master Blaster, who took advantage of his bigger boat. Knowing that we were no match for them with our speed, we tried to stay as close as we could to gain the upper hand in time calculation," added Peera, who finished second but was declared first after the calculation.

Peera felt that it was imperative for him to retain the title in this auspicious year of the event, when it celebrates its 20th anniversary while the regatta's patron His Majesty the King celebrated the 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne.

After making a splash in the early phase of the Multihull class, well-known Thai sailor Radab Kanjanavanit on Cedar Swan failed to maintain his challenge, ending up a disappointing fourth with 14 penalty points.

The final overall results

Racing 1: 1 Toby O'Connell (Dhevatara Drumstick); 2 Neil Pryde (Hi Fi); 3 Paul Winkelmann (Island Fling).

Racing 2: 1 Peter Dyer (Madam Butterfly); 2 Niels Dgenkolf (Phoenix); 3 Jonathan Mahony (Happy Endings).

Coutts Premier: 1 Geoff Hill (Strewth); 2 Peter Churchhouse (Moon Blue II); 3 Andrew Richards (Moon Blue).

IRC 1: 1 Ryuji Nakata (Rhythm Stick); 2 Jaray Tipsuk (Octopussy); 3 Peter Wintle (Sita)

IRC 2: 1 Lt Peera Sakultem (Royal Thai Navy); 2 Andrey Novoderezhkin (Master Blaster); 3 Rob Taylor (Minx).

Firefly 850 Sport: 1 Marc Cudennec (Chi Machine); 2 Bill Phelps (Twin Sharks); 3 Roger Kingdon (Moto Inzi).

Multihull Racing: 1 Philip Day (The Sting); 2 Tim Milner (Seekronghuk); 3 Benoit Lasaffre (Atmosphere).

Sunsail One Design: 1 Antonio Escribano (Princess Athena); 2 Keith Harding (Princess Isabella); 3 Robert Yeltes (Princess Christina).

Bareboat Charter: 1 D Maddern/Keith Blankly (Bintang); 2 Theodore Bakker (Intan); 3 Naoki Kato (Fidgi)

Classic: 1 Tim Wilson (Cordelia); 2 Brendon Baumeister (Argo); 3 Roger Brett (Kiara).

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation

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