Hooligan on the rampage at Samui Regatta

Shifting winds forced a delay to yesterday’s start but all classes eventually got underway and competition was tight. The IRC Zero boats’ first windward/leeward race of the day saw 90-foot Genuine Risk skippered by Geoff Hill take line honours. His five-minute lead in Race One wasn’t enough and Neil Pryde’s HiFi won on corrected time, one minute ahead of Hooligan, in second and Sam Chan’s Freefire in third.

Race Two saw Hooligan back to their winning ways with a clear win from HiFi in second and Freefire in third. Hooligan went on to win the third race and take a three-point lead in the series. Genuine Risk and HiFi were recalled after being over the line in Race Three, dropping HiFi to fourth. Freefire took advantage by finishing second and Mui Mui, skippered by Frank Pong, came third. A battle royale is developing between the top three as they play snakes and ladders and with three more days of racing, the title is there for the taking.

The IRC One class saw Singapore’s Foxy Lady 6 go one better than their best on Monday, scoring a win by a mere two seconds. EFG Bank Mandrake, skippered by Nick Burns/ Fred Kinmonth finished second ahead of Rick Pointon’s Jing Jing in third. David Ross and crew on KukuKERchu suffered damage and retired for the day.

Foxy Lady 6 continued her winning ways with a first in the second and final day’s race, to keep the pressure on series leaders EFG Bank Mandrake who were third behind Steve Manning’s Walawala 2.

The IRC Two/Bareboat class had Pattaya-based boat Reef Knot, skippered by Stuart Collins, come out on top in the first race. The predominantly Thai crew on Amanda, skippered by Lennart Fahlgren finished second with Greg Coops’ Abraxas in third.

Reef Knot made it two wins from two races, followed by Amanda and Abraxas in second and third respectively.

Hong Kong-based Moonblue 2, skippered by Peter Churchouse, suffered damage in transit and spent Day 1 at anchor making repairs. They made it to the start-line yesterday and revelled in the conditions to take first place in IRC Premier Race One from El Coyote, skippered by Gary Baguley. Brad Kirk’s Dynamite was third.

In the second race, Moonblue 2 lost out to Dynamite, which showed great crew work to take the win by over two minutes with El Coyote in third.

The multihull competitors are enjoying close racing and on Day 2 the series looked to be anyone’s for the taking. After a strong performance on Monday, beating Sweet Charriot for the daily double, Fantasia was outpaced in the first race by the Thailand-built twin-masted Crazy Horse, skippered by Kunta. Fantasia, skippered by Andrew Stransky placed second ahead of Radab Kanjanavit and his all Thai-crew on Cedar Swan in third. Sweet Charriot, skippered by Henry Kaye, found it hard going and finished seventh on corrected time.

Sweet Charriot rediscovered their form in the second race to finish second behind Fantasia with Crazy Horse in third.