EFG Bank Mandrake earn series title with panache in Samui Regatta

The titles in the Multihull and IRC Zero were already sewn up the day before. Steady breezes at the start line belied what was to come. A storm rolled off the northern tip of Samui Island and out to the race area, delivering 30 knots and gusts, leaving a trail of tried sailors, breakages, shredded sails and a “man overboard”.

IRC Zero were first off. Despite winning the class the day before, Marcus Blackmore and crew on Hooligan were on the startline their, competitive nature undiminished. A blown spinnaker and woman overboard put paid to their race, adding a DNF to their six firsts.

The battle was for second and third places between HiFi (Neil Pryde) and Freefire (Sam Chan) who came into the final day on equal points, and after some close racing and screaming runs, HiFi came out on top winning the last race. Freefire was second ahead of Mui Mui (Frank Pong) in third.

 While Hooligan took their inaugural Samui Regatta title, the 90-foot Maxi Genuine Risk (Geoff Hill) was a sight to behold throughout the week. Despite being unable to compete with the 52-footers on handicap, the 24-man crew had a great time and took secured 10 line honours from 10 races. A new Regatta record.

Two races were schedule for IRC One and with only one point separating the top two. The race-track looked tricky. Foxy Lady 6 (Bill Bremner) needed to keep ahead of EFG Bank Mandrake (Nick Burns/ Fred Kinmonth) on the scoresheet to score the series win. In Race One, things didn’t go to plan. The building winds played into EFG Bank Mandrake’s hands who sailed flawlessly to finish third behind KukuKERchu (David Ross) and Walawala 2 (Steve Manning), and take the win ahead of Walawala 2. KukuKERchu took third. Foxy Lady 6 finished fifth and seriously dented its chances of a class title.

Pressure was building on Foxy Lady 6 who needed to finish four points or more ahead of EFG Bank Mandrake in the last race of the Series. KukuKERchu continued their fine form and finished the Regatta with line honours and a handicap win in the last race of the Series. Walawala 2 was second and Foxy Lady 6 improved to third.

However, for Foxy Lady 6 it was not enough. EFG Bank Mandrake’s fourth place in the final race was enough to earn them the Series title, two points clear of Foxy Lady 6 who had started the day one point ahead.

After retiring from Friday’s race in IRC Premier, Dynamite (Brad Kirk) was back on the course yesterday. El Coyote (Gary Baguley) revelled in the winds and enjoyed victory in Race One ahead of Moonblue 2 (Peter Churchouse) in second and Dynamite third. In the Race Two, the tables were turned with Moonblue 2 taking the win ahead of El Coyote in second, while Dynamite posted a DNC. At the end of the Series Moonblue 2 and El Coyote finished tied on nine points, with an equal number of firsts and seconds. Having placed first in the final race, Moonblue 2 take the Series win.

 The top three in IRC Two/ Bareboat were separated by just two points going into the final two races of the Series. Reef Knot (Stuart Collins) took to the front and lead through to the finish taking line honours and the win. Swedish entry Lennart Fahlgren with his Thai crew on Amanda finished second, and Abraxas (Greg Coops) third.

In the final race, only two made it to the start and Amanda kept close on the heels of Reef Knot, managing to secure the win. This wasn’t enough to knock Reef Knot off her perch who finished with nine points overall to take the Series title.

Andrew Stranksy and his crew on Fantasia had wrapped up the Multihull class title on Friday with three wins and an unbeatable scoreline, but nonetheless headed out for the last day of racing and put in a stellar performance to add another first to their collection in Race One. Despite being second to finish, Sweet Chariot (Henry Kaye) slipped to fourth leaving the door open for Crazy Horse (Kunta) to take second. All-Thai entry Cedar Swan (Radab Kanjanavit), who has blown four spinnakers this week, finished an impressive third. Three DNF’s and one broken mast in the race was testament to the strong winds.

 In the second race, only two made it to the startline, Fantasia and Crazy Horse, with Fantasia taking the final win of the Series. Crazy Horse finished second in the second race, and second overall.

The Asian Yachting Grand Prix Championship “Skipper of the Year” and “Yacht of the Year” prizes were presented to Neil Pryde and HiFi respectively.