Oi! continues its domination
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Winds from eight to fifteen knots gave boats some long-course racing action off Phuket's southern coast on the second day of the 10th Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek yesterday.
First off the blocks were IRC Racing I with Oi!, helmed by Peter Ahern, taking the pin end of the line together with Wan Marang, which was helmed by Thai sailor and SEA Games gold medallist, Jaray Tipsuk.
Oi! took an early lead and never relinquished, going through to the finish to take line honours by 20 minutes, and the win on corrected time by five minutes. Katsu, skippered by Ben Copley, again finished second ahead of Wan Marang, which despite finishing third is improving race-by-race.
In Race 2, Oi! continued its winning ways, claiming victory by less than a minute on corrected time. Second place went to Wan Marang this time, with Katsu falling off the pace and finishing third. Wan Marang owner Kevin Whitcraft was not on the boat on Friday and his arrival yesterday seemed to have brought the best out of the crew.
In IRC Racing II consistency was the name of the game with the top three spots being filled by the same boats in both races. Fujin, helmed by Peter Sorensen, added two more wins to their two on Friday to take lead at the halfway point, while Stuart Williamson’s Skandia Endeavour of Whitby were happy with two second places. Phoenix, skippered by Neils Degenkolw, scored two third places. Less than 10 seconds separated second and third places in both races yesterday, ensuring all is to play for on the final two days.
In IRC Cruising, Irish entry Peter Wood’s Windstar stayed on top of the class, with a fine win of more than 10 minutes, ahead of two Aussie contenders, Mike Crisp’s Sail in Asia Venture and Rob Azzopardi’s Dreamtime, lying second and third, respectively.
In the long-distance race for the Firefly 850 Sport class, three boats were called OCS at the start, and over the race the lead changed many times with Twin Sharks, skippered by John Newnham, finally emerging a clear winner by seven minutes. Twin Sharks made it two-from-two with a narrow victory in the second race and sit at the top of the standings unbeaten.
Roger Kingdon’s Moto Inzi scored two second places while defending champion Voodoo and Dyer Straits shared the third place spoils in Race 1 and Race 2 respectively.
