Ferret sails away with Coronation Cup in Pattaya
The Ferret helmed by Chris Way sailed away with the 2012 Coronation Cup at the Top of the Gulf Regatta in Pattaya this week but only after a count-back put them ahead of tied rivals Nataya, skippered by Rolf Heemskerk.
Tight battles were seen throughout the one-design fleet with Naiad, captained by Russel Ken, taking third place just two points ahead of Ian Short’s Short Time in fourth.
Having suffered on Day 2 after not making the start-line of the first race, HiFi under Neil Pryde returned to winning ways to take the IRC 1 Class by two points from 2011 Phuket King’s Cup winners Karasu, skippered by Yasuo Nanamori.
Despite finishing mid-fleet in the last three races, Dave Ross’s KukuKERchu finished third, ahead of Steve Manning’s Walawala 2 on count-back.
Local stalwart Magic, skippered by David Bell, lead from start to finish, dropping a second place (his worst score) to take the IRC 2 Class title from El Coyote, helmed by Gary Baguley in second and Brad Kirk’s Dynamite in third.
Wiwat Poonpat and his ever-consistent crew on Royal Thai Navy 1 scored three wins and two second places to take the IRC 3 Class crown. The Singapore SMU crew on Hi Jinks took second place ahead of Royal Thai Navy 2, skippered by Nattapol Srihirun.
A shortened IRC 4 Class saw Peter Herning and his crew on Kirifiki win four from four to clinch the title. In second place was San Sanook, skippered by Andrew Watt with Eric Habers on Reef Knot in third.
The trio of Shaw 650s in the Sports Boat Class showed their pedigree, taking three of the top four places in the Series. The all-yellow Crime Scene, skippered by Noel Leigh-Smith, won six from six to claim the honours. Kipsan Beck, helming the original Shaw 650 Porn Star, put in a consistent performance to secure second overall. The all pink sister-ship Hello Kitty, skippered by Miki Munchusa, missed out on third by half a point to Hong Kong entry Brace Brace Brace, skippered by Paul Murphy.
In the Ocean Multihull Class, the 26-foot Sweet Chariot, skippered by John Higham took the class win from Andrew Stransky on his 50-foot self-designed Fantasia. Free Wheeler, skippered by David Race, finished third.
