Nothing but blue skies... and good wind, on Day 2 of The Bay Regatta 2017
Participants in the 20th The Bay Regatta continued to enjoy great sailing weather as the “party that sails around” continued to do just that. The Day 2 course was a 24 nautical mile passage from Koh Yao Noi across the Bay (Phang Nga Bay) finishing off Railay Beach where sailors anchored for the night.
In the the Racing Class results were a carbon copy of Thursday with the Russian skippered Megazip adding a second win to their tally and now hold a two point lead over Gary Baguley’s Fujin.
By easily winning the Cruising A Class today, Garry Smith’s Baby Tonga jumps into first place overall with three points, while Hellmut Schutte's Aquavit 6 second place on Friday puts them in second place overall.
Third place on the day was Gavin Wellman’s Rascal. Thursday's winner was forced to retire from the race, registering a DNF, but Tintin hopes to be back on the race course again Saturday.
In Cruising B Class Canadian Jim “Yee Haw” Ellis’s Remington continued their winning ways with a second win for them in the series while the Gillow-skippered Poco had to settle for third today behind Piccolo, skippered by Robert Camera.
There as on change in the Bareboat Class as Kinnon skippered by Stanislav Pechenkin finished ahead of Alan Bower on All Sail Asia in second, and All Sail Venus Hunter, skippered by Russel Waddy, finished third.
The Bay Regatta takes sailors through the three provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi allowing participants to experience the best of southern Thai hospitality and the unrivalled sailing grounds in the area, sailing amongst 200-metre high karsts and past hidden bays on their way to a party under-the-stars on an idyllic beach.
In the deep channels between the spectacular, vertical rock walls, The Bay Regatta’s philosophy of fun-amidst-beauty shines through for all to see. The hallmark of this event is a casual, fun-filled atmosphere. Many friends join together to sail the four-day event and while the sailing is serious for many racing class yachts, a large number of cruisers join for the experience of sailing through some of the world’s most amazing maritime scenery.
Fergus Wilmer’s Thor claimed line honours again in the Multihull Racing Class, blasting off as if shot out from a cannon and never slowing down. However, after corrected time they had to settle for second place behind John Newnham’s Twin Sharks. Thor still leads the class with three points while Twin Sharks moved into second overall ahead of Alan Cawardine’s Asia Catamarans Hurricane who finished third on the day.
Multihull Cruising saw Sergei Dikanov’s Fenix and Aussie Rick Fielding’s Mojo swap first-and-second place finishes from Thursday leaving them tied on the leaderboard with three points. The Chinese Sanya Yomovo sailing team on DaVinci, with the help of Libby Boyd, repeated their third-place finish of Thursday and that’s where they sit in the standings. After missing out Thursday, Graham Tucky’s Optoloi II competed the race today and finished fourth overall while Hugh Thompson’s Sahm Loy did not start for the second straight day.
Racing continues on Saturday.
