Top experience

Top of the Gulf

The Top of the Gulf Regatta in Thailand provided good results and good times for Australian sailors, as Roger McMillan reports.

The Australian Government had a “do not travel” advice for Thailand in May because of political unrest, but it didn’t stop a large contingent of Australian sailors from making a pilgrimage to the Top of the Gulf regatta in Pattaya.

Leading the charge were CYCA members Ray Roberts and Matt Allen, who staged a battle for IRC handicap honours both on and off the water. When the gun went for the eighth and final race of the series, they were tied on points.

The close racing was consistent across all divisions except IRC 2, where the Royal Thai Navy won every race. In total 65 boats competed offshore while a huge squadron of Hobies, Lasers and over 100 Optimists were launched daily off the beach.

Mark goes missing

Sailing his TP52 Evolution Sails against Matt’s Beneteau 44.7 Ichi Ban, Ray Roberts always had the sheer boat speed to be first across the line. But because the Beneteau sails very well against her rating in the light winds usually experienced in the Gulf, the smaller boat took handicap honours over a windward/leeward course on the first day.

When the fleet set out on a longer passage race the next day, the drama began. It became “the mystery of the missing mark”.

Evolution Sails had cleared out from the fleet as expected, but when they reached the point where the first mark should have been, there was no mark and no judge’s boat. After some frenzied discussion between navigator and skipper, it was decided that they had sailed to the correct point and would turn and sail back.

The following boats, of course, had the same problem and those with accurate GPS were able to turn at the right spot, but others sailed quite some distance further than necessary.

On their return to race headquarters, protests were flying in all directions. The regatta organisers had assembled a high-powered jury which included Rear Admiral Prasart Sribhadung of the Royal Thai Navy and America’s Cup jury members Graham McKenzie of New Zealand and Bryan Willis of Great Britain and it was suddenly no tropical holiday for the esteemed members.

Skippers compared notes, Michael Spies did complicated mathematical calculations in his head and Matt Allen submitted that had Ichi Ban not sailed further than necessary, the time difference would have been negated and he could well have won the race.

The mystery was finally solved - it was simple mis-communication between English and European race officials. The English official wrote the position’s GPS co-ordinates using an English 7, without the cross that Europeans place across the tail of that number. To the European, a seven sitting on a line looked like a 2. He took the mark to a totally different co-ordinate.

After much deliberation, it was decided that the race would be declared null and void and would be re-sailed as race eight, if required, on the final day.

When Evolution Sails won the next three races, it looked as though no re-run would be needed. But Ichi Ban fought back on the final day and won the first two races, leaving both boats locked on nine points.

So the passage race was re-sailed, Evolution Sails pulled away in the stronger winds and took the title. But it had been an engrossing battle between the two Australian boats.

Platu to Duncanson

The Platu is a Bruce Farr designed 25ft keelboat that is Asia’s equivalent of the J24 in Australia. This was the biggest keelboat division at the regatta with 13 entries and as in the IRC, the first two boats were equal going into the last race after another jury decision.

Rolf Heemskirk, sailing The Fox, was protested in race six under rule 10. According to the jury report, sailing on port tack he almost managed to cross in front of Jellyfish, but tacked very close to the lee bow, forcing Jellyfish to luff and tack to avoid contact, which in turn caused Stingray to luff and tack. The Fox was therefore disqualified.

In the penultimate race, ex-pat Australian, Scott Duncanson (son of legendary South Australian designer John Duncanson), had a poor start in The Ferret but fought back to finish second, less than a metre behind The Fox. This put the boats on equal points going into the last race.

By “sailing conservatively and basically just sailing our own race”, Duncanson was able to win by a comfortable margin to take out the Platu Cup by a single point. Another Australian, Cris Way, sailing Magic Dragon was fourth after an OCS in the sixth race cost him any chance of a podium finish.

United Nations

In search of a “human interest” story, I spent the third day of the regatta on board the Bavaria 39 Reef Knot which was competing in the cruising division. The crew was made up of three instructors from Gulf Charters, the local sailing school, and five “students” who were doing a Day Skipper course.

It was a veritable United Nations – literally. Captain Tim McMahon is an American, helmsman John Magel is a Canadian and the other instructor, mastman John Stubbs is a Pom. The bowman was Frenchman Guillaume Broither while ex-pat Aussie Warren Buttery trimmed the headsails and “the quiet American” Brandon Christiano trimmed the main.

That left “the odd couple”, Kiwi Jim Feurguson (trimmer) and Aussie Ian Hays (pit). These two actually work for the United Nations, installing diesel generators for water supplies in central Africa. Their constant Aussie v Kiwi banter kept us all entertained during light airs drifting.

Reef Knot’s sailing record emphasised the value of regattas to build teamwork among a racing crew. When a crew goes racing only once a week, it’s easy to forget the lessons of the previous week. But when they sail five races in four days, they learn quickly, especially when they’re being well-coached as this
crew was.

They started the regatta with a fifth and sixth in the 12 boat fleet. I sailed with them in race three which was a drifter, and although we just sneaked across the line before the time limit expired, we managed to be second on handicap.

Going into the last race, the boat was tied for fourth and needing to use all the crew’s new skills to leap into the places. They sailed a great race and were fourth across the line, not knowing where that placed them on handicap. While Tim and the students retired to a meeting room to sit their final bareboat skippers exam, the two Johns prowled the dockside waiting for the results.

Cruising division was the last result to be posted, but it was worth the wait. They had scored a handicap win in the final race, and had taken second overall on a countback. Practice does make perfect.

Free beer

There is plenty to like about the Top of the Gulf regatta, not least the free beer, wine, rum, Thai food and ice cream that was served on the lawn of the Marina Resort every evening after racing.

The regatta is organised by the Ocean Marina Yacht Club at the resort, and every facility is centrally located. The resort overlooks the marina, there is a well-stocked chandlery and other yacht services on the site, along with bars and restaurants, so unless you want to explore the doubtful pleasures of the Pattaya entertainment district, there’s really no need to leave the grounds.

While the missing mark was a little embarrassing, the organisation of the event was generally extremely good. Bill Gasson, Scott Finsten (ex CYCA dockmaster who is well-known to Sydney-Hobart crews) and their teams were very quick to help anyone who had a query or suggestion, and my feeling is that this regatta will grow very rapidly as word spreads about the beautiful sailing area, the great onshore facilities and the superb value-for-money that Thailand offers.

Opportunities for Australians wanting to take part include bringing their yachts up (as Ray Roberts and Matt Allen did), chartering a local boat, chartering a Platu (perhaps an Aussie J24 v Thai Platu teams race could be organised) or just volunteering to crew via the website at www.topofthegulfregatta.com.

It’s a top experience, well worth putting on the list.

Result

IRC1: 1. Evolution Sails (Ray Roberts) 8; 2. Ichi Ban (Matt Allen) 9; 3. Tantrum (Robert van Paridon) 20.

IRC2: 1. Royal Thai Navy (Damrong Sirisakorn) 6; 2. Coyote (Gary Bagulay) 15; 3. Dynamite (Brad Kirk) 19.

Cruising: 1. Melissa (Tetsuo Ongino) 10; 2. Reef Knot (Tim McMahon) 13; 3. Kirafiki (Peter Herning) 13.

Platu: 1. The Ferret (Scott Duncanson) 18; 2. The Fox (Rolf Heemskirk) 19; 3. Naiad (Wiwat) 27.

Ocean Multihull: 1. Thor (Henry Kaye) 11; 2. Blade Runner V (Bob Garner) 19.5; 3. Sonic (Kirati Assakul) 20.

Sportsboats: 1. Porn Star (Kipsan Beck) 6; 2. Vino (Ray Waldron) 12.