In conditions pushing more than 40 knots of apparent wind on Chalong Bay, Bob Mott and Grenville Fordham and their crew on Niña, despite a late start, rounded Koh Lone in an hour flat to claim the double on corrected time.
Monohulls made the most of the strong winds to make a good start, with Bill Sax’s Fraser 41 Austraeus and Mig Wehrie’s Hunter 280 Aqua hitting the line at full tilt. Kirill Stashevskiy’s Stealth cat Galeforce and Tim Milner’s Summer series catamaran Seekronghuk with Mark Horwood at the helm right behind them.
Niña was 30 seconds off the pace, but soon made ground on the first leg and stayed the course with Galeforce in her sights for the rest of the course.
Brent McInnes and his crew on the Beneteau First 53 Overdrive, racing in the series but visiting from the nearby Phuket Cruising Yacht Club (PCYC) just south of the ACYC clubhouse, arrived at the start line 15 minutes late, but soon made up for it.
Taking a fast-track line along Koh Lone on the first leg, Overdrive found itself heaving in huge gusts. Undaunted but cautious, McInnes powered on to win the monohulls division race and claim first overall in the class Series I standings.
“We had 40 knots apparent a few times today during the ACYC club race,” McInnes later posted. “Overdrive was reefed down to 3rd reef and showing 11 knots [ground boat speed] on the GPS. I’m just happy nothing broke.”
The big push by Overdrive saw Aqua place second on the day and in the overall standings in Series I monohull results. Austraeus placed third in the race and in the overall standings.
Back at the clubhouse, the crew of David Liddell’s Stealth cat Wow received a round of applause for taking the new boat, just over a month in the water, out on the blustery bay, though understandably without risking any breakages ahead of two major regattas to come this month: the Multihull Solutions Regatta from July 9-13 and Phuket Raceweek from July 12-20.
Wow placed second overall in the multihull Series I standings, with Galeforce placing third.
For more information about the ACYC, to join the race series or to check out the sailing school or clubhouse facilities, visit ACYC.asia