The Yetsenga 4 Island Multihull Race and the Four Buoys Monohull Race will be held this Sunday, 13 February 2000, at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in South Pattaya.

Members of the RVYC and their invited guests are eligible, as are all classes recognized by the RVYC.

Briefing will be held at 10:00 a.m., the starting time for multihulls is 11:00, for monohulls 11:07 a.m. The race officer is Richard van den Heuvel.

Courses: Multihulls: start at RVYC flagpole, Koh Chun to port, south mark to starboard, around Koh Krok to port, Koh Sak to port, Koh Krok to port, south mark to port, finish at RVYC flagpole. Monohulls: two back-to-back trapezoids.

There is a 5 hour time limit for the long distance race, 90 minutes per trapezoid race. Handicap: Portsmouth Yard Stick. Scoring will be the low point scoring system.

Prizes include a trophy for the first lady crew on Hobie 16; monohulls & multihulls 1st, 2nd, 3rd (7 boats or more), 1st, 2nd (5 - 6 participants).

Another important difference is that physical exercise expends energy by tensing the muscles and accelerating the heart beat while Chi Gong works to ease, still and regulate breathing to store up or accumulate energy in the body.

Medical Chi Gong can be divided into two main categories: internal or endogenous Chi Gong (performed by the patients themselves) and external or exogenous Chi Gong (performed by a Chi Gong master to help treat diseases).

Today I will be only talking about internal medical Chi Gong, which requires regulation of the mind, body and respiration, among which regulation of the mind is crucial. There are many kinds of internal Chi Gong, some with motion and others without. In quiescent Chi Gong (without motion), adoption of a proper position is necessary. It can be practiced while sitting still, standing upright, or lying on the back or side. The basic requirement is to stay comfortable and relaxed.

The Chi Gong with motion is usually the combination of quiescent Chi Gong with physical exercise or self-massage. There are also many ways to regulate respiration. In most cases, breathing should be natural, deep, slow, long, fine and even, with inhalation through the nose and exhalation through the mouth. Yet, different patterns may be required for different purposes.

The key point of both practices is regulation of the mind, meaning to remove all thoughts and focus on a certain points of the body called ‘dantian” (elixir field). There are three elixir fields. Each has its own function: the lower one is located in the center of the abdomen about three inches below the umbilicus. The middle one is on the mid-line of the sternum between the nipples. The highest one is in the region between the eyebrows. For example, concentration on the highest elixir raises the blood pressure, while concentrating on the lowest point the blood pressure goes down. As the body relaxes, the mind concentrates on the elixir field and all other thoughts are erased, respiration becomes deeper and gradually decreases in frequency; decreased to four or five times per minute, the person falls into the so-called ‘Chi Gong state’.

Next time, I will list examples and explain the patterns of internal Chi Gong.

Classroom One is holding its 5th Annual Classroom Charity Classic Golf Tournament on Friday, 18th February, at Rayong Green Valley. This is a singles Stableford competition, but sign up as a Fourball because there will a special Team Prize for the highest team total.

The local golf tournaments in the past few months have filled up very quickly. Last year, the Classroom Charity Classic had 140 players. The reason is simple. It’s a great tournament and all proceeds go to the Banglamung Boys Orphanage. This year’s tournament should prove no exception, so hustle on down to one of the normal Pattaya golf venues and sign up. You are promised a great day of golf. You are also promised a fun party at Classroom afterwards, with prizes galore and delicious food.

PSC TAGGS... golf from the Hare House

The gentlemen from the Hare House held a stroke play competition at Green Valley on Wednesday the 2nd of February. There is nothing unusual about a net score of 69 winning a medal. There was, however, something very unusual about Englishman Darren Robson’s winning score. His 69 was the result of shooting under par off the sticks. Playing off two, Darren shot a gross 71 on a day when the tees were back and the wind was kicking up a fuss.

Perhaps Darren knew he was going to have a good day when he drove the green on the Par 4 second hole. This 332 yard dogleg left is reachable with the tee shot by even a mere mortal. But holding a two tiered green surrounded by bunkers is another thing altogether. Darren not only held the green; he made his eagle putt en route to a front nine score of 32 gross.

The second place medal went to Finland’s Hannu Kemilla with a 73 net. Back in May, after the President’s Bowl Eclectic, Hannu was playing off a 23 handicap. In eight months he has whittled his handicap down to eleven. On Wednesday he shot an 83 playing in the same foursome with Darren Robson and looks to be on his way to single digits.

Third place went to Vic Cross, who lost out the penultimate spot on the podium in a count back. Playing off 21, Vic shot a 94 that tied Hannu with a 73 net. Vic was in some pretty heady company with the other prize-winners. Michael Dige and Doug Campbell took fourth and fifth place and both play off six.

Fast greens at Sriracha may have explained the under average scores from the Bunker Boys.

At the infamous ‘Croc Par Three’, Tommy ‘5 Club’ Jeeves said, “Don’t think I can get over the croc pen so I will bounce the ball off that croc’s head,” and to the disbelief of Will, Bill and Roy, he hit the croc on the head, which made the croc jump about 2 feet in the air. The croc and the ball landed about one inch from each other, still inside the pen. Since the ball laid almost touching the croc teeth, Tommy was heard to say, “I think I will take a drop; let the Croc have the ball.”

The match play final was held in the same competition. The result was ‘another tie’. The players, Bert ‘Remy’ Guy and Keith ‘Dogged’ Fortt, will bump heads again at Green Valley on 8-2-2000. Keith was one up and one to go on the last but Remy denied Keith the win and made it all square.

Nearest pins: John Simons, Gordon McKnight, John Oke.