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The regatta is about to sail for the ninth
time. Inaugu-rated in 1995 to celebrate the 60th birthday of PattayaMail
special correspondent and long-time yachting
scribe Peter Cummins (the PC in the title), the regatta, from its humble
beginnings, has now become one of Thailand’s best marine-related activities.
This year, upwards of 80 craft are expected to take part in
the event, to be sailed out of the Royal Cliff foreshore in South Pattaya. A
large flotilla of boats from the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, the Royal Thai Navy
clubs at Sattahip and various windsurfing locations along the Eastern Seaboard
are expected to take part.
An array of yachts from the tiny Optimist dinghies to the
mighty Nacras and Platu keelboats will make a marvellous, colourful sight. The
organizers, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, are planning a course set close
in-shore as a visual treat to the hundreds of spectators who, each year, crowd
the Royal Cliff seafront to watch the action.
If the southwesterly continues, as it has done for several
weeks leading up to the regatta, it is going to be a memorable day. The Royal
Cliff cordially invites anyone who would like to enjoy the spectacle, which will
start off the hotel at around 13.00 hour (see programme on page 3).
There will be a number of winners in the various classes but,
undoubtedly, the overall winner is going to be Pattaya and an ever-improving
image of our fair city-by-the-sea, projected internationally via the published
and visual news reports.
The very generous sponsorship this year is reported
throughout this brochure and their contributions have allowed the regatta to
even upgrade the high standards already set in earlier events. Any funding
remaining after all expenses have been met will be donated to a charity for
children, to be further notified.
It could be said that the quality of an event is a direct
reflection of the level of the sponsorship; or does the quality of the
sponsorship dictate the level of the event? The forthcoming Pattaya Mail PC
Classic Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta has continued to
improve in both size and quality over the years since it was first established
in March 1995, and this, certainly, is a direct outcome of the great
sponsorship, which this year has reached new heights.
Among these illustrious supporters whose contributions greatly benefit
Pattaya-Jomtien, the Eastern Seaboard as a whole and Thailand, generally are
Copeland Corporation, a division of Emerson Electric (Thailand), Bartercard
Thailand, Carlsberg Beer, Coca Cola, Ambrose Wine Limited, LCB Container
Terminal 1 Ltd., Rieckermann Thai Engineering Co. Ltd., Jomtien Boathouse,
Pattaya City, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club and the
Tourism Authority of Thailand, always a great advocate of sports, especially
those which are marine-related.
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Message From
H.E. Sontaya Khunpluem
Minister of Tourism and Sports
With my
portfolio as Minister of Tourism and Sports, I am delighted to support the
Pattaya Mail PC Classic Royal Beach Resort International Regatta which will be
held off the world-class resort on Saturday, 29th of March, 2003. The marriage
of Tourism and Sports is an ideal combination and, especially in the beautiful
waters of the Northern Gulf, the sailing of a yacht race close in to Pattaya's
shores, makes a marvelous spectacle, beneficial to both tourism and sports. I
know that Thailand has become a great focus of marine sports, with major
regattas held on the eastern and western coasts, as well as the huge annual
event dedicated to H.M. the King of Thailand - a gold- medal winning helmsman -
held for the past 16 years over his birthday week in December in Phuket. This
ninth sailing of the Pattaya Mail PC Classic promises to be one of the biggest,
with an international fleet of competitors coming from overseas, the Royal
Varuna Yacht Club, located in the bay contiguous to the Royal Cliff and sailors
from the Royal Thai Navy base at Sattahip. The annual regatta is a fine
example of co-operation of the principals behind the event: a collaboration
between the major sponsors, the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, acknowledged as Asia's
best resort hotel, the Pattaya Mail, voted the best English-language
newspaper on the Eastern Seaboard for the past four years, the Royal Varuna
Yacht Club, of which His Majesty the King is the Royal patron, the Royal Thai
Navy, the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand and, of course, our own Tourism
Authority of Thailand. It is well known that Khun Panga Vathankul, Managing
Director of the Royal Cliff, is entirely dedicated to seeing a family-oriented
Pattaya becoming a haven for all kinds of marine sports, held on and around a
rejuvenated Gulf. The Pattaya Mail, too, has been in the forefront of
creating a new image of Pattaya. Such an international yacht race as this,
greatly contributes to enhancing Pattaya's image, not only as a most desirable
sailing venue, but also, through the extensive press and media coverage of the
event, adds greatly to the resort city's attraction as a tourist venue. In
closing, I would add that the Pattaya Mail PC Classic represents the
epitome of the ideal synergy between tourism and sports. I wish the 2003 regatta
every success and look forward to the outcome.
H.E. Sontaya Khunpluem
Minister of Tourism and Sports
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Message From
H.E. Sawarng Srisarkun
Governor of Chonburi
In my capacity as Governor of
Chonburi Province, I am happy to support such a great event as the annual
Pattaya Mail PC Classic Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta. Since
its inauguration in 1995, the regatta has grown from a small fleet of
dinghies, racing off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, to this year when it is
anticipated there will be a large international fleet, sailing close inshore
off the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. Rated by the travel and tourism industry, as
one of the world’s best resort hotels, with its concomitant Pattaya
Exhibition and Conference Centre (PEACH) which has also won numerous awards
and citations of excellence, the Royal Cliff has attracted many tourists and
brought many conventions to Pattaya, benefiting the city, and by extension,
the Province of Chonburi and Thailand as a whole. Now supporting this
international yacht-racing event, the Royal Cliff’s sponsorship is
attracting the type of tourist who comes to take advantage of the superb
marine activity ambience for which Pattaya is justly famous. All forms of
marine-related activities are most welcome to our Province, especially yacht
racing and cruising, windsurfing and similar pursuits which use only the wind
and leave no pollution to mark the activities. Quite the contrary, in fact any
form of activity which utilizes only natural or renewable resources and which
offers the beauty and spectator appeal of sailing, can only enhance the appeal
of Pattaya to a broad section of our people and the large number of visitors
who come to our shores for this special regatta. I wish every success to the
organizers and regatta managers, the sponsors and, not least, the big
contingent of sailors themselves and I pledge the enthusiastic support of the
office of the Governor of Chonburi Province, to ensure a safe, exciting and
memorable day - an event which will bring great credit to Pattaya and fond
memories of our fair city by the sea to those who depart for other climes,
when it is all over.
H.E. Sawarng Srisarkun
Governor of Chonburi |
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Message From
Mrs.
Juthamas Siriwan
Governor Tourism
Authority of Thailand
Tourism has been
one of Thailand’s biggest earners of foreign currency, since
the “boom” years precipitated by “Visit Thailand Year
1987”.
Thailand is a
most sought-after destination, considered by the tourism
industry worldwide as a safe place to visit with rich and
diverse cultural background.
Pattaya,
particularly, with a good year-round climate, warm waters and,
now a much cleaner environment, is still a favourite resort,
especially during the long winter months of the Northern
Hemisphere.
The forthcoming Pattaya
Mail PC Classic Royal Cliff Beach Resort International Regatta,
to be held in March, makes a great contribution to Pattaya, not
only in the influx of visitors who come to participate, but also
in promoting the resort to a large audience around the world.
The tourism Authority of Thailand has always supported
marine-related activities such as the world-famous Phuket
King’s Cup Regatta, held each year to honour His Majesty the
King, himself a Gold-Medal winning helmsman.
Now, we are most happy to support
this Regatta which will bring in men and women from some 15
countries to compete on the waters off the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort, presenting a clean, colourful spectacle for all who
attend and for the media and press which will be promoting a new
image of Pattaya and the environs.
Mrs. Juthamas Siriwan
Governor Tourism Authority of Thailand
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Message From
Pairat Suttithamrongsawat
Mayor of Pattaya City
In my years as Mayor of
Pattaya City, I have implemented many changes and have seen Pattaya
develop from a rather small tourist resort to what we have today - an
international sea-side resort city, burgeoning with some of the
world's best hotels, conference facilities and, equally-importantly -
from a tourism perspective - unquestionably the region's best sports
facilities - especially for marine-related pursuits. That is the
reason that the Office of the Mayor has consistently supported this
great international regatta, sponsored principally by the Royal Cliff
Beach Resort, the Pattaya Mail newspaper and managed by the
Royal Varuna Yacht Club. The road to the present has not been easy and
Pattaya has suffered from over-development - especially during the
1980s and 1990s - with the concomitant problems of pollution and
damage to the environment. We, at the City Office, have worked hard to
improve, beautify and generally make our city a human-friendly and
family-oriented resort. A major step forward has been the installation
of the massive wastewater treatment plant as a result of which the
waters of Pattaya Bay and the contiguous coastal areas, have now been
declared "fit for swimming". It is with justifiable pride
that I single out the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Managing Director
Panga Vathankul and General Manager Andrew Wood who have vigorously
pursued a campaign for a cleaner, greener Pattaya and supporting the
Regatta is just one manifestation of environment-friendly activities.
The Pattaya Mail, too, has been a constant 'watch-dog' of the
state of the city and its environs while the Royal Varuna Yacht Club,
the Kingdom's biggest and most active, has year-round local, regional
and international regattas all of which create a favourable image of
our city in the press. The Regatta now reaching its ninth sailing, is
a truly spectacular event which brings the most-colourful fleets
close-in to the big spectator group assembled on the Royal Cliff
foreshore, to watch the action, while the Royal Cliff Catamaran, -
appropriately named "Island Dream" - bedecked in the flags
of the nations competing, is anchored just off-shore, serving as the
race nerve-centre and a close-up viewing platform for the major
regatta sponsors. We are also pleased that the press and media
covering the action send a positive image of our city - not only to
local and regional media, but also worldwide to tourism outlets, via
TV. The office of the Mayor of Pattaya fully supports this event from
all viewpoints, particularly that of safety and security of all
concerned.
Pairat
Suttithamrongsawat
Mayor of Pattaya City
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Beach Activity: All
Welcome
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14.00 hrs:
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Racing starts off the Royal Wing
& Spa
Dress: Shorts and T-shirts. Sun cream and
sun glasses! Spectators and sponsors will
have a commentary on the beach and
complimentary cold beers and snacks available
throughout the day.
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15.30 hrs:
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Marching band will greet the sailors on shore
at the end of the race. Drinks and snacks on
the beach.
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17.00 hrs:
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End of Beach activity.
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Gala Dinner:
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Tickets available at Royal Varuna Yacht Club
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19.00 hrs:
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Pre-dinner cocktails:
Lobby of the Siam Ballroom Royal Cliff Beach Resort
Dress: Smart Casual.
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19.30 hrs:
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Prize presentations of PC Classic Trophies.
Siam Ballroom Royal Cliff Beach Resort
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20.00 hrs:
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Start of dinner, dancing, and other festivities.
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23.00 hrs:
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(approx.): End of dinner
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Copeland Corporation, a division of Emerson Electric
(Thailand) is the world’s leading compressor manufacturer, supporting the
air-conditioning and refrigeration industry with advanced technology,
technical support and training services. Its products including Copeland
ScrollTM, reciprocating and
semi-hermetic compressors and condensing units are chosen by virtually all
major equipment manufacturers.
Copeland is strategically focused on expanding its
manufacturing, engineering, and sales and marketing capabilities in Asia to
support Asian customers with the leading global technology and the best
local service. Copeland Asia-Pacific is a full service, fully capable entity
with 5 manufacturing facilities in Asia, 14 sales offices and over 2,000
people. In Thailand, our customers are best supported with our strong team
of sales and engineering support in Bangkok and operations in Rayong.
The factory in Rayong, ideally located in the heart of
the Eastern Seaboard’s massive Industrial Estates complex, represents over
$65 million in investment, occupying 250,000 sq. ft. of floor space.
Copeland produces scroll compressors and serves air conditioning system
manufacturers across Asia, Europe and the United States. The Rayong facility
is one of Copeland’s best factories.
Since starting production in 1996, it has produced over
two million scroll compressors and has passed the five millionth hour of
operations without a single lost-time incident. It has achieved ISO9002 and
ISO14001 accreditation.
According to Bruce Hoppe, managing director of Copeland,
Emerson Electric (Thailand) Ltd., “Exceeding our customers’ expectations
has always been a driving force for Copeland,” he said recently. “Our
goal for Thailand is to become a service factory for our customers. We will
not only provide compressors, but also the best, most responsive local
service and support,” the GM promised. “Our factories are built for you
- our customers - and they are at your service.”
“We are rapidly expanding our presence in Asia,” the
GM noted, “and our current $US400 million investment programme includes
plants in Suzhou, Shenyang and Wai Gao Qiao in China, Atit Karad and Karad
in India and, now Rayong in Thailand.”
Finally, “We intend to provide Leading Global
Technology with the Best Local Service,” Bruce added.
St. Louis-based Emerson is a global leader in providing
customers with innovative technologies and solutions in five business
segments: industrial automation; process control; heating, ventilating and
air conditioning; electronics and telecommunications; and appliance and
tools. Sales in fiscal 2002 were $13.8 billion. Emerson Climate TechnologiesTM
includes industry-leading brands such as Alco, Browning, Copeland Scroll,
Emerson Motors, Emerson Ceiling Fans, Therm-o-Disc and White-Rodgers.
Another first-time sponsor is Bartercard, founded in
Australia in 1991 and is, according to Graham Brain, the managing director
of Bartercard (Thailand) “the world’s largest and fastest growing retail
barter exchange organization, with a turnover of $A610 million (1999
estimates).”
Bartercard’s only sally into Pattaya is the annual Tuk
Tuk (samlor) Rally - a driving ‘marathon’. Bartercard now has 51
franchised offices in Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Lebanon,
Malaysia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, with reciprocal trading rights
word-wide. Operations commenced in Thailand in March 1999 and, by the end of
2000, counted more than 6000 members.
“Bartercard,” Graham pointed out, “acts as a third
party record-keeper, utilizing credit units called ‘Trade Baht’ to
monitor the value of transactions.”
Members are issued with a card and trade among themselves
through a computerized barter system. “Members gain new business and are
able to conserve cash by operating with an interest-free line of credit,
leading to expanded business locally, nationally and even
internationally,” Graham concluded.
Mr Kriengsak Saengthong, director of Bartercard
(Thailand) Ltd., considers the Bartercard system to be very apt for the
present situation in Thailand and strongly believes that this type of
business can go a long way towards alleviating the crisis, especially among
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“Barter is the system whereby goods and services are
exchanged, with no money involved,” noted Mr Kriengsak. “Bartercard can
help in introducing a given product to all other Bartercard members. In
exchange, the business will receive ‘Trade Baht’ which can then be used
to exchange foe goods and services offered by other member companies,” the
director added.
Another first-time sponsor is LCB, located at Terminal
B1, Laem Chabang Port and Anil Singh, the general manager also subscribes to
Copeland’s client-oriented philosophy: “Our clients are Number One,”
Anil announces on the LCB1 web-site. “In operating this terminal,” he
continues, “LCB1 endeavours to provide our valued customers a first-class
handling facility in Laem Chabang, with a quest to be the best in Thailand.
We believe in excellence through innovation and will pursue this goal to the
entire satisfaction of our customers,” Anil adds.
LCB1 commenced operations in 1995. By the year 2000, a
container throughput of 447.831 TEUs was recorded with 411 vessel movements.
Vessel operations, yard management, gate transaction, documentation and all
other container handling services are provided 24 hours a day.
The new E-terminal facility keeps customers always
connected to their needs right from their own office, via the internet.
Maersk Sealand, the Mediterranean Shipping Company, Heung-A and Kien Hung
Lines are all satisfied clients of LCB1. No doubt, the average Gross Crane
Productivity of 30 containers an hour and a Gross Vessel Productivity of 100
containers per hour keeps them happy with the services.
Finally, in terms of the PC Classic and Pattaya
itself, the LCB1 stress on occupational health and safety and the
conservation of the environment are most appropriate and, as Anil says,
“they are an integral part of our work culture”.
LCB1 has been ranked as the “Best terminal in South
East Asia” for the Mediterranean Shipping Company, in a comparison of six
major ports in the region, including the huge facilities of Hong Kong,
Shanghai and Singapore.
Another company that places great emphasis on
preservation of Nature and the protection of the environment is the Ambrose
Wine Limited, which is supporting the PC Classic for the second year.
Established in 1996 as an outgrowth from Seagram Thailand, Ambrose is a
specialist wine company owned by the Techapaibul family, with Chawalit as
the executive chairman. When studying at the University of California Los
Angeles, Chawalit became totally enamoured of viniculture and the wine trade
and in 1984 started a wine-importing business.
Marketing Manager Wisan Pijitbandan joined Ambrose from a
long career with such marketing giants as Nivea and Colgate-Palmolive. Wisan
directs regional sales through exclusive agents who provide local inventory,
delivery, sales and marketing support around Thailand’s provinces,
particularly Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Koh Samui and, more recently, Phuket.
Managing Director Ron Batori has many years’ experience
among various Californian and European vintners. In 1992, he came to
Thailand as a wine consultant and one of his projects, the wine cellar at
Mom Tri’s Boathouse, Phuket, has been cited for many successive years in
the authoritative “Wine Spectator”, as the award-winning cellar of
“excellence for best wine list”.
Joining Ambrose in 1996, Ron has overseen the development
of the company during the “boom years” and then a drastic fall from 1997
on, fuelled by government taxes and “the privately-sponsored torrential
anti-wine in television commercials, print advertising and posters from
February to October, 1998”.
To attempt to counter-balance the adversity, Ron has
promoted long-term and short-term strategies. The former relies on producers
who also take a long-term view when a “better price for their superior
products will again become a consumer criterion”.
The latter involves the creation of a unique wine for the
unique Thai market, using a number of sources to produce wines according to
three basic criteria: price, quality and image.
Marketing should aim at convincing whisky drinkers to
switch to wine: “It is better for your health and better for your
lifestyle,” says the wine expert. No doubt, the Royal Varuna sailors at
the PC Classic would agree.
There are very few sporting events where the Coca Cola
logo is not prominent and the PC Classic will welcome the trademark red
marquee for the third year.
It is also most satisfying to the organizers,
participants, co-sponsors and the viewing public, that this regatta could be
known as the “environmentalists’ dream”. Every sponsor is concerned
about the world we now live in and, thus, it is understandable that yacht
racing is a high priority.
The Coca Cola Company holds to its global philosophy that
“responsible stewardship of the environment is a top priority ... “for,
by preserving and enhancing our natural world, we brighten the future for
our planet and for each other. We put this principle into practice through
our Environmental Management System, known as the KO system. We operate our
business with a commitment to move continually towards sustainability:
striving to consume fewer natural resources and to recover and reuse them
whenever feasible.”
These tenets are sacred to every sailor who relies solely
on Nature and the natural world of wind, wave and tide, to move along, as
will be evident during the PC Classic Regatta.
Coca Cola has been around for more than a century and the
management, at the dawn of the New Millennium, looks back on the company’s
“track record”, made viable by the “vision, foresight and courage”
of the pioneers. “Our leaders,” says the company, “were able to
innovate and adapt the mechanics of our business to allow us to thrive
within the conditions of each particular day.”
Now, in the first decade of this century, the company
sees a new environment, influenced by a basic shift in international
economic dynamics, the massive influence of technology and the peoples’
constantly rising expectations of large corporations.
History Products of the Coca Cola Company were first
introduced into Thailand in 1949 and now include such brands as Fanta,
Sprite, Schweppes Manao Soda and Namthip.
With a work force of some 9,000 in the Kingdom, Coca Cola
is a strong believer in the strength of the community, strongly advocating
and supporting education, because it expands the individual’s
opportunities, thus helping to improve the quality of life.
Multihull in contention off
the Royal Cliff Beach Resort (Photo by Brendan Richards)
Apart from yacht racing, youth development programmes
such as the “Coke Cup” which is a nation-wide football tournament,
played under the aegis of the Football Association of Thailand and the
Physical Education Department. This also has a component to train coaches.
Other community development projects include the “Coke
Music Hurricane” taking music education into schools and colleges and the
“Fanta Young Ambassador” which, in co-operation with the National Youth
Bureau, sends young people on cultural exchange visits abroad.
Since it became available in Thailand several years ago,
Carlsberg has been a constant patron of many sports, including yachting,
tennis, soccer and golf.
The company’s consistent support of the Pattaya Mail
PC Classic has been highly appreciated by the sailors, race management
team, supporters and spectators who assemble around the welcoming green
Carlsberg tent erected at the Royal Cliff foreshore.
Again this year, the Carlsberg logo bidding the sailors
welcome ashore, is a little like the Lorelei, but unlike the siren of German
legend luring sailors to their death, Carlsberg lures the tired, thirsty
fleet to the Royal Cliff shore, to drink their fill and celebrate life!
As the other sponsors, Carlsberg, too, is intent upon
environmental preservation. As a recent public relations publication
emphasized, in a section on Society and Environment: More than Brewing Beer.
“At Carlsberg, we believe that there is more to running a brewery than
JUST brewing beer. We are committed to using environmentally friendly
production methods and to supporting the responsibility of our products,
spelled out in the Carlsberg Creed:
- Carlsberg recognizes its responsibility in protection
of the environment wherever we operate;
- Carlsberg will seek to meet the needs of all involved
in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner, through continuous
improvement in environmental performance;
- Carlsberg will systematically endeavour to minimize
adverse effects on the environment and optimise the use of natural
resources.
The Carlsberg Code is the answer to a sailor’s prayer.
I’ll drink to that.
With a name like the Jomtien Boathouse Hotel, Wine and
Grill, and one of the driving forces behind it being a sea captain, it
should come as no surprise that this establishment is an enthusiastic
sponsor of Pattaya’s premier yachting event, the PC Classic.
The Jomtien Boathouse may be next to a boatyard, but in
actual fact it is a small luxurious boutique hotel, with 24 rooms, located
right on Jomtien Beach Road, overlooking the beach. The principals behind it
are Kannikar and Ib Ottesen (sorry, Captain Ib Ottesen), probably better
known to the folk of Pattaya for their other nautical project, the
Captain’s Corner Restaurant which opened in October 1997.
Ib himself is the first to say that the hard work during
the construction phase was not his, but that of his wife, Kannikar, who has
worked as project manager on all their projects (the Residence Suites 1996,
the Captain’s Corner ’97, the Residence Garden 2000, and now the Jomtien
Boathouse Hotel, Wine and Grill, which opened on the 13th of October 2002).
It was Kannikar who was standing outside the new Jomtien
venture three days before it opened, supervising the planting of the
ornamental palm trees.
And it was Kannikar who literally made it all come
together for the official opening, which coincided with Ib’s birthday,
complete with the Beatles Band, one of Ib’s ambitions for his 50th
birthday party. There is no doubt about it, the Ottesens make a formidable
team.
I asked Ib if he was still involved with the sea, now
that he has so many land-based ventures. He replied rather ruefully saying,
“I had my own yacht, but every time we build a new hotel I had to sell
it!” However, I feel sure that the man who spent from 1969 to 1980 at sea,
to qualify for his official title of Captain Ottesen, is not likely to turn
his back on life on the ocean wave.
Ib and Kannikar may only be spectators at this year’s
PC Classic, but in spirit Ib will be out there with all the other sailors -
Peter Cummins included!
This
year the windsurfers added excitement to the race. (Photo by Brendan
Richards)
And spirit is something that the Ottesens have managed to
give their Boathouse. You will find them there any night, with Kannikar
arranging and supervising, while Ib quietly steers the ship from the
well-stocked bar! By the way, if you have not tried the Jomtien Boathouse
Restaurant, then you should. The Pattaya Mail food critic, Miss Terry
Diner recommended the Jomtien Boathouse Hotel, Wine and Grill as one of the
best new restaurants of 2002. Try the BBQ’d skewers. Miss Terry described
them more like swords than skewers!
Pattaya-Jomtien is fortunate to have people of the
calibre of this Danish/Thai couple, a partnership that has never been slow
in coming forward to assist charitable projects, no matter how busy they
have been themselves. To have them behind the PC Classic for 2003,
the race organizers consider themselves most fortunate.
To use the nautical expression, welcome aboard Ib and
Kannikar, and the Jomtien Boathouse Hotel, Wine and Grill!
The Rieckermann Thai Engineering Company Limited (RTE)
has been providing professional engineering and construction services in
Thailand for some 50 years, as well as being the local representative for a
large number of international manufacturers of plants and equipment.
“The main reason for our long and successful business
operations in Thailand,” according to Hans-Dieter Westphal, the managing
director of Rieckermann, “is that we employ a team of highly-qualified and
experienced engineers who are able to take the best engineering concepts
that are available world-wide and adapt them to suit local conditions.”
Rieckermann engineers are fully trained in all aspects of
safety, environmental care and compliance with international standards.
Indeed, Environmental Health & Safety considerations feature prominently
in all of our undertakings.
In November 2002, Rieckermann Thai Engineering were proud
to hand over the keys to a newly completed “state-of-the-art printing
rollers production plant” to it’s new owner. The handover represented
yet another successful completion of a turnkey construction project
undertaken by the team at RTE.
Work on the project progressed in an efficient and timely
manner, under the ever- watchful supervision of RTE’s senior engineering
managers. All subcontractors engaged in the project were closely monitored
and supervised, as is the normal procedure for all RTE projects.
Furthermore, the project was undertaken in full compliance with local
environmental & health / safety laws.
Located on a six-rai parcel of land within the Wellgrow
Industrial Estate, the plant comprises 2,670 square meters of office /
factory / warehouse space, 2,800 meters of road works & car park and
just on 4,000 meters of landscaping.
Construction, engineering and project management have
been the mainstay of Rieckermann Thai Engineering’s operations during our
50 years in Thailand. RTE can undertake the design, installation and
commissioning of industrial projects, and is able to manage projects on a
turnkey basis, if required.
The engineering team is fully supported by procurement
and administration personnel at the Bangkok and Banglamung offices.
Efficient planning, comprehensive safety and a “best work practices
policy” ensure the coordination and careful selection of suppliers and
sub-contractors. “Our ‘after-sales’ service is second to none,” said
Hans-Dieter and “every project receives full and ongoing service and
continued support,” he added.
The Royal Varuna Yacht Club was founded in July 1957 by
two Swiss nationals - Walter Meyer and Rachiman Gintzburger. There was
something prophetic about these two gentlemen from the Swiss mountains,
founding what was to become one of Asia’s best yacht clubs. Who could have
forecast then, that 46 years later, land-locked Switzerland would become
number one in the fiercely-competitive world of yacht racing, by taking home
to Geneva, earlier this month, yacht-racing’s most coveted and the
sporting world’s longest-standing (152 years) - trophy: the America’s
Cup.
But to return to Varuna history. Walter and Rachiman were
joined on that fateful day in July 1957 by Thai yachting enthusiast HSH
Bhisadej Rajanee and US citizen Roberto Maestrini. Thus, the Varuna Marine
Club - as it was then called - “set sail”, nautically speaking, to
develop into one of Asia’s most prolific yacht clubs, promoting not only
yacht racing, sailing and cruising in the Kingdom and abroad but, by
extension, Thailand itself.
His Majesty the King, a Gold-Medallist helmsman in
regional Games in 1967, honoured the club on 26 April 1965, by bestowing
Royal Patronage and the Marine Club, established to promote ALL
marine-related sports, became the Royal Varuna Yacht Club with the same
aims. Consequently, since then, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club has organized,
hosted and managed countless world championships, regional and national
events, as well as local and inter-regional regattas, bringing much good
press and publicity to Pattaya, the environs of the Eastern Seaboard and
beyond.
Another successful year for
the Pattaya Mail PC Classic 2002 Royal Cliff Beach Resort International
Regatta
Royal Varuna founded and manages the annual Phuket
King’s Cup Regatta. Inaugurated to celebrate the sixtieth birthday of the
Monarch in 1987, it has been sailed every year since then, over the week of
the King’s birthday on 5 December.
Other international events include the Koh Samui Regatta
in May and, off Royal Varuna, the Varuna Cup every December.
Every March, from 1995, Royal Varuna focuses on the
ever-expanding PC Classic, which, as can be seen from this brochure,
is aspiring to greater heights. The press and media exposure for all these
events reflect very positively on Thailand and, particularly for the Classic,
on Pattaya.
But even Royal Varuna has become a ‘victim’ of the
“Mid-life Crisis”. The erstwhile structure, designed and built in 1967
by Royal Varuna’s fourth commodore, Dr Rachot Kanchana-Vanit, on the bay
adjacent to the Royal Cliff at Pattaya Point, is showing its age.
With a new 30-year lease on this splendid property -
undoubtedly the best on the Eastern Seaboard - the Royal Varuna membership,
under the lead of incumbent Flag Commodore Robert England, is about to
embark on a multi-million baht re-building programme, guaranteed to make
Royal Varuna a showplace for Pattaya’s marine activities, as well as a
worthy neighbour for the illustrious Royal Cliff, the five star resort hotel
- voted the region’s best in a number of categories.
The organizers of the Royal Varuna Gala Dinner, to be
held on the night of the PC Classic, expect a big crowd of sailors,
city officials and leading personalities in both the public and private
sectors, to attend and by doing so, contribute to the considerable funding
needed to proceed with the re-development of the site.
It is fortuitous that the new Varuna will be opened during the Royal
Patron’s 76th birthday year.
Khun Panga Vathanakul, managing director and Andrew Wood,
general manager - in fact all the staff - of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort
are very environmentally aware and the ongoing support for the PC Classic
is much in line with the resort’s promotion of Pattaya.
The resort, which this year is celebrating 30 years since
it opened in 1973 - to a vastly different Pattaya to the contemporary city -
has been the ‘home’ of the regatta since 2000. There could not be a more
appropriate venue for sailing - an activity which is one of humankind’s
most environmentally friendly pursuits.
With its pristine waterfront, clear waters lapping the
sea wall and a renowned dedication to a “cleaner, greener Pattaya”, the
Royal Cliff has been, literally, deluged with awards and achievements over
the past years.
Among these has been the 2002 CIM Magazine “Accolade
Award”, for the contributions to the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and
Exhibitions, usually known as MICE, made by the Royal Cliff’s
superbly-appointed Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall - Asia’s best.
Voted by readers of Australia’s leading MICE publications, the Award was
made to the Royal Cliff for the second year in succession.
Perhaps, more appropriate within the context of fostering
sailing as a major activity in protecting the environment, is the “2002
Environmental Impact Award” presented to the Royal Cliff by the Thai
Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Topping the list of other awards for 2002, too numerous to mention here,
is the Tourism Authority of Thailand Award for the “Best Resort
Accommodations in the Eastern Region” while Hotelplan Holland selected the
Royal Cliff as the “Best Hotel, 2001”.
The Pattaya Mail, a long supporter of yacht racing
and a strong advocate of eco-tourism and environment protection in the
Kingdom - particularly along the Eastern Seaboard - continues to be the
major media force behind the PC Classic and is also the recipient of
many honours.
On National Press and Media Day, March the fifth, in
fact, Chadej Insawang, the permanent secretary of the new Ministry of
Tourism and Sports awarded the Pattaya Mail accolades in several news
categories, including the “Outstanding English Language Newspaper Award
for 2003,” in both news presentation and the promotion of tourism
categories. Peter Malhotra, managing director of the Pattaya Mail
Publishing Company, accepted the honour on behalf of the Mail.
Phadungsak Tantaraworasilp, president of the Press and
Media Association of Eastern Thailand, at the annual gathering of the news
and media representatives held at the Bangsaen Beach Resort, pointed out
that this was the fifth successive time the Pattaya Mail has been
voted the coveted “Best in the East “ title.
The Mail now has a German-language edition (the Pattaya Blatt)
and another English edition for the north and the north-east (the Chiangmai
Mail).
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