The inaugural Phuket King’s Cup Dinghy Series reached its conclusion last Sunday, Dec. 5. The event took place over the course of four weekends and has featured a total of 20 races.
Children from all over the region have been traveling to Phuket to compete in the series which has featured a fleet of 19 Optimists and seven lasers. The first three events were held at the Sailing Club of Phuket with the fourth installment of the series taking place on the waters off Kata Beach.
Anapat Ngarmdee leads from the front in the Optimist Class Phuket Dinghy Series at the 2010 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. (Photo/Duncan Worthington)
The organizers saw a steady improvement in the quality of sailing throughout the series and feel that the experience will be hugely beneficial for the aspiring young sailors. At the end of the series the overall winners were Anapat Ngarmdee in the Optimist Class and Chat Dawruang, in the Laser Class.
Ngarmdee in particular caught the eye winning virtually every race. The ten year old is tipped to join the national team next year and clearly has a bright future in the sport. He is hoping to forge a career as a professional sailor,
“I am very happy to have won and it is very special for me because today is the birthday of The King and I would like to dedicate my victory to him. My dream is to represent Thailand and one day I would like to sail in the King’s Cup itself,” he said.
When the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta was founded 24 years ago the fleet had a strong dinghy line up and the regatta is returning to its roots by bringing back dinghy sailing. The King’s Cup committee has been looking to introduce a new generation to the sport of sailing with a view to eventually increasing the contingent of Thai sailors at the King’s Cup.
CDR Pornprom Sakultem, the race manager of the Phuket King’s Cup Dinghy Series, is pleased to see more young children getting a taste of competitive sailing,
“We would like to see more Thai people sailing in the future and we hope that some of these children one day go on to sail in the King’s Cup. The intention of the committee is to use the series to develop the sport of sailing in Thailand. The King’s Cup attracts sailors from all over the world but only a few from Thailand and we need more sailors from Thailand to compete in future,” he said.
The PKCR Dinghy Race, which gave Optimist sailors who had not participated in the Phuket King’s Cup Dinghy Series a chance to compete, was won by Piriyaporn Kangla.
