The Tudor Court Varuna Cup, held over the weekend of the 15th and 16th November, saw a return to some great sailing conditions in Pattaya. The sunshine was out and a fresh northerly wind gave some excellent sailing and racing.
On Saturday the monohulls sailed three races around the buoys, with Gareth Owen taking the first race win. However it turned out to be a terrific battle at the front of the fleet with Shin Suenaga taking a good win in the second race. With the wind up to full strength for the final race of the day, it was then the turn of Kevin Whitcraft to be first across the line. Kevin had a little to prove as his son Dylan had previously shown him the way round the course in the first race!
Lennart Fahgren and the crew of Amanda sail to first place in the Ocean Marina keelboats class at the Tudor Court Varuna Cup.
On Sunday, Gareth was in full competitive mode and won the first two races. He also made sure with some clever tactics that his nearest rival, Shin, did not have great results. In the final race to decide the minor places, the fleet split between those who went inshore, out of the tide, and the those that went out to sea looking for wind. The outer route paid handsomely with not just more wind but also a nice shift. Shin eventually won the tight battle at the front as the wind caused a few thrills and spills around the final lap.
Winner of the monohull class Gareth Owen (centre) stands on the podium with Shin Suenaga (right) and Scott Montgomery.
For the multihulls it was Aroon and Akkharawat who showed the fleet a clean pair of heels in the three races they sailed on a windward-leeward course around the buoys on Saturday. Although the faster F17’s and F18’s had it mostly their own way, Bob and Judy Gardham did show that a well sailed Hobie 16 can still get to the top of the fleet by scoring a deserved second place in the middle race.
Sunday started with a race around the buoys, with Jerome Collin and Roch showing that Aroon’s F17 could be beaten by an F18. For their final race, the multihulls set off on a long distance race around Koh Larn and the islands. After a long but fast race, Aroon was back at the front to consolidate his overall win for the weekend.
The Ocean Marina keelboats and multihulls had an early start on Saturday, and sailed a race finishing at Varuna to start their weekend. They followed with a further race around the buoys off Varuna, and a race back to the marina.
Optimist sailors pose for a group photo at Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya.
In the keelboat class it was Tim Browne and his team on their Platu who started the weekend off with two wins. But then Lennart Fahgren sailing Amanda started a fight back by winning the race home. In the Ocean Marina mulithulls, Scott Galle skippering Black Swan enjoyed the conditions to win all three races.
On Sunday, the Ocean Marina fleet again started off at the marina, this time with quite a long race around the islands off Varuna and then a finish at the Varuna committee boat. They then followed this with a short race around the buoys before anchoring up to join the prize giving at Varuna.
Lennart and his crew were now finding their way around the waters off Varuna and took two more wins to confirm first place overall. David Wales and The Sting were giving Scott a hard time in the Ocean Marina multihulls and won both races. However the previous day’s hard work meant that Scott and Black Swan took the series win.
Many thanks go to the Tudor Group for sponsoring the weekend. All the sailors had some excellent racing and also a great barbecue at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club beach bar on Saturday night.
Frefel takes local Optimist title as storms brew
Earlier this month, the JVK International Movers Eastern Seaboard Regatta gave some very difficult conditions but also excellent racing for the Optimist sailors at Royal Varuna Yacht Club. On Saturday, November 1, the weather looked fairly good but experience said that there were storms around. The race team managed to get the first race away in light conditions and it was Quentin Uhrich who took full advantage to take a win and beat many of the older and more experienced sailors.
The JVK International Movers Eastern Seaboard Regatta top three stand on the podium, from left: Quentin Uhrich, Alex Frefel and Phomraphi Thapthim.
In the second race of the day, Alex Frefel was first across the line after a very eventful race, especially on the last leg. As the expected storm approached, the wind did just about everything! Initially it was a light wind beat to the finish, then a reach, then a strong wind beat finally to the line. All the sailors made it back to the shore in good shape as the storm finally hit.
With a long delay and the weather finally improving, the race committee set a course to try to get another race in. Unfortunately the wind died and racing had to be canceled for the day leaving Quentin and Alex tied on points at the head of the order.
On Sunday, November 2, conditions looked similar but with the earlier start there was hope to get some races in before the weather changed. As it turned out the wind was better but also there were some tricky shifts. Four races were sailed and the key was to get consistent results.
Phomraphi Thapthim (Poom) managed to get two wins but his other places were not as good. Quentin was also still very much in the hunt for the top spot, but two poor last races meant that he had to settle for third place overall. The last race was very much the championship decider and a third place was just enough for Alex to take the top spot from Poom by just one point.
It was again great to see all the young Optimist sailors on the water and they did a great job of competing in the difficult conditions. Many thanks again to JVK International Movers for their support – all the competitors were wearing their ‘JVK’ shirts and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the doughnuts afterwards!
Tim Browne skippers The Weasel to second place in the keelboat class.
