Day 4 Press Release - Sawadee.com Regatta 2010, Samui (4th June 2010)

Sawadee.com Regatta 2010 goes down to the wire. Penultimate day of racing sets up a final shoot-out.

The action continues in Koh Samui.

Koh Samui, Thailand. 4 June, 2010: The wind gods have been kind this week as the Sawadee.com Regatta sailed into its fourth day of competition. Fabulous sailing conditions every day have brought some of the closest sailing that the event has seen in many years.

And day four of the regatta was to be as competitive as any other. Although a couple over the start line calls (OCS) were made, all classes sailed away in a brisk 12 to 15 knot South West breeze. This time PRO Ross Chisholm opted for coastal courses to the south of Koh Samui and back.

The duel between Ray Roberts TP52 Evolution Racing and Neil Pryde's Welbourn 52 Hi Fi continued around the course with Evolution Racing taking the advantage on the long beat to windward. Frank Pong's 76ft Jelik II disappeared into the distance and might have had a chance at the daily double until they approached the finish line. The wind completely died out, changed direction a couple of times and left the yachts at the mercy of the northerly flowing current. A couple of gybes to stay in the wind and some quick sail changes had them ghosting towards the finish line and crossing to a huge round of applause from those observing. Evolution Racing and Hi Fi made their approach 30 minutes latter as the wind had returned and proceeded directly across the line to pick up first and second places respectively and relegate Jelik II down to fourth place. The Nick Burns/Fred Kinmonth co-owned Mills 51 EFG Bank Mandrake slotted into third place and broke the tie with Jelik II for third overall in their favour. The victory for Evolution Racing has them taking a mere one-point lead over Hi Fi in the overall stakes with one day to go. The race committee hope to have two races tomorrow and after today's activities anything can happen and the series is still open for the taking.

A similar set of finish line circumstances affected David Ross' Kerr 32 Kukukerchu as they dropped down to third place today but still hold a healthy lead overall. The biggest winners of the day are the two Farr MRX yachts from the Royal Thai Naval Academy. Lt Weerasit Puangnak's Navy 1 took out the handicap honours and were followed closely by NC Boonyarit Sukmuang's Navy 2 in second place.

In the Premier Cruising class, Dr Ian Nicholson's Dubois 80 Intrigue and Peter Churchouse's Warwick 64 Moonblue 2, got a jump on the rest of the fleet and took a commanding lead - that is until they approached the finish line. While they sat becalmed with spinnakers drooping, Peter Forsythe and Jing Lee's X55 Xena made up valuable ground and managed to keep their yacht in favourable wind zephyrs to take out the daily double as the leaders were washed away in the tide. Back markers Coyote and Australian Maid drew their "Get out of jail free cards" and closed in on the leaders to end up taking second and third places on handicap. This result now has Xena and Australian Maid tied on five points for the overall title with Australian Maid taking the lead as they have recorded two wins to Xena's one.

Nigel Hopkins Oyster Lightwave 48 Celere had the benefit of leading the Bareboat/Cruising class around the course and avoided the pitfalls at the finish line to take out the daily double and stay on top of the overall points. Scott Finisten's Oceanis 461 Andrew Short - Constanza claimed second place to trail Celere by one point in the overall stakes. Third place again for the Singapore Management University (SMU) Team on the Sunsail 39 Bussakorn, skippered by Shaun Toh, has them tied on nine points with John Stall's Atkins 34 Smooth, but in fourth place as Smooth recorded an early win. This class is still very open for the taking and the crew on Andrew Short - Constanza are even more determined to defend the title that they have won two years in a row.

The biggest boat in the Multihull Class, Kirati Assakul's Crowther 42 Sonic, was called up at the startline by the smallest boat, Mick Grover's Mia Noi, which resulted in Sonic being deemed to be over the line and told to restart. Kim Thomas' bi-plane rigged catamaran Storm made the most of the situation to take out line honours but as Sonic staged a late comeback they were relegated to third place on handicap. Kirati Assakul's Sonic now has an unbeatable lead of four wins in a row and inevitably will go on and take out this year’s title. A welcome second place for Kunta's (Samui Ocean Sports) Radical Bay Team Zazen has them holding onto second overall with Kim Thomas' Storm in third. Unfortunately there is nothing they can do about the run away leader Sonic, apart from conducting further refinements on the bi-plane rigged cats and coming out fighting next year.

But as much as this regatta is about the competitive ‘adult’ racing, it is also an opportunity for Samui's most talented ‘youth’ to take to the waters to contest the ‘Samui Junior Sailing Squadron Challenge'. The third running of the challenge – held yesterday off Chaweng Beach - saw young sailors in Optimist Class boats battling it out on a competitive course. The challenge saw five fiercely contested races – with the youngest contender – Richard Bjork - only six years of age. At the end of the day, at a medal ceremony at Tradewinds Cottages, it was Nattapon Panyawan that took the top award. In second place was Thomas Fahey and coming in third was the very talented Stephanie Bjork. In the beginner’s class, Nicolas Eleo was first, followed by Tida Panyawah and Oliver Kerr.

Running parallel to the Samui Junior Sailing Squadron Challenge was another initiative that demonstrates the extent to which the regatta gives back to the community that hosts it every year. In conjunction with The Bluewater International School, the Bangrak Beach Clean-up saw a turnout of caring individuals that included sailors, organizers, students and Boy Scouts. The objective was simple – to keep one of Samui’s beaches clean and in great shape. The participation of the Jelik II (Boracay) crew lent a ‘star’ factor to the event with the entire crew turning out to help protect Samui’s environment.

The final race of the Sawadee.com Regatta is scheduled for Saturday with four of the five classes still open for the taking and setting up a great grand finale.

The Gala Dinner and Awards Evening takes place at the Centara Grand Beach Resort tomorrow evening.Trophies for all winners will be presented as will the award for the ‘Asian Yachting Champion Skipper’.

Ends/

For additional Sawadee.com Media Updates, please see:

www.samuiregatta.com

High-resolution images from the Sawadee.com Regatta 2010, Samui, are

available at: www.flickr.com/photos/sawadee-com-regatta-2009-samui

Daily Twitter Updates at: http://twitter.com/SamuiRegatta

Excerpts in this press release are re-produced with thanks to ‘Asian

Yachting’ (http://asianyachting.com)

Media Contacts:

Citrus Public Relations:

Ian Grundy

ian.grundy@citrus-pr.com