All aboard for the fun in the sun regatta...Thailands rapidly growing sailing season gets underway in spectacular fashion this week, when a fleet of 50 boats set sail on the annual Phang Nga Bay Regatta in picturesque southern Thailand.
This regatta, now in its 11th year, is as famous for its parties as it is for its sailing and this year promises to be no different. Four days of racing takes the fleet from Phuket to Phang Nga and Krabi provinces from February 6-10 with a prize-giving party held each evening at different venues along the way. Quite frankly, I don't know why its taken me 10 years to come and cover this event. What else is there for foreigners to do over the Chinese New Year break other than go out and enjoy sailing around southern
The organisers were taken by surprise when the regatta grew so quickly, expanding from an average of 30 boats in the early years, to 46 yachts in 2006 and 50 boats lined up in 2007. Making the Phang Nga Bay Regatta, Asia's second biggest sailing event, after the King's Cup. Unlike other annual regattas held in
Quite a few email comments have been received about Phang Nga not being the second biggest regatta in Asia. Don’t just be a reader, leave your mark here! Come on and give us your best shot!
11 comments:
Well aside from cruising A and cruising B results being completely wrong when announced publicly (which makes for an article in Asian yachting that is unfortunately inaccurate, nothing to do with the author) and a lack of drinks on the last night, the sailing is ok, if you like long downwind legs in very hot weather.
Definitely not a very serious event, a little rowdy at anchorage at times, but Thailand is so beautifull that it makes up for it....
Your right about the results which were corrected by the next day and I took an accurate stab at it in the final Race Report and Summary. We were not referring to the quality of the event organizers when talking about the Biggest Event but merely the number of entrants compared to other Asian events. I'm sure 'anonymous' would agree in its present format the PNBR is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable events in the region.
Oh by the way you may want to comment on the effects the main sponsor Purvarana may have on the event by awarding US$20k prize money to the overall winner and ESPN-Star sports having TV coverage next year. Also round the world air tickets for the winner of three events on the same boat. I've included some views in the final Summary at http://asianyachting.com/news/PNBR08.htm
Having participated in the earlier 3 days of racing event, this was the first year to rejoin the 4 day event which as boat owner takes a week of work scheduling and harder to find crew with time to participate immediately after the recent holidays.
The idea of prize money is ridiculously being applied to an event of this nature. As it was, the fleet was either the water tanks and refer full boats or the striped out "campers". I don't think the campers placed anywhere. So the money will always go to the gung ho boats with auxiliary chase boats carrying their provisions and spouses. Put the money into better food and bar drinks for all. It was also disapointing to see prizes being bottles of wine or cork screw kits instead of a real momento of the race and the event.
Apparently they are have a meeting this Thursday evening to discuss the announcement of prize-money. Plenty are against the idea, but it needs to be thought through. Will keep you posted.
Hi Capt Marty
Just seen disappointing photos on official web site, I am 1005 sure you have done better, lets have them. low res fine as we can decide to buy later. hint we were doing just under 20knts on 3rd day!!!
PS crazy idea about prize money, sorry wrong regatta.
PS to last anoymous, we slept on the tramps but we did dump our junk on a mother ship as 150kg junk was too much to carry on a 1000kg boat. We wanted to give the other guys in our class a decent challenge. (2 boats on the water you have a race etc)
Agree with earlier comment prize money should be better spent on nice momentos for our round the world one time visitors and/or parties.
Still no answer from the committee regarding prize money. One thing that was raised during the event was the timing. Should it be conducted over the busy Chinese New Year holidays or would the week after be better? Some say that expats are more likely to attend over CNY as they get holidays in HK, Sing and Malaysia. Others argue that after CNY there will be more hotel rooms and charter boats available that are fully booked over CNY.
Oh I forgot to mention that I came down with a gut wrenching flue on my return home. Will be posting a PNBR 08 photo gallery next week sometime. Will advise. Cheers for now!
Seventy one selected images from the PNBR 08 Race Reports have been posted onto the AY Photo Gallery. If you have never been there take a look at some of the spectacular scenery and favoured anchorages in one of Asia's most popular cruising grounds. Participants can replay some memorable moments by flicking through the slide show at: http://asianyachting.com/photos/photo.htm?PNBR08
According to the March edition of SEA Magazine we are not the only one commenting on Steven Granville's unexpected announcement that Puravarna will award a US$20,000 cash prize to the over all winner. Race officer Andy Dowden visibly paled when the implications to the race and its committee set in. By the next morning emails began flowing in via the regatta's website and committee members decided to hold an emergency meeting with Steven to discuss the best and fairest way to not only minimize changes to the regatta's theme, but to make sure all competitors will have an equal chance at claiming part of the prize. So sailors never fear, a fair and just solution will be found and SEA Yachting will publish conditions in the next issue. All this will undoubtedly become the talk of the season...
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