After the Lay Day yesterday, sailors were eager to get going again. With just two days left in the series, performances today would be make or break for some.
In the Premier Class, competition has been intense all week. Four Swans, two Oysters, two X-Yachts, two Beneteau’s, a Warwick Design and a Farr 72 make-up the 12-strong class.
The Swan 68, Titania of Cowes, has shown crew-work is all important if you want to win a five-day regatta like the Phuket King’s Cup. Having started well with two wins on the first day, she has continued her impressive performance with two more wins and a second.
At 50 tonnes, she doesn’t like light winds and it showed today when she scored a third place. Despite that blip, Titania of Cowes heads the standings on six points overall going into the last day.
Baby Tonga Strongbow, skippered by Peter Sorenson and sailed by an all-Australian crew, currently lies in second place after a consistent performance and a first today. In third, going into the last day, is Hong Kong boat Xena, skippered by Peter Forsythe.
The largest boat in the fleet at 82 foot is Chao Ren Plus One, another Swan, and sailed by a majority Chinese crew. Skippered by Wang Bin, Chao Ren Plus One revels in stronger winds and going into the last day lies fourth in the standings, one point adrift of a podium place.
If the winds favour the 82-footer on the last day she may be able to leap frog Xena to take third place.
While not in the running for a podium place, the crew on the elegant Silandra V, the third Swan in the class, are enjoying Phuket’s tropical racing conditions.
All the action brought to you by the Go Yachting team:
Day 1, Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2011
Day 2, Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2011
Day 3, Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2011
Day 4, Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2011
Day 5, Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2011
