2010 King's Cup
| 05 January 2011
In 2010 one of the hottest fleets ever assembled to contest the Asian circuit gathered in Phuket to compete for the honour of being crowned King’s Cup champion. No fewer than five TP52’s, two other 50 odd footers, the maxi Jelik 3 and the new GP42 from Thailand ‘Won Me Rang’. The quality and depth of the fleet continues to grow throughout the region and this is having a flow on effect in lifting the standard of sailing right through the various divisions. Onboard ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ we knew we would have plenty to do to get on the podium, but after a solid result in the previous regatta and with the core crew from that regatta onboard again, coupled with a light forecast for the week, we were optimistic heading into the first day of racing. In a break from normal years proceedings, day one was grey and overcast and threatening rain and with a very patchy breeze. In fact we were recording shifts up to 40 degrees, but tactician Warwick Downes picked it pretty well throughout the first race and ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ managed a solid 2nd place behind ‘Hi-Fi’. But it was a day that would have plenty of twists before the crews were back enjoying a cold beer at one of many bars scattered along Kata Beach. Race two proved this with results turned around from the previous race, ‘Evolution Racing’ coming out on top from ‘Hi-Fi’ and Hannes Wailmer’s TP52 ‘Team Premier’ from Dubai showing she hadn’t come all this way just to make up the numbers finishing a solid fourth behind the Chinese entry ‘Jelik 5’ being steered by Olympian Song Xia Qun. Race officer for the week, Jerry Rollin, was keen to get as much racing in as possible as the forecast had the potential for a couple of super light days, so we lined up again for a third windward/leeward race. Despite the results being all over the place, the action on the water was sensational; with plenty of tight mark rounding’s and boat on boat duels all over the course, exciting to be involved in. On ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ one sensational start right on the boat, and a telegraphed attempt at the same process for the next two races only to be shut out by firstly ‘Free Fire’ and then ‘Jelik 3’ resulted in a pair of seventh places to make the final podium position up for grabs after the first day of racing.We awoke for the second days racings, to be again confronted with grey overcast skies and only around six knots of breeze. The racing fleet were going to do one short windward/leeward race, followed by an island race. On ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ we nailed the start in the first race and came home a solid third, proving you have to be on the line or you’re going to end up in the second row of the results. The breeze was a little more settled, but there was still plenty of work to be done by the tacticians. The island race would be interesting as we on ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ worked out very early that the boat end was ‘miles’ favoured and that the boat that could tack first onto port would be aiming straight at the next mark. Would we risk a port tack start at the pin end, mmmm an interesting challenge, but fraught with danger. Our next option, on the boat at the gun, tack first onto port. So we went with the latter option and nailed it perfectly giving as a great slingshot at the first mark, in fact rounding in second place on the water. This would set us up well as the three mile reach to the next mark, which would see the fleet go true upwind, had long been our Achilles heel against the TP52’s with their ability to reach in the tiniest of breezes. Around the bottom mark and we managed to stay in touch as we settled in for a couple of hours going upwind before a run back home. Each boat pretty well slotted into their respective positions with only the odd passing opportunity and it remained that way until the final little reach and beat to the finish where the breeze began to shift around the various headlands as we approached Kata Beach. On ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ we gained a little bit on each of these shifts and finished the race in second position to ‘Evolution Racing’ with ‘Jelik 5’ third. So with five of the eight races now completed, the top two from most of the recent regattas, ‘Evolution Racing’ and ‘Hi-Fi’ were in their own tussle and then it was a four way split for the final podium spot.
Phuket greeted crews with the more traditional weather for races six and seven, with a beautiful clear sky and 10 to 12 knots of North Easterly breeze. After the grey conditions of the first few days, a day like this is why we all keep coming back to this paradise. The days racing was to again be windward/leeward’s as the breeze still had plenty of shifts and patches and the risk of going around islands might result in no finishers for the day. The spectacle of the close racing continued and resulted in a dead heat between ‘Evolution Racing’ and ‘Hi-Fi’ during the first race with ‘Free Fire’ filling the minor placing. Unfortunately as the day progressed, the wind didn’t, forcing officials to shorten the second race before it died completely. On ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ this lightening breeze was to be to our detriment, as the boats that had made it home on the last of the breeze suddenly opened up big leads that were well within our grasp, to deny us any possible result worthy of keeping us in the podium position. So with the last race coming up it was to be a four way battle for the final podium position with three points separating the four yachts in the battle.
With only one race left to run, organisers were faced with another day of fickle breezes and further grey skies. After several tries to get the fleet away, PRO Jerry Rollins announced that we would start and that the tacticians would earn their keep as there appeared little likelihood of a settled breeze. On ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ we knew the maths on whom and by how much we had to beat each boat to gain the final podium spot. So in a shifty breeze of around six knots, there were smiles all round when we nailed the start and picked the first right hand shift to gain the early break we needed. But a bad first run when the lighter TP52’s seemed to accelerate on the smallest puffs left us with more work to do on the next upwind leg, which again we got the shifts spot on to put us somewhere where we needed to be going downwind for the second time. But the bad news for us was the ‘Free Fire’ was having a blinder and was in fact lead boat on the water which she maintained until the finish to score a double. Line and IRC wins put her into third overall. On ‘EFG Bank Mandrake’ our day got worse the breeze completely disappeared at the end and a fairly average jibe left us with a sixth place for the day and overall for the regatta. Slightly disappointing, given that we were in the mix for a large part of the regatta, only to fall at the end with the dying breeze.
An interesting adaptation at the end of the regatta was to have a trophy race combining all the classes to decide who would be the overall IRC winner. Unfortunately the concept is still that, as a small storm developed to whip up westerly winds in excess of 30 knots causing carnage on the beach as crews came down to prepare for the days racing. The sight of around fifteen yachts and many RIBS lying washed up on the beach was confronting for many of the crews. As people pitched in and did what they could to help, racing was abandoned for the day. But it could make for an interesting talking point or bragging right for next year’s 25th King’s Cup regatta.
Peter Fletcher
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