Day 2: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand

The nice 10 knots of breeze at the start of the second day of the Top of the Gulf Regatta in Pattaya on Thursday dropped off quickly, giving Race Officer Jerry Rollin no other option but to end racing early for the day.

Keelboats and Multihulls

Ray Roberts and his crew on Team Hollywood continued where they left off in IRC Racing 1 on Wednesday, with good boat speed and slick crew work, leading defending champions THA72 around the course and adding a third bullet to their series tally in the process.

In IRC Racing 2 Fujin scored the daily double and at the same time put their first win on the board. Hugh Halliburton's Tenacious wasn't far behind and placed second overall to retain a slim one point margin in the overall standings. Thai entry Lawana finished third on the day.

The Japanese team on Team Spray, lead by Hiroshi Kurokawa, found their groove in IRC Racing 3, claiming their first win of the series so far. SailQuest Hi Jinks and MoonShadow2 had to settle for second and third respectively.

Easy Tiger V are building up a healthy lead at the top of the Platu class with two more wins on Thursday. Meanwhile defending champion Team ViewPoint have recovered from a slower-than-wanted start on Day 1 and added two second places to their scoreline. With that they improve their position in the overall standings. Pine-Pacific placed third in the first race while YRAT claimed third in the second race.

In the Multihulls class, BladeRunner IX added their first bullet and in the process they jump to the top of the standings. Sonic (DNF) and Edenko (DSQ) had a tough day in the office and look to re-group tomorrow.

Thailand S\V14 Para Sailing Championship

The introduction of Para Sailing to the regatta this year is a Thailand first, and fleet racing of the new two-person S\V14 dinghy is a world first. Seven teams hit the water on Thursday and in the 10 knots of breeze at start time the fleet performed well. As the wind softened towards the end of the second race, the Race Officer had to call it a day and send the fleet back to shore.

Thai Para Sailors scored the early wins with Paisol Pateh/ Mahseedi Hadumor claiming two wins ahead of fellow Thai sailors, Kasempon Hondee/ Suraphong Chitkong who place second overall. Jo Mengel/ Anwarmay finished the day with a 2,4 scoreline and sit third in the standings.

Thailand Optimist Open Championship

Split into Gold and Silver fleets, defending his 2018 regatta crown is Thai youngster Panwa Boonak who got his series off to the best of starts winning the only race of the day in the Gold fleet. Fellow Thai National Team Sailor, Patihan Vorrasart, was hot his heels placing second while Malaysian youngster Wong Xiang scored third.

Thai sailors dominated the podium in the Silver fleet with Pitipoom Jaroenpon finishing first ahead of Amonwan Aphiwatudomkun in second and Klorkwan Visuttiprapanont in third.

Dinghy Classes

Four dinghy classes started their series on Thursday: Class 8 (Single-Handed Monohulls with RVYC rating 1110 or less), Class 9 (Single-Handed Monohulls with RVYC rating between 1111 and 1200), Class 10 (Single-Handed Monohulls with RVYC rating greater than 1200), and Class 11, Double-Handed Monohull Dinghies).

Two races were completed before the wind dropped and in Class 8 it was Albert Nazarov who finished top of the standings with a 2,1, tied on points with Ralf Donner while Sakchai Petchdee is placed in third.

In Class 9, Malaysian sailors performed best over Thursday's two races with Israr Hazim B.Ismail topping the series by a single point ahead of Nur Shazrin Mohamnd Latip and Ahmad Latif Khan B.Ali Sabri Khan who are both tied on five points.

In Class 10, seconds separated the leaders and after a slow start with a fourth in Race 1, Supparak Niamruksa bounced back to win the second race and is now tied on points with Malaysian sailor Mohammad Shahieran Rin Raiman. Patcharee Sringam sits one point further back in third.

In Class 11, less than 10 seconds separated the top three in the first race of the day with Nurul Shazwanie Binti Md Saad beating out Muhammad syafie bin ali (second) and Nor Nabila Natasha Binti Moho Nazri (third). In the second race the tables were turned. However, a second place for Nurul Shazwanie Binti Md Saad sees him sit top of the overall table.

Team Hollywood TP52 (IRC1) - Interview with Ray Roberts, Owner / Captain

PODCAST

As there are so many pictures from the Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 they have been uploaded to different pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9 and Page 10. See also: Ray Roberts to Open Sailing Schools in Thailand - Exclusive Video Interview, Team Hollywood Unbeatable! Results from Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019, Day 4: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, Day 3: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, Day 2: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, Australians Dominate First Day of Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Thailand, Para Sailing and the S\V14 -  Interview with Yacht Designer, Maarten Voogd, 15th Top of the Gulf Regatta to Take Place in Pattaya, Thailand 30 April - 5 May 2019, Disabled Sailing Thailand - Interview with Peter Jacops and Pictures from Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek 2019.

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