The final day of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta, December 5th His Majesty the King's birthday, wrapped up what was one of the most competitive regattas in memory. Australasia's best sailors lead a formidable racing class fleet said to be the strongest ever assembled in Asia. The Phuket King's Cup Regatta is fast building a reputation as one of the world's best sailing events.
The 2009 Phuket King's Cup Regatta is a week of sailing that had a lot of everything. The first three days saw shifty winds and strong currents, followed by some of the windiest conditions of up to 22 knots on the final two days of races.
Neil Pryde's HiFi sailed with meticulous consistency to lead the racing class from start to finish. His final record of three 1st place, three 2nd place and one 4th place finish clinched the coveted King's Cup trophy. Pryde previously had been in striking distance of the King's Cup in 2005, 2006 and 2008 each year in second overall.
Chris Dickson and a group of America's Cup sailors on Full Metal Jacket, briefly challenged Neil Pryde's dominance mid week only to fall short. By day four strong winds, choppy seas and a long island race handed Frank Pong's 76 foot Jelik II near perfect conditions. By race day five the overall results were, Pryde finishing in first place, followed by Frank Pong in second and Ray Roberts on Evolution Racing third.
Matt Allen skippered Ichi Ban thoroughly dominated the IRC 1 class with nine straight first place finishes, followed by Koull Baby in second and Switchblade third. In IRC 2, Royal Thai Navy 1, skippered by Wiwat Poonpat got into their stride in mid-week putting together a string of five consecutive wins. An outstanding result for Thailand.
Source: www.kingscup.com
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