The 2013 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta began on December 1st with an official opening ceremony and a couple of races for the mono-hulls, multi-hulls, keel-boats and dinghies. On December 4th however, the Phantom 295 took centre stage. With a total of seven races in two days with winds between 4 and 16 knots, three champions were crowned. Watch the video below and read the event report if you haven’t done so yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCA8LhOCAk4Day 1

After registration was completed this morning, the Phantom sailors headed over to Kata Beach to prepare themselves for the day’s races. Around 10 AM, the competitors headed out on their brand-new kit, zigzagging between the boats anchored in the Kata Beach bay. Shortly after, the first race started with a 4 to 8 knot and shifty breeze.

In the Open Men’s, Navin Singsart from Thailand dominated the first and second races, with the famous Ek Boonsawad, Patharadanai Jinain and Pornanan Phayungkasem battling behind. In the Youths and Open Women; both racing on 7.5m² rigs, the battle was fierce between Dow Siripon Keawduang-Ngam, the 2010 Youth Olympic Gold Medalist, Sarocha Prumprai and Marcos Guedez from Martinique. Dow Siripon won the first race, followed closely by Sarocha Prumprai from Thailand in second place and Marcos Guedez in third but still claiming first in his division. In the second race, Marcos Guedez managed to hold off the Thai ladies and finished in first, with Dow Siripon in second.

After a quick lunch break out at sea, the wind picked up between 6 and 10 knots for the third race. In the Open Men’s, Navin Singsart dominated again, being particularly efficient in light winds. In the Open Women, Dow Siripon had another bullet with Sarocha Prumprai close behind, followed by Jutaporn Soontornhao. Marcos Guedez dominated once again in the race in the Youth Men, finishing well ahead of Thanakorn Prumklang and Sutee Tongon.

The fourth race saw planing conditions, with the wind picking up to 16 knots. Navin Singsart had another bullet in the Open Men’s to make it a total of four bullets for the day. Unfortunately, Marcos Fernandez from Spain had a premature start but remains up there in the rankings thanks to the first discard. In the Open Women, Sarocha Prumprai ended in first place, with Dow Siripon in second. And finally, in the Youth Men, Marcos Guedez lead the way once more.

After four races, the sailors headed back to the beach. While some will be enjoying the evening festivities to honor His Majesty the King of Thailand’s birthday at the Phuket Orchid Resort & Spa, others will be looking forward to tomorrow for more racing and a chance to climb back up the rankings.

Day 2

After a good night of sleep, the Phantom 295 sailors were back out on the water this morning at 9:00 AM to run 3 additional races of Kata Beach. After Navin Singsart’s dominating run yesterday, would someone be able to step up and challenge him in the Open Men’s? Find out below…

With the wind and sun cooperating this morning, the sailors headed out to the start line at 9:00 AM to run three additional races. The first race was started with winds between 8 and 12 knots and Navin Singsart from Thailand took another great start, using the gusts to his advantage. However, towards the end of the course, Ek Boonsawad managed to take over and grab his first bullet of the competition, followed by Navin Singsart and Marcos Fernandez from Spain.

In the Open’s Women, Dow Siripon performed once more in these tricky conditions to obtain another first place; her third in this event; extending her lead over Sarocha Prumprai and Sunaree Semros and setting the tone for the day. In the Youths, Marcos Guedez dominated as well, finishing the race in 5th place overall, right behind Pornanan Phayungkasem.

The wind died completely in the second race of the day (6th overall), dropping to about 4 to 6 knots. Lo Jun Hao from Singapore wasn’t bothered by that all and after a great start, he grabbed his first bullet of the competition with Navin Singsart extremely close behind and Ek Boonsawad on their trails. In the Youths, Marcos Guedez did get another win but finished 10th overall, not at ease in these very light conditions. As for the Women’s, Dow Siripon had another win with Sarocha Prumprai and Sunaree Semros behind.

To the sailors’ requests, another race was started as the wind picked up quickly to reach speed of 16 knots and create good planing conditions. Despite describing himself as a light-wind specialist, Navin Singsart grabbed his only bullet of the day, showing great speed and tactics. Ek Boonsawad stayed on his heels the whole time but never had the chance to overtake him. Pornanan Phayungkasem completed the podium for the race.

In the Women’s, Dow Siripon kicked everyone’s butt and finished 5th overall for the race and obviously first in her division. The 2010 Youth Olympic Gold Medalist secured the first place in her division thanks to her incredible consistency over the two days, finishing 3 points ahead of Sarocha Prumprai and 12 points ahead Sunaree Semros. In the Youths, Marcos Guedez also secured the win but admits the competition was fiercer last year.

In the end, Navin Singsart grabbed a very deserved overall win with five 1st places and two 2nd places. Despite a great performance today, Ek Boonsawad finished in second overall, trailing by 6 points, and Pornanan Phayungkasem climbed on the third step of the podium, illustrating the Thais domination this year. The first ranked foreigner is Lo Jun Hao from Singapore, ranked 5th, with Daniel Blinnika from Finland in 6th and Marcos Fernandez in 7th.

Tonight, everyone will be heading to the Kata Beach Resort & Spa to enjoy a bit of food and drinks and attend the closing ceremony where delegates of the His Majesty the King of Thailand will hand-out the prizes. In the end, this year’s event was another success and we will be looking forward to next year’s!

Big thanks also go out to the Windsurfing Association of Thailand and particularly K. Watchara Wichithong (a.ka. K. Kai) for their help in putting this event together! Thank you to the Royal Thai Navy and the Marine Rescue Center of Kata Beach. Obviously, many thanks also go out to all the sailors who made it out to Kata Beach for the racing and once again, congratulations to our winners! See you all next year!

2013 PKCR Overall Final Ranking:

1. Navin Singsart – THA (Open Men): 7 points

2. Ek Boonsawad – THA (Open Men): 13 points

3. Pornanan Phayungkasem – THA (Open Men): 20 points

4. Patharadanai Jinain – THA (Open Men): 25 points

5. Lo Jun Hao – SIN (Open Men): 27 points

6. Marcos Fernandez – ESP (Open Men): 36 points

7. Daniel Blinnika – FIN (Open Men): 40 points

8. Dow Siripon Keawduang-Ngam – THA (Open Women): 44 points

9. Marcos Guedez – FRA (Youth Men): 50 points

10. Leonard Ong – SIN (Open Men): 53 points

11. Sarocha Prumprai – THA (Open Women): 58 points

12. Choo Meng Keong Joshua – SIN (Open Men): 63 points

13. Thanakorn Prumklang – THA (Youth Men): 73 points

14. Sunaree Sermros – THA (Open Women): 86 points

15. Jutaporn Soontornhao – THA (Open Women): 87 points

More information available on Phantom295Class.com or on the Starboard website here.