Phuket Raceweek – A Regatta That Matters
There was a time when Phuket had two international regattas. One was the Phuket King’s Cup, in early December, and the other was the picturesque Phang Nga Bay Regatta, usually in February.
The Phuket 8s - a class of sportboats made on the island - are regular class winners in Race Week. But the competition's getting tougher...
The problem with both of these regattas was the wind – all too often there wasn’t any, and crews sat around in the blazing sun with sails flapping dismally, rather wishing they were onshore in the shade with a nice frosty beer.
What yachties wanted was plenty of wind, spinnakers bursting, boats capsizing left, right and centre (though not their own boats, naturally), and that overall sensation of being in a very large washing machine.
Grenville Fordham of Image Asia and his then-offsider Andy Dowden, who was heavily involved in the King’s Cup in the earlier days, decided to give them what they wanted – a regatta in June or July, in the middle of the southwest monsoon season, when wind is pretty much a given.
The idea appealed to Six Senses, which runs the Evason Resort in Rawai and which became – and remains – the main sponsor for the event. The Evason is the venue for all the after-race parties that are so essential for salt-crusted crewmen and women just dying to celebrate a win or to forget the day’s dreadful performance.
The first event went in 2004 off well, with 19 mostly locally-based boats. It’s grown in the intervening years. Last year 45 yachts of all shapes and sizes took part, and Race Week has now amassed enough glamour to have attracted Jaguar-Land Rover as a co-sponsor for the 2009 regatta.
Wind, as promised, has been delivered each year; in one year there were even waterspouts for the yachts to dodge.
Those with a bit of cash to spare can charter a boat for the event (see the website). Those who don’t may want to try asking around at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club, off Chao Fa East Rd, to see whether anyone is looking for crew. This year’s regatta, the sixth, runs from July 22 to 26.
