Karl Kwok’s Team Beau Geste stormed into Day Two with the same awesome form they delivered in the opening races with another win in ICR0 class Race 4. Neil Pryde’s HiFi have their work cut out to beat their rivals, with the Grand Prix class serving up the headlining thrills in typical King’s Cup style. Hifi’s 13-man crew on the advanced HiFi racer came back strongly to win Race 2, making this year’s IRC0 a genuine (and constantly evolving) spectacle!
Four-times King’s cup winner, Neil Pryde, explained what happened in today’s neck-and-neck racing: “The first race we were a little unlucky on the last beat to windward, doing well against the handicap but fell out of a breeze, enough to make a difference. In the second race we won the start, and worked well up the front of the lap. It was very close between us and Team Beau Geste, and will be all week. We’re quite happy with light conditions; our boat is designed for conditions up to ten knots, so we hope it continues! The heat was a challenge today, a definite electrolyte day! It was VERY hot!”
Winkelmann’s Island Fling came home with another win to consolidate their great early form in IRC1. Malaysian team Uranus were second on adjusted times in a tight pack. This is a very open group with wins that could come from many directions, with Wan Ma Rang and EFG Mandrake looking for faster days throughout the rest of this week. Winkelmann’s crew took another nice victory in Race 5, with Mandrake about a minute behind (on corrected times).
TBG Team Premier is the early pace-setter in IRC2, and continued their good run with another two wins on Tuesday. Bill Bremner’s Foxy Lady team finished third and second, with challengers WindSikher claiming the runner-up and third place slots today in the two respective races. This is a class split literally by seconds, with a lot more action to come as the week unfolds.
Hannes Waimer, Skipper of TBG Team Premier, said, “Very light air today, so very demanding. We are learning the boat, and sailed it for the first time on Sunday. The boat is from 2005, but we chartered it from Hong Kong, arriving on Thursday evening. We took the boat over Thursday and made it ready to go! The core team is always the same; the 10 people I sail with are professionals and friends. We sailed together for 10-12 years, so no crew work issues - a well-oiled machine, just learning the specifics of the boat. King’s Cup is the best event in South-east Asia; the weather, organization, the people – everything is amazing, such a great job.”
Aussie team Foreign Affair won Race 4 in IRC3, with Team Kata Rocks 1 skippered by Peter Dyer in second place. Thailand’s Royal Thai Navy 1 skippered by CPO.1 Wiwat Poonpat took third place today, as they try and establish consistent form heading into the second half of the Regatta. Race 5 went to Foreign Affair also, although it was anything but an easy win with a few minutes separating the top half of the competing fleet; classic King’s Cup racing!
Race 3 in Premier class, resplendent with its big, beautiful fleet of nine craft, saw Andy Cocks and Starlight deliver the win today, with Pine-Pacific managing second place. With Starlight’s two runner-up finishes yesterday, these two teams look utterly each other’s equals – one to watch for the rest of the Regatta.
Bareboat Charters were split into two classes this year (A and B) due to the sheer size of the fleet. Andrey Duvanov and Uhuru beat out compatriots on Isabella to win their race in Charter A, while another Russian team, Sarawadee, took the B Series.
Tony Pfeiffer’s Kata Rocks 3 romped home in the top slot among the Open Charter class with a long, hard run today through the slower conditions. The Australian team beat rivals Sailplane, another King’s Cup regular competitor.
Voodoo skippered by Hans Rahmann took Race 4 of the Firefly 850 Sports class, the German team ahead of all three British rivals. Six minutes covered all competitors, with this series wide open for several 2014 glory claimants. Race 5 went to Kata Rocks, the Thai entry in this five-boat class, with Advance Racing just eight seconds behind on corrected times.
Of the Multihull Racing entrants, Alan Cardwine’s Asia Catamarans Hurricane took the win by a wide margin, establishing the pace for the class with superb early form. Asia Catamarans’ second entry, Java, placed second, mirroring exactly the results from the first day; that is, four wins for Hurricane, four runner-up spots for their rivals.
In Multihull Cruising, there are just two registered vessels, resulting in a division that sees Russia versus Japan. Masami Yamashita’s crew came home almost eight minutes (four minutes corrected) in front of Star Fruit – a comprehensive rebuttal in response to yesterday’s result.
Amongst the remaining classes, New Zealand team Farrgo Express emerged as a new winner in Modern Classic, Lady Bubbly proved once again to be the fastest Cruiser, and S.Y. Ravensong quickest of the Classics. At the time of writing, Modern Classic and Cruising classes are still subject to ongoing protest decisions.
NOTE: All results are provisional.
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