Thailand - Pre-worlds Day One

24 March 2014

Thailand Pre Worlds Day One

It was a tricky day on the water in Pattaya for the first races of the 2014 Pre-worlds. With the breeze in the north west and a forecast swing to the south west the only question was when it would happen.

The fleet headed out for a 1pm start in 8 knots, a short chop and a strong outgoing tide.  After a short postponement racing got under way with the left side appearing favoured.  For those who went this way things started to look pretty ordinary half way up the beat when the pressure dropped and the boats on the right moved forward.  All was not lost though as the breeze came up again and the fleet coming back together.

It was Nathan Bachelor and Sam Pascoe who held out on the right to round the top mark first, followed by Heather McFarlane and Chris Payne who had come from the left.  These two would hold their positions throughout the race to finish first and second respectively.

Veronica and Ben Felat sailed well to round in third and only fell back to forth when hot favourites Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey picked some nice shifts to sneak up through the fleet.

The talking point at the bar tonight will be the 40 degree wind shift to the left on the second lap which resulted in a change of the course and a number of position changes in the middle of the fleet.  Mike Rogers and his team did extremely well to swing the course mid race and ensure that racing remained fair.

The start of race two was held up by a breeze struggling to settle into the new south westerly direction. The changing conditions made it had for PRO Mike to set a line and as a result the fleet kept pushing too hard.  After six general recalls and four line changes the fleet finally managed to get away.  

Numbers were on the low side as a number of boats could hear the bar calling and headed for shore.  The reduced fleet raced towards the top mark with a split between the left and the right.  

Those on the right came out best with the Swiss couple of Christine and Cedric Landerer rounding in front followed by Heather McFarlane and Chris Payne then Veronica and Ben Felat rounding out the top three as all women helms.

The racing at the front was tight with Heather and Chris sialing to a narrow win followed by the Felats and Ben Schulz and Doug Sheppard.

Heather was spotted at the bar later drinking Margaritas to celebrate a near perfect start to the regatta. Veronica and Ben have sailed extremely well to sit in second and Ben and Doug who only came together for their first races today rounding out the top three.

The forecast for tomorrow is a south westerly breeze in the low teens and then building as the week goes on so stay tuned for some exciting racing over the coming days.

Top Ten after two races