The 20th Samui Regatta, organized by Regattas Asia, hit the water again in late
May with over 6o international sailors racing off of Chaweng Beach.
As the post Covid-19 recovery continues, fewer boats are currently travelling
around Asia. However, the pedigree of the Samui Regatta competitors remained
undisputed and included Australian Olympic Sailor Steve McConaghy. With
crews traveling from as a far away as Hong Kong, Australia, Europe and New
Zealand to compete.

In past years, pre-COVID, the Top of the Gulf Regatta was held in Ocean
Marina in Jomtien, making it an interesting two-regatta draw for the sailors
from Hong Kong, who could fly back from Pattaya after the ToG and return to
Samui a couple weeks later. But the ToG has not been held since 2019.
Simon and his partner Kae Wattana of Regattas Asia have never considered
canceling the event as they are bound and determined to promote Koh Samui as
a great sailing destination. The regatta also has long been a boon to the local
economy as sailors spend their hard-earned cash at many of the local
establishments.

There were five days of racing with a lay day scheduled for Thursday and the
closing party set for the Nora Beach Resort & Spa on Saturday evening.
 
Day One
PRO and race organizer Simon James combined the mixed designs of boats
together into one class for two races; the first was a three-lap windward-leeward
race. And the second was a course that hugged the northern coastline of Samui
rounding Koh Kong to port and heading back to the start boat/finish line.
Racing was scheduled to start at 10am but the wind tempted and teased, pushing
the start back to 11:10am, where there was a more constant breeze. When they
did get going the sailors had between 5-10 knots of breeze on the first race with
the wind gusting to 17 knots in the second.
Sam Chan’s Freefire, a TP52, set the early pace easily winning the first race on
corrected time after handicaps were applied by just oer 2 mins over Terry
Foster’s Tenacious, an Adams 10. McConaghy’s Venture, a Beneteau 40.7

placed third, and Andre Den Braven’s Sail Quest Graffiti, a Whiting 36. placed
fourth.
The second passage race, heading up towards Koh Phangan saw Tenacious edge
out Freefire on corrected time by 20 seconds, while Venture and Sail Quest
Graffiti repeated their placed third and fourth place finishes.
Trinai Bhanusiriyawatra, Vice President of the Tourism Association of Koh
Samui, handed out the day’s prizes at the buffet dinner, held in front of the
Banana Fan Sea resort, where local dignitaries (Mr. Chokchai Ruangsri,
secretary-general of the Koh Samui Tourism Promotion Association, and Mr.
Wichawut Jinto, Governor of Surat Thani Province) and members of the TAT
had officially launched the regatta the night before.

Day Two
Sailors enjoyed champagne sailing conditions on the second day of the event.
The competitors sailed two races: the first, a three-lap windward-leeward; and
the second, a nice coastal race that the skirted the north end of Samui and then
Haad Rin on Koh Phangan.
The first race was as close as close can be with Sam Chan’s Freefire beating
Terry Foster’s Tenacious by three seconds on a corrected time of 01:12:17 to
01:12:20 with Venture following at 01:13:09, shortly afterwards. Doesn’t get
much closer than that.

The second race was a marathon in the extreme heat with Sam Chan’s Freefire,
facing heavy winds and strong currents, crossing the line first at 02:22:43 of
elapsed time to 03:25:08 for Tenacious & 03:20:35 for Venture. Sail Quest
Graffiti, struggled against the strong current without a spinnaker after damage
on the first day.

Saard Panyawan provided the start and mark boats this regatta. He has a
remarkable story having represented Thailand in windsurfing at not only the
Los Angeles (1984) and Barcelona (1992) Olympic Games, but he is also the
winner of many Southeast Asian and Asian championships (he was the
kitefoiler out on the course, today). His daughter Natalie is an accomplished
mountain biker and has represented Thailand internationally.
At the evening party, sailors saluted the late great Marty Rijkuris, whose
birthday was May 22nd. Marty passed in 2019 but the Koh Samui Regatta was

the jewel in his ASIAN Yachting Grand Prix. It was here that he would hand out
his “Skipper” “Yacht” of-the-year awards. Marty felt a special warmth for the
Chao Samui (Samui people) and many remember him very fondly.
Khun Bond, Director of Sales & Marketing for the Resotel, handed out the
day’s prizes at the buffet dinner held in front of the Banana Fan Sea resort.
Day Three,
In the two-decade storied history of the Samui Regatta, no one has ever staged a
pursuit race before.
Sailors were delighted with the course selection: after sending the fleet on a
coastal race and a few windward-leewards on the first couple days, PRO &
Regatta Organizer Simon James decided to break new ground and send them on
the regatta’s inaugural pursuit race, a 17-mile-long course towards the south of
the island. Yachts competed for not only the Pursuit prize, but were also scored
under the IRC Handicap system for the overall series points.
The sequence was such: first off was Sail Quest Graffiti, followed 12 minutes
later by Tenacious, and then 17 minutes later by Venture, with Freefire, the last
to cross the start line, 55 minutes later.
With 11 knots of breeze, Graffiti sprinted off the line heading out to sea, while
Tenacious and Venture prowled the start line waiting for their time to come.
Once underway, Tenacious headed out to sea while Venture decided to hug the
shore line. However, the wind gods had a different idea, while the wind
remained with Sail Quest Graffiti, the two later starters were becalmed for some
20 mins before the breeze stablised again.
After a late breakfast, Freefire started just as the wind kicked in and set off to
chase the fleet. As the breeze picked up the boats converged all rounding the
Hin Ang Wan reef together. It was then a sprint back up the coast to see who
would win the honors.
As the yachts rounded the final headland into Chaweng Beach, the boats
experienced some major wind shifts and the fleet compressed again for a very
close finish.
The spry 75-year-old Sam Chan, skipper/owner of Freefire said he first took up
sailing while studying at the University of Manchester in the 1960s. Chan, who

has long been a regatta regular, showcased his crew’s skill set by bringing home
first-place in both the Pursuit Race and IRC Open Classes today. Venture took
second in the Pursuit Race followed by Tenacious and Sail Quest Graffiti. IRC
Open saw Venture follow Freefire in second with Tenacious and Sail Quest
Graffiti tied for third.
Sail Quest Graffiti’s performance was remarkable as she was sailing not only
without a spinnaker, so could not take advantage of the big gusts on the off-
wind legs, but were also without their co-skipper, who was described by the
crew as & missing in action & from the day’s activities.
The days prizes were presented by Khun Vorsit Phongkumphan, Vice President
of the Nora Group in front of the Banana Fan Sea resort again.
Day Four
Following a lay day on Thursday, the regatta picked up again with great sailing
conditions. Race management team continued to break up the courses, this time
sending the fleet on a windward-leeward course for the first race and a passage
race up to Koh Phangan and back for the second.
The five dozen competitors in attendance, a similar total to many major events,
continued to pledge their delight with the regatta and many have already
promised to come back next year.

The scoresheet was identical for both races as Sam Chan’s Freefire continued
on its tear winning two races and six of the seven in the event so far, leaving the
yacht in first place with just 6 points. While Terry Foster’s Tenacious sat two
points back with 13 closely followed by Steve McConaghy’s Venture’s two
second-place finishes today leave it in third spot with 15 points. Sail Quest
Graffiti had a great sailing day, finishing close to the other yachts and brings up
fourth spot with 23.5 points.
So, although Freefire has the regatta wrapped up it will go right down to the
wire for second-and-third place as Venture and Tenacious, who have finished
seconds apart on races throughout the regatta, will battle it out to see who takes
the silver chalice.
At the evening presentations, the awards were presented by Coca Cola Haad
Thip, Thailand & leading provider of soft beverages, who are a longtime
supporter of Asian Regatta. As everyone enjoyed another great buffet dinner
held in front of the Banana Fan Sea resort.


Day Five
With only one race left in the schedule, yachts started a final windward-leeward
on the final day of the regatta as many participants had indicated a preference to
pack up early and go home after a long week of terrific racing.
Going into the final race, Steve McConaghy’s Venture knew they had to beat
first-place Freefire to take second spot overall, but alas Freefire won the final
race by 31 seconds on corrected time. Thus, while Venture finished second on
the last day it finished third overall. Terry Foster’s Tenacious flipflopped with
Venture, placing third on the final race but second overall. The Sail Quest
trainee crew on Andre Den Braven & 39 Sail Quest Graffiti were a little over-
powered by the gusts today, placing fourth.
Sam Chan and his crew on Freefire made sure they did not make the trip from
Hong Kong in vain as they won seven of the eight races to capture the 2023
Samui Regatta.
Sail Quest Graffiti finished fourth overall, but was the winner of the “Samui
Regatta Dogged Determination Award”. Without their spinnaker - which could
not be replaced or repaired - they have managed to keep up with the rest of the
yachts. The yacht’s skipper Andre Den Braven spends six-weeks-on and six-
weeks-off as the skipper of a dredging rig in Kazakhstan. His crew is made up
of his wife Nong, a very capable sailor. Also on board is Tim McMahon, who
runs Sail Quest sailing school, and a number of students who recently graduated
from Tim’s school. The design on the mainsail of this boat, a tagger in action,
reflects the spirit of the crew on board.

Wrap-Up
Regattas Asia has set the dates for the 2024 Samui Regatta from May 18-25 and
is hoping to link with the Top of the Gulf & Tioman regattas in a format that
will even attract more sailors to the event. Simon says he has already had
enquiries from the US, Canada, China, Oman and Dubai about competing in the
event next year.
The atmosphere and camaraderie the regatta created was wonderful as many
Samui Regatta veteran sailors have their favourite bars, shops and restaurants
that they return to, pumping a lot of money into the local economy, which was
left shellshocked by COVID-19.

As one regatta participant said, “It was a great success; no boat or person was
injured, everyone had a great time & we got a of great sailing in.” Ten nations
were represented in the event with competitors coming from as far as Australia
and New Zealand.
The Nora Beach Resort & Spa staged the final party on Saturday evening, and
what a show they put on with a sumptuous buffet and great musical
entertainment. A number of prominent local and regional government officials
were in attendance at the final awards ceremony as were members of the Yacht
Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT).
In regattas, it’s natural to focus on the competitors and as such many of the
people that help make the regattas happen behind the scenes get little notice.
But it should be noted that the person running the mark boat in this regatta is
retired US Navy Commander David Rucker, who flew 76 combat missions as a
helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War and celebrates his 80th Birthday this year.
Making an appearance at the regatta was Grenville Fordham, who organized the
Samui Regatta one year and founded the Phuket Race Week regatta. He was in
the area gathering information for his comprehensive chartbook, Southeast Asia
Pilot.
Regional regatta watchers were in agreement when they noted they can’t
remember a recent regatta that has been run as smoothly as this Samui Regatta
with no postponements or cancelations.

Story & photos by Scott Murray

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