Dinghy racing will be making a return to the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta this year. The King’s Cup - now in its 23rd year - originally started with dinghies and it will be getting back to its roots this coming weekend with two days of dinghy racing prior to the start of the full racing schedule.

The racing will take place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November with the prizegiving scheduled to take place at the opening party on the Sunday night. There will be nine Lasers, six Tasar and four Topper Topazes (pictured) with a total of 29 sailors racing in the waters off Kata Beach.

Among the competitors will be six children from the Phuket Sunshine Village who will get the opportunity of a lifetime to compete in this prestigious regatta. They have been sailing for just over a year on most Sundays and have been joining in with the club racing at the Phuket Yacht Club under the supervision of Katy and Paul from Topper Sail Phuket.

The children will be racing in four Topper Topazes that have kindly been provided by Topper Sail Phuket and will be joining two other Thai/Swedish sailors also from the PYC.

Katy Gooch, PYC Commodore, tells us that the club’s mission is to encourage dinghy sailing and racing to help develop sailing on Phuket and to encourage participation from the local community and further encourage Thai participation in sail racing. Out of the 29 sailors already entered into the PKCR Dinghy Racing Regatta, eighteen of the sailors are Thai.

There may still be boats available for hire or if you have a dinghy and are interested in joining, please contact Katy at phuketyachtclub@gmail.com or call 085-215 9185