WARM, sunny conditions, blue skies and 10 to 15 knots of breeze with good gusts welcomed the sailors back to the race course on Day 2 of the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek.

Ray Roberts made it three in a row for the re-branded DK46 Evolution Sails on a lengthy windward/leeward Race 3 that lasted for nearly three hours. Neil Pryde complained that some niggling little crew mistakes on his Welbourne 52 Hi Fi lost them valuable time and relegated them to second place, despite leading the fleet by a country mile. Peter Ahern?s Farr 40 Yo!2, the defending champion, is constantly chomping at the bit and ready to pounce at every opportunity, but as the race wore on, ended up in third place. Things must have finally come together on Hi Fi as they went on to score the daily double in Race 4.

Scott Duncanson?s Phuket 8, Quantum Fusion M, also got to show their offwind speed and slotted into second place. Only 14 seconds behind on corrected time, Yo!2 takes third place in front of Evolution Sails in fourth place and reduced their overall points lead to one point for the time being.

After two disappointing seventh places yesterday, Japan?s Toshio Furuta on the Mumm 36 Emma came good to win Race 3 in the IRC 1 Class after a wonderful first windward beat that put them streaks ahead of the rest. Jaray Tipsuk?s all Thai crew on Mitrmitri have kept their Platu 25 in front of some of the bigger boats to record second place and take the overall lead in the class. Third place for Madame Butterfly displaces them from the top of the pointscore but only trail by 1 point.

Race 4 saw some further juggling of the places with Niels Dgenkolf?s X Yacht, Phoenix, claiming first place with Jaray Tipsuk?s Mitrmitri hot on their heels in second place and Madame Butterfly once again in third place. This result keeps Jaray Tipsuk?s Mitrmitri on top of the table, one point in front of Phoenix, which is one point in front of Madame Butterfly. It does not get much closer than that and everything is still to play for.

Only one long passage race on Day 2 for the Club Charter Class. Horst Lakits Swan 55, Big A, managed to hold their time and take out the daily double in fine style. Andrew de Bruin?s Ron Swanson Sloop, Awatea, held the upper hand in yesterday?s two races and settled on second today but still holds onto the overall lead. Third for Rob Azzopardi?s Prosafe Cunning Plan keeps them in third overall with a lot of work to do if they are to make a lasting impression.

Not willing to be second best, Henry Kaye and Fergus Wilmer?s Sea Cart 30, Thor, scored two wins and went directly to the top of the table in the Multihull class. The newly launched Andaman Cabriolet, Da Vinci Ni?a, skippered by designer Alan Carwadine, won two races on her racing debut yesterday but two second places today has them tied on points with Thor and drops them to second overall. Neil Ayre?s Corsair 28, Shanghai Baby, and David Liddell?s Corsair 37 Miss Saigon traded third and fourth places in the two races today to hold onto the respective overall placing?s.

If consistency is the name of the game, then four wins in a row for Hans Rahmann?s Voodoo Child, skippered by the Firefly 850 designer Mark Pescott, has them convincingly in top spot and it will take an almighty effort to stop them. The other Fireflies have followed suit, with Roger Kingdon?s Moto Inzi scoring four second places and with four third places for the UK?s John Newnham aboard the chartered The Frog.

Being the only grand old lady to turn up this year for the Classic Class, Tom Howard?s North Sea Fishing Boat, Seraph, sailed the island course on their own and once again was a sight to behold as they crossed the finish line with all sails set.

Race report courtesy of www.phuketraceweek.com


For full results of day 2 races, click here.