(Top) Prizegiving at IMAGE asia ACYC Sunday Races. (Bottom) Roger Harris's Simone. Photos by Leslie Hand		ACYC OPEN DAY RESOUNDING SUCCESS
		Last Sunday, 6 July, Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) held an Open Day on the site of the planned new club premises, on the waterfront at Chalong Bay. The club has a six year lease on the land, with strong prospects of extending the lease in the future. Over 100 people attended, including ACYC Committee, members, guests and media. The gathering was positively charged with excitement about this new beginning. The format was an open discussion of future plans for the club, led by the ACYC Committee. Fundraising for the new structures is a critical and urgent issue as the club needs to relocate by the end of this year. During the day, 19 new members were signed up (representing an instant 30% increase in membership), one existing member bought a lifetime membership at 150,000 Baht and substantial interest was expressed in long term, corporate and family memberships at varying levels. Anybody interested in finding out more, joining the club or becoming actively involved in moving things forward should contact in the first instance Harry Usher at harry@ladypie.com Click here for the minutes of the meeting, highlighting the various discussion and action points (pdf format).

ASIA'S FIRST MULTIHULL REGATTA		Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) recently announced Asia’s first Multihull Regatta to be held on 12th and 13th of July 2008 in Ao Chalong Bay. There will be four races scheduled over two days and registration will be held at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club on Friday 11th July at 7pm. ACYC has been involved in the Phuket yacht racing scene for over 15 years and expects a good number of entries, as local keel boat sailors can crew on the multihulls, overcoming the ever-present crew-shortage problem. The organizers also anticipate a number of monohull sailors will welcome the chance to race on multihulls for a change. As this event will be held just 9 days before Six Senses Phuket Raceweek, it provides multihullers an ideal opportunity to warm up for the main event. And it gives owners contemplating making the supreme effort of bringing their boats down to Phuket from Pattaya the opportunity to take part in two events rather than one – more than justifying the effort! For more information contact Mick Kealy 0813960785 or Mark Pescott 0810794794
Six Senses Phuket Raceweek Chameleon at Phuket King's Cup Regatta 2007

		IMAGE asia DONATES OPTIMIST FOR SAMUI KIDS' SAIL TRAINING Before the sail training got under way, a presentation was held recently at Tradewinds Resort, Koh Samui, where IMAGE asia's Managing Director Grenville Fordham, flew in to present the Samui Junior sailors with a 60,000 Baht cheque to purchase another Optimist sailing dinghy. IMAGE asia, being an off-island company that organised the Koh Samui Regatta 2007, wanted to put something back into island sailing, in proportion to the amount of island support received for the 2007 event. This fitted perfectly with the approach of the Koh Samui Regatta directors, whose commitment to Koh Samui Regatta from the beginning was based on their desire to bring more sailing to Koh Samui. "That our donation can contribute towards a vibrant kids’ sailing school is perfect!" said Fordham. IMAGE asia is also a sponsor of the youth sailing programme at Phuket Yacht Club, Ao Yon.
From left: Francesco Brancaccio (Samui Regatta committee 2008), John Stall, Grenville Fordham + a few of the kids.

The first day saw five races completed in close racing around a short windward/leeward course. Two races were scheduled for the second day, but on a dead-calm Sunday morning, competitors wondered whether there would be enough wind to get any racing at all. A quick rain squall saved the day and conditions improved with just enough wind to start the sixth race.

After two exciting and challenging days for the kids, the overall Island Trophy was won by the visiting team from Samui Yacht Club Regatta against a strong challenge from the less-experienced Phuket sailors, who picked up a few well-deserved individual first and second places.

While the kids were on the water fighting it out for the medals and trophies, families and friends onshore chilled out at Phuket Yacht Club’s beachfront club house with cold beers, a BBQ and some lively analysis of the kids’ performance – and the Race Committee’s antics.

Race report
Race 1 saw Samui, the favourites, achieving a first and a third, and Phuket a second and a fourth place. Phuket came back in Race 2 to gain a first, a third and fourth. With back-to-back racing, a keenly-competed Race 3 was soon underway, with a new winner from the Samui team, but after three races, Phuket’s Philip Johansson was leading the regatta with one first and two seconds under his belt.

After on-the-water lunch provided by the host club, Race 4 started followed by back to back racing for race 5 with Samui taking line honours in both races.

Race 6, on the second day, eventually got underway after the squall, followed by Race 7. Light airs and the fluky winds didn’t help competitors, with the fleet getting increasingly frustrated as places were gained, lost and gained again. A shortened course gave three sailors from Samui the chance to break away to take the first three places. The next four boats bunched up, giving each other close competition, with Phuket eventually taking the next two places. Strong tides saw the rest of the fleet struggling to finish, but a timely light breeze came in enabling all the competitors to complete the final race.

Team Results
1st: Nakarin Gaopradit, Martin Zach, Amanda Lenartsson, Sky Yudi Samarchi (SYCR)
2nd  Philip Johansson, Jonas Johansson, Tan Sheswat & Poopay Chaikla (PYC)
3rd Jam, Popee, Mai Deridder (SYCR)
4th Adrian Larsson, Manisha Lama, Philip Hennessey, Tristan Smith & Sonan Friedensohn (PYC)

Overall results
Racing Fleet Results: 1st. Nakarin Gaopradit (SYCR), 2nd Martin Zach, (SYCR) 3rd Amanda Lennartsson, 4th Sky Yudi Samarchi 5th Philip Johansson, (PYC) 6th Jonas Johansson. (PYC)
Novice Fleet Results; 1st Tan Sheswat,(PYC)  2nd Adrian Larsson, (PYC) 3rd Poopay Chaikla (PYC)
Best under 10: Mia (SYCR)
Endeavour: Sonan Friedensohn (PYC)

The competitors, kids from around 8 years upwards, are learning to sail the tiny Optimist dinghies in Koh Samui with the Samui Yacht Club Regatta and here in Phuket as part of the Phuket Yacht Club’s sail training programme.

Phuket Yacht Club has undergone some major changes over the past couple of years and now has a lively and growing membership led by an energetic team committed both to teaching youngsters to sail and to developing the club as a sailing-oriented family venue.

The Island Trophy is to become an annual event, alternating between Koh Samui and Phuket. The 2008 event will consist of three races on each day, with a beachside BBQ & Prize Giving on Sunday 23rd March.10-12 youngsters will race over the two days and the trophy will be awarded to the overall winner, with medals for individual races and age categories.

Although Phuket arguably offers the best sailing in the world, opportunities for youngsters to learn sailing have been extremely limited. The sail training programme at Ao Yon is a big step in a direction that offers Phuket kids a lively interest, a marketable skill and a lot of healthy, competitive fun.

Anyone interested in supporting this initiative should make an effort to get down to Ao Yon on 22 or 23 March. All the competing Optimists have been sponsored and branded by local companies and, to fuel its growth, the club is actively looking for more corporate support.

For more details on the Island Trophy, the Ao Yon sail training programme or sponsorship opportunities, contact phuketyachtclub@gmail.com

To download the complete calendar of the IMAGE Asia ACYC 2008, right click here and Save Target As (file size 475KB)