Day 3: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand

A solid 10-15 knots on Friday, the third of five days at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, saw all 12 classes catching up on their respective series and the Race Officers and their teams working double time.

Four races for the dinghy classes and the S\V14's while two or three for most of the others, made for a busy day in the Gulf of Thailand. Top that off with a delicious BBQ back onshore, and Day 3 has been chalked up as a winner all round.

Keelboats and Multihulls

Two races for IRC Racing 1 and two more wins for Ray Roberts and his crew on Team Hollywood (ex Provezza). The TP52 is getting the better of defending champion THA72 (another ex Provezza) which is being helmed by 2010 World Optimist Champion, Noppakao Poonpat. The racing is getting closer, with THA72 enjoying the better of the start in Friday's first race and leading to the first kite drop. After which, Team Hollywood managed to find extra boat speed and passed them, holding on to claim the win.

The racing is also getting closer in IRC Racing 2 with just 13 seconds separating Fujin and Tenacious in the second race on Friday. The day's two wins for Fujin moves them to the top of the standings, one point ahead of Tenacious with Lawana sitting third overall.

Team Spray and MoonShadow2 traded places in IRC 3 Racing, each claiming a first and second, meanwhile SailQuest Hi Jinks is getting the better of Twilight Sparkle and holding onto third overall.

It was all change in the Platu class on Friday as places at the top were shuffled. Having strung together a series of four wins from five races, Chris Way and his Easy Tiger V crew had to settle for a 1,5,2 scoreline on Friday. They still retain a 10 point lead at the top, though, and the drop race hasn't even been added yet!

The winning margins are getting narrower and narrower with just nine seconds separating first and second in the first race on Friday. Team ViewPoint retain their second place overall after a 3,1,5 while a win for Pine Pacific in the day's final race see them move ahead of YRAT and sit third overall.

After one long race each day for the Multihulls so far, the Race Officer decided it was time to double the effort and had the multihull trio on a 2-hour-plus race followed by a quick 30-minute round-the-cans. It was Bob Garner's BladeRunnerIX who went to the party with the bragging rights after claiming the win in both races. Two second places for Sonic and two third places for Edenko leaves the multihull overall standing in that order.

Thailand S\V14 Para Sailing Championship

Four fast and furious races was the order of the day for the Para Sailors and with the wind up, there was a shuffling of places as five of the seven teams made the podium.

Undefeated on the first day, Paisol Pateh/ Mahseedi Hadumor (THA) added another bullet to their scorecard with a win in the first race on Friday, finishing ahead of Kasempon Hondee/ Suraphong (Phong) Chitkong (THA) in second and Kristo Priks/ Peep Krusberg (EST) in third, their first podium of the series so far. Priks/ Krusberg carried their form into the second race and took the win. They went on to add two fourth places and now sit tied on points in fifth place overall.

Pateh/ Hadumor claimed three more second places and have a six point lead at the half way point of their 4-day series, while fellow Thai sailors, Hondee/ Suraphong, hold onto second place overall with a 2,4,3,1 scoreline on Friday.

Thailand Optimist Open Championship

Three races for both Optimist fleets and in the Gold Fleet defending champion Panwa Boonak added two more wins. A 1,2,4 for M.L. Weka Bhanubandh made up for his 11th place on Thursday, and sees him move into second overall ahead of Bowonnan Chanram in third.

In the Silver fleet, Pitipoom Jaroenpon finished the day on five points after a 2,1,1 today, ahead of Amonwan Aphiwatudomkun in second with Klorkwan Visuttiprapanont in third.

Dinghy Classes

Four races were completed for the dinghy classes on Friday (Classes 8, 9, 10, 11) and it was three wins for Albert Nazarov in Class 8. Ralf Donner added three seconds and a first while Apichart Tongmak scored third places in all races to finish in that order overall.

In Class 9, Malaysian sailor Ahmad Latif Khan B.Ali Sabri Khan dominated winning three out of today's four races. Fellow countryman, Israr Hazim B.Ismail, isn't lying down however and finished the day 1,3,3,2, and sits just two points behind in the overall standings. Meanwhile in Class 10 there's little in it, with Patcharee Sringam adding two wins to her tally and securing a two point lead over Mohammad Shahieran Rin Raiman in second and Supparak Niamruksa in third.

In the double-handed dinghy racing (Class 11) skipper Muhammad syafie bin ali had a mixed day on-the-water with a 2,5,1,3 scoreline. It was, however, enough to sit top of the overall standings at the end of the day ahead of Muhammad Fauzi Bin Kaman & Hah and Jedtavee Yongyuennarn in second and third respectively.

Windsurfs

Into the second day of racing for the RS:X and RS:One windsurf classes and a pattern is emerging. Ahmad Denish Bin Aboul Hadi Kane dominated in the RS:X today with three wins from four races, while GLH Cheow Lin had to settle for a string of seconds ahead of Nuur Fatin Sulghah Neinti Abdyl Ravman who sits third overall.

In the RS:One class, Iliham Bin Wahab added four bullets to his two wins yesterday and remains undefeated. Meanwhile Muhammad izzuddin Bin Aboul Rani strung together a series of second places to sit second overall ahead of Darron Chin Hui Jie in third.

Team Hollywood TP52 (IRC1) - Interview with Ray Roberts, Owner / Captain

PODCAST

As there are so many pictures from the Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 they have been uploaded to different pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9 and Page 10. See also: Ray Roberts to Open Sailing Schools in Thailand - Exclusive Video Interview, Team Hollywood Unbeatable! Results from Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019, Day 4: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, Day 3: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, Day 2: Racing at Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Pattaya, Thailand, Australians Dominate First Day of Top of the Gulf Regatta 2019 in Thailand, Para Sailing and the S\V14 -  Interview with Yacht Designer, Maarten Voogd, 15th Top of the Gulf Regatta to Take Place in Pattaya, Thailand 30 April - 5 May 2019, Disabled Sailing Thailand - Interview with Peter Jacops and Pictures from Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek 2019.

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