OMYC Platu Championship of Thailand 2021 – Round 3

OMYC Thai Platu Champs 2021 © K Tanathorn / FLS

What a weekend of racing! The wind gods certainly enjoyed themselves, and so did everyone else!

On Saturday the wind stayed NE, but with regular 30 degree oscillations. Gusts of up to 24 kts blitzed the course area, with a median of around 14 kts.

In Pattaya, a nor’easterly comes from over the land, where there are lots of high-rise condominiums. Even a windward mark one mile out from the beach did not escape big changes in wind strength and direction, putting a lot of pressure on the tacticians. This OD Championship is closely contested by very experienced crews, and some races were decided by less than a metre, and first-to-last was never more than 20 seconds, so evenly matched were the crews. The closeness of crew quality also meant there were a lot of noisy, close quarter fights making it good for anyone watching. At the end of Saturday’s five races the YRAT crew finished ahead of Kevin Whitcraft by just 2 points, with all to play for on the Sunday. Behind these two, the FLS Logistics crew hung on to third and finished the day with a win.

OMYC Thai Platu Champs 2021 - photo © K Tanathorn / FLS

And so on to Sunday which heralded a whole different story. The day started with a lot less wind, but still from the northeast. Then it faded to practically nothing before a new breeze came in from the southeast just in time for race two. But then began a day like no other. The windward mark for the third and last race was set and reset five times before the Race Officer decided to take a chance and start the race. In the 75 minutes prior, the wind clocked 360 degrees and then backed 90. Patience paid off, and for this last race the wind stayed constantly from the north. The last race of the regatta was a medal race with double points on offer. Having shown glimpses of their potential all weekend, Khun Ithinai, on Pine Pacific, finally got the win he deserved, nudging ahead of Kevin Whitcraft by maybe 20 cms at the line. Team YRAT suffered with an OCS, but fought their way back to third.

Some great battles and some remarkable comebacks were the order of the weekend because of the constant shifts and pressure differences across the course. Fun for everyone, and proving once again that this One Design fleet produces the most exciting and closest racing of all.

So now we move onto the fourth and final round of this closely-fought right to be crowned the One Design Platu Champion of Thailand 2021.

OMYC Thai Platu Champs 2021 - photo © K Tanathorn / FLS

Results after 8 races Team YRAT 16 points Kevin Whitcraft 19 FLS logistics 30 Pine Pacific 31 Le Vent 39

Thanks to Ocean Marina Yacht Club for providing all the support for this Championship. Thanks also to K Thammasak for his hard work on the committee boat controlling the mark laying. And thanks to Krystal for the results. Thanks to Doug Smith for his work in the background, thanks to Tony Hewitt (the world’s best flagman), and thanks to FLS Logistics for providing the bottle awards.

STOP PRESS The Fourth and final round of the OMYC PLATU One Design Championship of Thailand 2021 will take place 11-12 December. Check your diaries, and we look forward to seeing you all there.