22nd January 2012 Great Laser Island Race & Rinze Yetsenga 4-Island Race.
by Chris Dando

This years 29th Great Laser Island Race was started in tradictional fashion by Reg Chambers who instigated the race and provided the trophy in 1964. This years classic started off in light conditions with a tactically challenging long beat over the the south end of Koh Larn. Charlie worked his was into a useful lead but unfortunately ran into a lack of wind as he approached the island. Neil and Leigh took over but Charlie fought back to overtake Neil on the long run down the back of Koh Larn. Navigational skills looked like playing a part on the way back to the buoy near the shore to the north of the club. Most of the leaders headed too far south allowing many of the fleet to close up as they realised their mistake. Leigh was sailing well and Neil only just managed to overtake him from buoy to the finish to win. Leigh was a close second with Charlie in third.

At the same time as the Lasers were sailing their classic, the multihulls sailed the Rinze Yetsenga 4 Island Challenge postponed from last December. Again navigation was the key to a good result, with Alex and Peter missing the South mark, and Morten and Florent having also to retrace their route to correct their course. The winner after a long race was Stefan crewed by Peter, with Gareth and Bobby missing out by less than 2 minutes on handcap. As is traditional for this race, the prizes go to the crew, so Peter took the trophy with Bobby in second.

Monohull Results
Great Laser Island Race

Multihull Results
Rinze Yetsenga 4 Islands Challenge

21st January 2012 - Varuna Handicap
by Chris Dando

Ideal Varuna sailing conditions were back for the 2012 Varuna Handicap race around the tradicitional course of Koh Chun, the West Marck and back through the club finish line. The multihulls started first with Alex and Peter in their F20 leading the way around the course chased by the rest of the pack. The reach from the West mark back to the club gave a different challenge from the normal windward leeward courses, and it was a case of hanging on and hoping in the gusts! Even though Alex took line honours after 2 laps, it was the F18's who did best on handicap with Morten winning followed by Stefan.

The running start for all classes also provided a chance to exercise new tactics. The multihulls were somewhat line shy, but the monohulls had a close battle straight off the line. It was great to see David and Gilbert out racing in their Enterprise -- considering this was the first outing for the boat for some time, they sailed an excellent race to beat 2 of the Lasers. Neil managed to sneak away on the first run to the lighthouse with Marc in hot pursuit, Malcolm and Chris fought all the way to the line with Malcolm just managing to get across for thrd place.

Multihull Results

Monohull Results

***

7th & 8th January 2012 - New Olympic Series
by Chris Dando

Great sailing conditions prevailed over the weekend for the New Olympic Series Regatta. On Saturday the multihulls sailed windward-leeward courses with the monohulls doing trapezoid. The F18's and F20 enjoyed the longer downwind legs to win all 3 multihull races while in the monohulls, Noppakao showed that the 29'er was a force to be respected even on the trapezoid course by winning 2 of the races, with Kevin winning just the 1 in his Laser. The 29'ers also showed their swimming talents in the breeze!

On Sunday the multihull course was changed to include a trapezoid first lap which gave the cats without a spinnaker a chance to show their speed. Gareth took full advantage by winning the first 2 races in his Dart 18 with Stefan and Morten keeping the pressure on just behind. Overall Gareth just managed the win, even though he was equal in points to Stefan, with Morten just 1 point behind. In fact if Morten's hangover hadn't been so bad and he had managed to remember his notes from the navigation course, he would have won!

With the absence of the 29'ers on Sunday, Marcel showed his consistancy in the strong breeze by winning the monohulls overall in his Laser, with Jim Hood making second place in his RS100.

Results

Monohull Results

17th & 18th December 2011 - Laser Districts
by Chris Dando

There was some great, if tough, conditions at Varuna for the Laser District Championships over the weekend. The northerly winter winds were definitely making their presence felt together with some fantastic waves to surf downwind on if you could survive! Both days saw the wind increase throughout the day taking it's toll on the competitors but also providing some great championship sailing conditions.

The overnight results after Saturday left both fleets with some serious racing to do on the Sunday. In the combined Standard rig and Radial fleet, Kevin and Gareth were fighting it out for the lead and on equal points. In the 4.7 fleet it was even more competitive with 4 people in contention and very close on points. Sunday saw the wind strong from the first start, and Kevin showed his skills in the conditions to win the 3 races sailed, making a final race unnecessary -- some of the fleet retreated from using the full rig and put up smaller radial rigs to cope!

The 4.7 fleet results were still open right into the final race of the day so there was no let up for the younger sailors -- they had to sail a final 8th race of the weekend to sort the results out. Eventually Khun Kwonkrut Praupong posted a great win overall, with Khun Sittisart Ponpun and Don Whitcraft making the other podium positions.

Overall a great weekend of full on heavy weather racing -- thanks to all who braved the conditions!

Laser Standard & Radial Fleet Results

Laser 4.7 Fleet Results

10th December 2011 - Winter Series Final
by Chris Dando

A strong wind from the North greeted the sailors for the final day of the Winter Series. It didn't look too bad as the boats launched but soon the breeze was building with at times over 20 knots combined with some big waves. The first race was won by a rejuvenated Jim Hood in his RS100 returning to Thailand, with Christophe in his Laser Radial taking second on handicap from Gareth. In the second race Christophe decided to park at the first windward mark when he lost his tiller, and Jim made a brave decision in the increasing wind to fly his spinnaker on the last downwind leg -- it didn't work for too long.......This left Gareth and Marc fighting for the lead with the victory going to Gareth.

With the wind seeming still increasing, and the highly unusual sight of Gareth inspecting his centreboard, the fleet abandoned the final race before the start to head for shelter ashore. This meant that Chris retained the lead in the series overall, with Gareth and Mark close behind.

Monohull Results

3rd, 4th & 5th December 2011 - Winter Series Part 3
by Chris Dando

The monohulls had 3 days of racing over the long weekend at Varuna in light to medium conditions that certainly were a headache for the race officers. Each day there was a significant shift in the wind direction causing the course to be reset. However the racing was good with some interesting shifts and lulls to throw the occasional surprise to all. Gareth continued to dominate but was made to work for the wins. Eventually Chris did manage to win the last 2 races of the weekend. A welcome also to Alex who sailed his first races on Saturday and Sunday, and managed to lead at the first mark in the last race, eventually finishing quite a lose second.

Monohull Results

26th & 27th November 2011 - Winter Series Part 2
by Chris Dando

The Winter wind has arrived in strength for Part 2 of the Winter Series. So much so that there were no takers for racing on the Saturday although several intrepit sailors went out for a blast in the aftrnoon! On Sunday there were 3 races for the monohulls in challenging conditions. However Gareth seemed totally unfazed and won all three, with the rest alternating between sailing and swimming. Obviously everyone needs more practice especially at gybing! It was a great days sailing and racing and all managed to survive to gt back to shore for a well earned beer!

Overall Chris still leads the series with Charlie in second closely pursued by Marc.

Monohull Results

19th & 20th November 2011 - Tara Court Varuna Cup
by Chris Dando

The Tara Court Varuna Cup was held over the weekend with some great and varied sailing conditions to challenge all competitors. On Saturday the wind started weel for the first race but dropped slightly as the day went on. 3 races were held for all the classes with some big gains and losses had by all in the shifty conditions. Saranya obviously enjoyed the challenge and nailed 3 wins in her Nacra Infusion F18 in the multihull class. The monohull results were more varied with 3 different winners and several different boats getting into the top 3. It was great to be joined by several keelboats from Ocean Marina. They did demonstarte some interesting tactics varying from delaying spinnaker drops so late that they had to tack back up to windward to get back to the right side of the committee boat to finish, to showing how to tack a Platu 25 around a mark through 180 degrees still with the spinnaker up!

Sunday saw ideal Varunian conditions with a brisk Force 3 wind and, as usual, sunshine! The race officers showed no mercy by setting good length courses for all which challenged aching muscles. The dramas caused by the variable conditions the previous day were set aside with the racing being challenging but straight forward. Saranya hung in against a strong challenge by John to win the multihulls by one point. Chris managed to sail consistantly to win the monohulls from Marcel and then Neil, but the 'fast guard' is back in the form of Gareth and Kevin who showed how to really sail a Laser! The keeboats sailed a long distance race round several islands, and after two and a half hours, all managed to finish within 6 minutes of each other. The Ferret (Platu) just beating Gary in his T590 by one point overall.

The Optimist fleet was again boosted by sailors from Sattahip with 47 boats taking part. They sailed their own series on a separate course with some very close racing in a high scoring series. Overall Khun Chaninat Poolsirikot won, with Khun Jirawat Jadklay in second and Khun Kanaporn Pachtikapamya in third. The final positions only being decided with the last race.

A big thanks to Tara Court for sponsoring the weekend and to all competitors for making the effort to sail!

Multihull Results

Monohull Results

Keelboat Results

Optimist Results

29th & 30th October 2011 - Grosvenor House Commodore's Cup
by Chris Dando

The multihulls were back in force at the weekend for a double bill for the Commodore's Cup and the Eiffel Trophy. 18 boats competed over the weekend starting with a race round the buoys on Saturday followed by a middle distance race afterwards. The winds were kind and picked up for the distance race giving a flat out twin trapeze reach between the islands. Morten was taking both the racing seriously and the French theme for the weekend with Florent crewing him. Not only did they score 2 firsts, but also did well enough in the evening's Petanque to win Saturday's Eiffel Trophy. Sunday followed with 3 races around the buoys with the F18's taking the first 3 places with Morten, Pook and Stefaan respectively. This was despite Stefaan's capsize in the final race of the day! The top Nacra 16 square trophy went to Les.

The fight at the top of the monohull fleet was only sorted out by a count back on the number of firsts. Kevin in his Laser just taking the overall trophy. However he didn't make it easy for himself as he missed the first race and only got there just in time to start the second. Even if that wasn't a bad handicap he then decided to tear his sail in the second race on Sunday. Somehow he managed to finish, sail back to shore , get another sail and make the start to win the final race of the day and the overall honours! Christophe sailed well to finish second, with Marc improving all the time to make third place.

The Optimists sailed the first weekend of their Series for the King's Cup Regatta with the fleet swollen by a big group from Sattahip. The second weekend of this series will be at the end of November. However 35 sailors had a long day on the water on Saturday as the wind died during the 4th and final race of the day. Several sailors were unfortunate not to finish. Sunday was far better and they again managed 4 races towards the series. With the very strong team from Sattahip, the best RVYC sailor was Markus who managed a very creditable 10th place overall, and as the top home sailor was awarded the Commodore's Cup trophy for the weekend. The next RVYC sailors were Alex followed by Miki who both received the local trophies together with Som O as the first RVYC girl.

Many thanks again to Grosvenor House and Land Rover, who together with our Commodore, sponsored a great weekend of racing at Varuna!

Multihull Results

Monohull Results
 

No	Sailno	Name	Scores	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Laser 192573	Kevin	15.0	(dnc)	6	1	1	6	1
2	Laser 195000	Christoph	15.0	3	2	3	(5)	4	3
3	Laser 200143	Marc	18.0	5	1	2	(7)	5	5
4	Laser 1000	Andrew Daniel	23.0	4	(dnf)	4	6	3	6
5	29er 1113	Don	24.0	(dnc)	dns	6	3	1	2
6	Laser 190937	Hans	30.0	6	4	5	8	7	(dns)
7	Laser 2000	Stefano	32.0	(dnc)	dnc	dnc	2	2	4
8	RSVision 1323	Chris W	36.0	7	7	7	(9)	8	7
9	RSVision 1340	Neil	41.0	2	3	(ocs)	dns	dns	dns
10	29er 1111	Napakorn	45.0	(dnc)	5	dnf	4	dns	dnf
11	Laser 193933	Charlie	49.0	1	(dnf)	dns	dns	dns	dns

Optimist Results

No	Sailno	Name	Scores	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	116	Sarawut Phetsiri, M, JSST	14.0	2	1	1	4	(5)	1	2	3
2	115	Jirawat, M, JSST	23.0	1	2	7	(12)	8	3	1	1
3	188	Chaninat Poolsirikot, F, JSST	27.0	5	6	2	1	3	8	(10)	2
4	118	Apiwat Sringan, M, JSST	37.0	3	9	4	7	(15)	2	3	9
5	144	Pongsapat Pumyam, M, JSST	37.0	8	5	9	2	(12)	4	4	5
6	104	Kanapan Pachatikapanya, F, JSST	39.0	6	7	(14)	5	7	5	5	4
7	9129	Jarapong Meeyusamsen, M, JSST	49.0	11	10	3	6	(20)	6	7	6
8	9927	Kitapoom Kumjopn, M, JSST	53.0	(14)	3	8	3	9	13	6	11
9	119	Aucharapong Chanyim, M, JSST	54.0	4	8	6	8	6	(18)	8	14
10	45	Markus Lilienthal, M, RVYC	61.0	7	4	15	13	1	(16)	13	8
11	2243	Suthon Yampinit, M, JSST	72.0	10	14	10	9	2	(17)	14	13
12	1014	Kamonchanok Klahan, F, JSST	73.0	(18)	16	11	11	4	7	9	15
13	102	Sutida Poonpat, F, JSST	76.0	13	(17)	5	14	11	10	11	12
14	15	Nopporn Boonchard, M, JSST	83.0	15	12	12	16	(17)	9	12	7
15	9378	Tareewat Phonchamnan, M, JSST	85.0	12	11	13	(15)	13	11	15	10
16	1191	Voravong Rajrattanaruk, M, JSST	92.0	9	13	16	10	16	12	16	(17)
17	63	Alex, M, RVYC	115.0	16	15	17	(dnf)	19	15	17	16
18	67	Miki, M, RVYC	119.0	23	18	18	(dnf)	10	14	18	18
19	122	Paliga Poonpat, F, JSST	147.0	17	19	19	(dnf)	24	20	19	29
20	113	Poom, RVYC	155.0	29	25	25	(dnf)	14	19	22	21
21	40	Pakorn Jit, M, JSST	158.0	20	24	23	(dnf)	23	23	23	22
22	2466	Nichaporn Panmucan, F, JSST	167.0	24	27	21	(dnf)	27	27	21	20
23	21	Supparak Naimraksa, M, JSST	169.0	22	26	22	(dnf)	30	30	20	19
24	744	Kan Phomussuth, M, JSST	171.0	28	21	20	(dnf)	25	29	24	24
25	1180	Som O, RVYC	173.0	19	23	27	(dns)	21	26	30	27
26	68	Taan, RVYC	176.0	26	20	26	(dns)	28	21	27	28
27	88	Nattarron Jankana-a-ree, M, JSST	176.0	25	22	24	(dnf)	22	28	25	30
28	8	Lorenzo Cassio, M, RVYC	179.0	21	28	31	(dnf)	26	24	26	23
29	3501	Tara Coakley, F, RVYC	186.0	32	30	29	(dnf)	18	22	29	26
30	222	Anunyan Kasom, F, JSST	202.0	30	29	30	(dnf)	29	31	28	25
31	1000	Lachan, M, RVYC	211.0	27	31	28	(dnf)	31	25	32	dnf
32	3	Dechodom, M, JSST	237.0	33	34	32	(dnf)	32	32	dns	dns
33	5	Pete Sukanjanajtee, M, RVYC	238.0	(dnf)	32	33	dnf	dnf	dnf	31	31
34	1001	Hans Ploem, M, RVYC	249.0	34	33	34	(dnf)	dnf	dnf	dnf	dns
35	9579	Thanapat Phanorn, M, JSST	253.0	31	(dnf)	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf	dnf

***

22nd & 23rd October 2011 - Autumn Series Final
by Chris Dando

Quite a busy weekend at the club with some great racing in the monohull fleet. The wind remained from the North and together with the incoming tide, combined to give a difficult chop upwind and a few waves to add to the fun downwind. The fleet managed 3 races both on Saturday and Sunday with some very close finishes. Chris continued to manage to pile up the first places but always had the ever present threat from Charlie and Christophe through to the finish. Saturday's after race beer was livened by the number of rule discussions held in good spirit!

Overall Chris won the series, with Charlie consolidating second place even though he decided to throw his tiller extension overboard at the wing mark during Sunday's final race. Hans continued to put the results on the chart and finished third overall.

Monohull Results      

1st & 2nd October 2011 - Autumn Series Part 1
by Chris Dando

The start of the Autumn Series was another hard fought weekend of racing at Varuna. A little different conditions as the tide was with the boats up the beat as opposed to its recent normal intent of providing as much hard beating as possible.

Another good turnout in the Monohull class with the Oman team providing great competition throughout the fleet. In particular the battle at the front was quite intense. The first day saw one win each for Ahmed and Hussain from Oman, with Chris chasing them hard in both races. The final race of the day Chris managed to win narrowly from Ahmed. On Sunday it all went down to the final race as both Ahmed and Chris gained an additional win each in the first 2 races. In fact it came down to the smallest of margins at the finish. On the last run Chris managed to catch a wave to overtake Ahmed, who then managed to retake the lead. At the finish Ahmed crossed first with Chris and Charlie finishing in second and third. All 3 boats were overlapped as they crossed the line. Many congratulations to Ahmed, and also thanks to the Oman team who have been great competitors while they have been over here.

In the multihulls, Alex continued to show the way round by winning the 4 races he sailed. It looks like the F18's will have to start to perform consistantly against the singlehanded cats as Jan sailed steadily in his Nacra 16sq to finish overall in second. With Jens in his A class now getting into the racing, the singlehanded cats seem to be making a strong bid for honours!

Monohull Results  

Multihull Results

24th & 25th September 2011 - Oktoberfest
by Chris Dando

A great weekend at Varuna -- good fleets, some close racing and a really good party on Saturday. Many thanks to Stefaan and Bayer for their support which was greatly appreciated not only by the sailors, but also by all who joined in the party. Results from the sausage eating and beer drinking competitions may get published elsewhere if anyone was sober enough to remember them!

On the sailing front, the biggest class was the monohulls. This was boosted by the Oman Laser Sailing Team who are over here training. However the locals were not to be outdone. Perhaps due to local knowledge in the light and choppy conditions! Chris D and Kevin managed to win the races on Saturday with Chris B puting in some consistant results in his OK. Ahmed from Oman started also to get to grips with the conditions by finishing second in the final race of the day. On Sunday, a mediocre result from Chris D in the first race looked as though he had left the door open for a challenge from several other sailors, but he managed to recover by scoring 2 firsts in the final races to win overall. Ahmed continued to improve and just managed to pip Chris B overall for second.

In the multihulls, Alex showed that his Nacra 20 in singlehanded setup was the boat to beat. He won two races on Saturday and a further one on Sunday. However the results behind could not have been closer with 3 boats on equal points. Eventually Antony made second overall, with Gary just beating Stefaan for third by having the better result in the last race. The highlight of the weekend was provided by Saranya and crew -- in the middle of a very perculiar patch of rough water including the odd whitecap, she managed to fool everyone into thinking that a viscous gust was about to flatten the fleet by capsizing at the windward mark! Despite this attempt to disturb the concentration of all, nobody else seemed keen to join in her swimming exercise class!

The optimists sailed their own regatta managing 7 races over the 2 days. Congratulations to everyone as they all finished all of the races. Miki dominated the series by winning all of the races, but it was much tighter for second and third positions. Eventually Taan managed to secure second overall with Som-O finishing third.

Monohull Results  

Multihull Results

Optimist Results 

19th September 2011 - Monsoon Series Final
by Chris Dando

After the previous weekend where the monsoon hit Pattaya with a vengence, Saturday's weather was ideal for some close racing to complete the Monsoon Series. 9 boats were out in the monohulls and enjoyed 3 competitive races. In the first race Ralph and Chris had a close fight all the way round the course with Chris just edging ahead on the final beat to win. The second race saw a great performance from Khun Pairode who led around the first lap, and was only overtaken up the last beat by Chris as the wind strengthened. Unfortunately the battle with Chris forced Pairode out into the adverse tide and allowed several boats to get through him at the windward mark. The final race saw Malee ahead at the first windward mark but Chris managed to pass her on the second reach and go on the win his 3rd race of the day. Overall Chris won the series with Charlie and Junior in second and third places respectively.

The multihulls finally sailed in the series, and judging from the increasing numbers at the club over the weekend, it looks like they will all be back in action next weekend and through the winter!

Monohull Results  

  ***

6th & 7th August 2011 -Monsoon Series - Part 1
by Chris Dando

The turnouts for the monohull races continue to be good with 10 boats out on the water for Part 1 of the Monsoon Series. Saturday gave a chance for the light wind specialists to show their skills. Charlie was in fine form dominating the first 2 races, with Pom in the RS700 making a guest appearance with the monohull fleet showing the way around in winning the final race of the day.

Sunday the wind was excellent with some interesting waves making for some great sailing. Confusion reigned at the start of the first race with 2 boats returning after an individual recall signal. There were 2 boats over the line, but unfortunately one was not one of the boats which went back! Charlie showed he is a force to be feared in all conditions by winning the first race. It seems that after that he decided the weather was a little hot and took swims in both of the other 2 races! Junior made up for the first race events by winning both the second and the third race.

Overall great weekend's racing with Charlie just leading Junior overall in the series.

23rd & 24th July - Summer Series Part 3
by Chris Dando

The monohulls managed a further 6 races over the weekend towards the Summer Series. Saturday conditions were again excellent with a medium breeze and some good racing. Leigh showed that he hadn't forgotten how to sail a Laser by showing some great speed including winning the second race on Saturday. Sunday's breeze was a little less but still fine for racing. Unusually both days there wasn't much tide which made boatspeed and windshifts the key factors. Having said that, it is also important to be on the right side of the line at the start, and in the second race 3 boats were over and had to return. This gave Chris Biscomb in his OK his first win at the club!

The multihulls also decided to come and join the Summer Series for the first time on Saturday. They only sailed 2 races with Aroon in his Nacra Infusion F18 showing the way home in both.

Final Day of Summer Series is on Saturday -- see you all on the water!   

16th & 17th Jule - Summer Series Part 2
by Chris Dando

Even though this is meant to be the quiet season, there were 10 competitors out over the weekend in the monohull class. Conditions were great with a good breeze. Saturday race tactics were dominated by the strong tide, and the key to success was timing the tack out from the shore to the windward mark. Several boats lost out substantially by having to put an extra tack near the mark or even being swept into the mark. Overall Gareth managed two wins against Junior's one. The margins between the places were very small with every second counting! Aaron returned to sail in the fleet and showed a significant turn of speed to lead several races at one time or other.

On Sunday the breeze was even better, and the tide not as strong! The fleet was one of the most competitive we have had with both Kevin and Morten joining in their Lasers together with the regulars. This time Junior in his RS100 showed the way to go, collecting two wins against Gareth's one. However every race was a hard fight for each position!

Overall a great weekend with some terrific sailing and racin

25th June - Scheske Cup
by Chris Dando

This was the 40th anniversary of the running of this great race and it certainly lived up to it's billing as an epic event! Conditions off the beach were not easy but it looked like the wind was slowly easing as the start time approached. However it was not to be....The wind filled in and several people wisely decided that coming back ashore was the best option. The experienced sailors set off in both fleets and almost immediately there were 2 of the catamarans in trouble. Luckily our F18's seem to be able to get themselves upright and going again but the lone Hobie 16 starter had to retire after a breakage bringing down the mast. It was some fast 2 sail reaching most of the way to and from Koh Krok and Koh Sak which were rounded in a figure of eight as per the tradition.

Alberto showed a very clean pair of heels to both the remaining F18's to win the multihulls not just on handicap, but also he was first over the finish line by more than 5 minutes! Gareth used his skills (with a little help from far too many steak & kidney pies) to finish ahead in his Laser for the monohulls. Our Commodore, Simon, managed to survive sailing with Nick to bring their RS Vision home in second, very closely followed by Gunther and Kathrin Scheske who had come over especially for the event.

Overall a great weekend which was made very special by having Gunther and Kathrin over here to join with us. Thanks to all who joined in!

 M ultihull

Monohull

18th and 19th June - Summer Series Part 1
by Chris Dando

It didn't look like the best of days first thing at Varuna on Saturday -- rain, overcast sky and a very strong wind and surf. However as often happens the weather cleared. We only had the monohull sailors out racing and they managed 3 races on both Saturday and 3 more on Sunday. Saturday the wind for the races was good but the waves felt like we were all sailing in a washing machine. Very difficult! Sunday the wind increased through the races and some great sailing was had by all. There was great jubilation at Stefaan (crewed by our Commodore Simon) when they managed to win the last race by the thinnest of margins. Congratulations to all for a great weekend!

For more results click here

Updated 27/1/2011 by Richard's Web Services.