well, its my second outing to the king's cup. participated last year on the same boat with my friend Morten Jakobsen, ex Asia Pacific laser champion, current thai laser champion. last year our best finish was a 2nd place and we wound up 4th overall. must confess that at times we were no match for the Phuket 8's and the Runnalis 8, a fremantle design with some similarities to the Sydney 38. the round the island races are fun and the parties even better.
on the first race we were sent up past nai harn on a 4 hour beat. contrary to expectations winds were strong (the platu does not like anything over 15 knots) we experienced gusts upto 20 knots. we rounded the windward mark, popped the chute and the main halyard came crashing down. some quick thinking and then hoisted reefed main on Jib halyard. the boat was really imbalanced sailing like that, but our veteran helmsman Jens Overgaard, a wily old fireball sailor who lives in Krabi did not bat an eyelid. i spent the rest of the evening at the top of the mast dropping weighted nylon filament through the mast to serve as a messenger line for the new halyard.
the other days were a blast though. especially the local colour.... if you know what i mean