By Peter Cummins, Pranburi, Thailand

Warwick Downes, the undisputed master of the Asian Platu fleet, left no doubt who was in charge of the 1999 Coronation Cup as his trusty Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club team 'downed' 21 other teams of Platu sailors from eight countries who had come to the Phatra Marina and Yacht Club, Pranburi, to contest this, the fourth sailing of the Coronation Cup, held from 1 - 5 May.

Finishing second to X.P. Garcia's crack Philippine team at last year's Coronation Cup, it was the sweet smell of success for Warwick and his crew who, unfortunately, had to depart Pranburi before the colourful Awards ceremony, to take a flight back to Hong Kong. Well, somebody has to work!

"How did you do it, Warwick, with a maximum-crew weight and extremely light winds?" I asked him.

"It was easy," said the personable China Coaster. "I often read 'Julius Caesar' and like him, "we came, we saw and we (Hong) Kongquered." (I hope Warwick will forgive my intransigence in consorting to some journalistic license!).

A record fleet of 22 Platus were chartered for the 1999 Coronation Cup, the fourth in the series originally established in May 1996, to honour H.M. King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his accession to the Thai Throne in 1946. His Majesty, a renowned Gold-medallist dinghy (OK) sailor in regional games, graciously bestowed the very handsome Coronation Cup trophy to be contested each year in perpetuity.

The participation list in this year's Coronation Cup bears witness to the advancement of the Farr Platu Racing Keelboat generally and the Coronation Cup specifically. Teams from Australia, Belgium, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom joined a big contingent of Thai sailors from several yacht clubs throughout the Kingdom.

The region's best Platu sailors descended on the home of this versatile little (25-ft) Platu racing keelboat, especially designed for Thailand by the world's preeminent yacht designer, New Zealand's Bruce Farr and constructed by New Zealand's equally-eminent boat-builders, McDell Marine.

It was named after the Platu - also known as the short-bodied mackerel - the indigenous fish which inhabits the waters off Hua Hin and Prachuab Khiri Khan. The Platu racing keelboat, however, since its inception at the Phatra Marina and Yacht Club some six years ago, unlike its underwater nemesis, has rapidly spread to many Asian-Pacific and European countries.

The Coronation Cup has been the catalyst in this phenomenal development and such other events as the annual Phuket King's Cup Regatta - held each December to celebrate His Majesty's birthday - have further increased the appeal of the Platu.

Yves Anrys, well known as the organizer of ongoing Cataworld Cups, two sectors of which have been sailed in Thailand, came to Pranburi to participate in the Coronation Cup and monitor the development of the Platu. Yves pointed out that the first European Championship for the "European Platu", produced by Beneteau and known in European waters as the "Beneteau 25", was held last September in Nieuport, Belgium, contested between Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. (It is good to know that there is another NEWPORT associated with yacht racing!).

"It is only a matter of time," Yves noted, "and there will be the Platu/Beneteau World Championships - maybe even here in Thailand," he added hopefully.

Heavy rain preceded the opening day of the championship, causing a little consternation for the race management, as a heavy cumulus scudded around the horizon and, in fact, a strong westerly storm greeted the hapless sailors and committee every afternoon at sunset.

The first-class race management committee grappled with the most unseasonal weather patterns, spending up to 12 hours per day on the committee vessel, anchored well offshore. As Race Committee Chairman Rear Admiral Sunan Monthardpalin said it, with a wry grin: "I did not know that the wind was the same as a clock; it just kept going around...and around."

The evening storms, though scenically spectacular, did not do a lot to ease the race committee's burdens, intent as they were to manage a championship worthy of an international label. "They did succeed ADMIRABLY on all counts", was the consensus of the sailors. Not surprising, that, considering that there were some five Royal Thai Navy ADMIRALS involved in the regatta.

International Judges (you guessed it!) Rear Admiral Prasart Sribadung and Royal Varuna Yacht Club Flag Commodore ensured that all was fair on sea and on land.

It was almost one of those unavoidable ironies that the only REAL wind during the week blew in from the south east at the Awards Ceremony. The beautiful ornate plate for the winner of the Platu Division was blown off its base - $US250 worth of perpetual trophy - and was on its way to smash on the concrete. An alert sailor, who obviously was not too much into the Heineken, made a brilliant catch - 15 cm. from the ground. Phongphan Sukyanga who managed the shore back-up services and press office was, to say the least, rather grateful.

As 24 teams had arrived to compete in just 22 boats, (the Phatra Marina previously housed 28 Platus but, now, six have been added to the Sunsail charter fleet, based at the Phuket Boat Lagoon), the race committee divided the four-day regatta into two divisions of 11 craft, randomly selected. At the end of the second day's qualifying races, the fleets split into the Championship and Platu Divisions of 14 and eight craft, respectively.

It was most satisfying to have the "big four" of Platu development at Pranburi that week. It also allowed the "Asian Marine" correspondent to embark on his favourite grammatical foray - alliteration, in the form of four double ems. Thai financier, Viroj Nualkair was the "Master Mind" behind the Platu; New Zealand's Bill Howlett from McDell Marine, the "Master Manufacturer"; New Zealand's John Weston who "set the whole show on the road" would be the "Master Mariner" behind the Phatra Marina and yacht club project; and, finally, Cheerut Sudasna, MD of Phatra Marine Products Company would undoubtedly be the "Master Marketeer".

And, as the weary sailors, clutching environmentally-green cans of Heineken beer, gathered to honour the winners, it did not really need Admiral (yes, another one) Suvatchai Kasemsook to "exhort the group to come back next year for the fifth Coronation Cup."

If any one of the gathered sailors was harbouring reservations about returning in May 2000, the Admiral's closing words were: "it will, after all, be mango season again."

Hong Kong Takes Top Honours

Not even two months since his resounding victory in the Platu Division of the Seventh President's Cup at Subic Bay, Philippines, Warwick mastered the very light conditions prevailing during this year's event, finishing with a score of 1, 1, 2 for 4 penalty points, for the best three of the four races comprising the Championship Division.

Warwick's crew comprising Nick Burns, Glenn Kim and two ladies Mo Burns and Evelyn Lam, with an all-up weight of 370 kg. were right on the maximum allowable for the Platu. Being far from the lightest team in the event, nevertheless, the weight/boat ratio proved ideal for the trying conditions.

Second in the Championship Fleet, comprising a total of 14 craft, selected from the 22 entries after qualifying races, was the New Zealand team comprising Russell Wood skipper, Bill Howlett, Fred Prohuber and John Rogers, finishing 2, 6, 1, for a total of nine penalty points. Mark Thornborrow from Hong Kong's Hebe Haven Yacht Club and his team of Mark Houghton, J. Grendon, D. Decanzon and Thailand's own great lady sailor Leonie Duson, finished third on 10 points.

Third place was hotly disputed, however, by two other teams which also finished on 10 penalty points. UK's Robert Wilder (Andy Harris, Matthew Peregrine-Jones and Gideon Mowser) from the Thames-side Tamesis Yacht Club and the Royal Thai Navy's best-performing team from Sattahip, Wiwat Poonpat (Chaiwat Thaiking, Vasan Jumpathong, Preecha Dangpartum and Somkiat Poonpat) were relegated to fourth and fifth places, respectively, on the count-back (the tie-breaker based on the team's highest placings).

Then followed Mark Haswell (Tony Robinson, Sandy Sandoval, Mila Dahunog and Jill Novera) from the Subic Bay Club in the Philippines, sixth on 17 points and the personable "shoe-string" sailors (as they would have it) from Phuket's Ao Chalong Yacht Club, Muzza Nordstrand (Rob Taylor, Paul Brousequet, Johnno Winter and Tony Knight), seventh, on 19 points.

In the Second Division (called the 'Platu Division') comprising eight craft, Mark Jewell's Republic of Singapore Yacht Club team (Adrian Owles, Andy Cocks and Angie Yeo) shared a first-place five point penalty with Royal Thai Navy skipper Monton Juntarasri (Verasit Puangnak, Theera Vongruk, Kittisak Phuyim and Sitisak Musikul), with the Singaporeans taking the honours on a count-back of the best placings.

"Home town" team, led by Robert Brown (David Inkpen, James Dowey and James Knowler) finished third on 11 penalty points and, as with the minor placings in the Championship Division, Robert shared equal points with two other teams, taking the preferred place on the tie - or, should that read "Thai" - breaker! Phatra Yacht Club Thai team skipper Schle Wood-Thanin (Oliviero Godi, Suwan Poopoksakul, Peerapol Laohasereekul and Sansi Chantian), was thus fourth and Changi Sailing Club's finest, skipper Tan Soon Hwa (Ho Kah Soon, Rupert Ong Cheng Tat, Ong Pang Liang and James Leow) had to return to the Island Republic with a fifth place recorded.