SEA Yachting is a production of AP PACIFIC Co. Ltd. Suite D, 16th Floor, On Hing Building 1-9 On Hing Terrace, Central Hong Kong. SEA Yachting is produced under contract by Dragon Art Media Co. Ltd. of Bangkok.
November - April NE trades Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth, whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul...then. I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. "Herman Melville
Bangkok Offic e: 1201/ 65-66 Soi Lard Phrao 94 Office: Wangthonglang, Bangkok 10310 Tel. (66 2) 559 0360-3 Fax (66 2) 559 0363
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SEA Yachting is Southeast Asia's regional marine industry magazine. We welcome your comments. Please feel free to send comments or letters to the editor at scottm@dragonartmedia.com Where possible your letters will be published.
Marina Distribution
Southeast Asia’s yachting and marine industry magazine
CONTENTS new outboards from 14 Two Suzuki: DF150AP and DF175AP
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Hull Marine tells us about new engines following the Suzuki DF200AP.
Cat crafting high22 Sea performance aluminum boats
Turning heads at Ocean Marina, Sea Cat is using ‘state-of-the-art’ technology.
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HANSE 315 – Fun, Fast & Easy 24 THE
Yachtpro’s Jeff Foster gives us the lowdown on this Judel/Vrolijk design.
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Phuket Boat Lagoon expanding for the future Executive Director Wicky Sundram brings us to speed on PBL upgrade.
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Fleming Motoryacht to Galapagos and the Panama Canal Tony Fleming takes us on another adventure as only Tony can.
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Bert van Muylwijk recaps the Asia Pacific Yachting Conference Held just prior to the SYS, Bert fills us in on what transpired.
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Patty Seery takes us down nutmeg lane Take a ride through history with the spectacular Silolona.
www.seayachtingmagazine.com
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Southeast Asia’s yachting and marine industry magazine
C O N T E N T S 50
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more fun in the 50 It’sPhilippines
Courtesy of N & J, visit this fabulous archipelago on ANTONIA II.
Regatta marks two 58 Bay decades on the water Simon James and Kae Wattana deliver another fine regatta.
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Marine showcases Fountaine Pajot 64 Asia Catamarans In this case, the spectacular Lucia 40.
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Platu Transworld sails from Ocean Marina
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Opti Worlds set to grace Royal Varuna Yacht Club
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Kev Scott continues to do a bangup job with his Platu racing scene.
Between 11-21 of July, the world’s best opti sailors descend on the RVYC.
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Pranburi has a new marina
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SYS cements position as Asia’s premiere yacht show
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Racer Marina is great news for the local yachting & motoryacht scene.
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One Degree Fifteen was once again host to all the SYS’s glitz & glamour.
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Q & A with RVYC’s Neil Dunkley Catching up with the intrepid Mr. Dunkley as he prepares for world optis.
www.seayachtingmagazine.com
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Regional
NEWS
Multihull Solutions will showcase power/sail cats at SCIBS
Multihull Solutions will showcase two of the world’s most popular power and sail catamarans at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. Held from 25-28 May, the 2017 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, will be the stage for the Asia-Pacific premiere of the stunning Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 Evolution sailing catamaran. The impressive MY37 by Fountaine Pajot Motor Yachts will also be exhibited to appeal to power enthusiasts who appreciate outstanding fuel economy and offshore performance. The Helia 44 Evolution is the stunning new model based on the success of the earlier Helia 44. Fountaine Pajot has sold more than 130 Helia 44 models since its launch in 2012, and the new Helia 44 Evolution features a range of improvements to make cruising life even more enjoyable. Redesigned portholes in the catamaran’s hulls increase natural light by 30 per cent while delivering enhanced views and a stylish aesthetic. The newly recessed mast creates brilliant panoramic vistas from the saloon and allow even more natural light to illuminate the interior, which enjoys a sleek, contemporary redesign. The decadent Owner’s Suite in the Maestro version now incorporates an upgraded ensuite with expansive shower, separate toilet, generous wardrobe, and superbly practical laundry for convenience on extended passages. Huge volumes in the saloon and accommodation areas are complemented by the epitome of elegance in contemporary design, while up on deck the catamaran now features additional lounges for lazy afternoons with friends or a book. The MY 37 by Fountaine Pajot Motor Yachts is revolutionising the entry-level segment of the world’s power catamaran market with its impressive features, performance and value for money. Internationally lauded for its superior comfort, outstanding views and beautiful luminosity, the MY 37 also possesses the key attributes of the shipyard’s range, including excellent offshore performance, stability, volume, and impressive range that make the boat extremely economical. Unlike most power catamarans of its size, the MY 37 is available in a three and a four-cabin layout making it ideal for both personal cruising use and commercial charter companies. The MY 37 has been designed for unparalleled performance and economy. The catamaran features two 600L fuel tanks, a 350L water tank, optional generator and watermaker, 1000W windlass, washing machine in the Owner’s version, and offers a host of options including additional fridge or freezer and a sunbed on the bow deck. With top speeds of 20 knots, the MY 37 is the ultimate fuel-efficient and economical power catamaran, and in eco-cruising mode the vessel can cover an impressive 1000nm at 7.5 knots. Its wide hulls and high bridgedeck clearance delivers outstanding stability and exceptional performance in challenging conditions, making the MY 37 arguably the leading power catamaran of its size in the world market. Further information on Multihull Solutions’ lineup at the 2017 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show can be obtained by contacting Multihull Solutions on 1300 855 338 (within Australia), +61 7 5452 5164, +66 8189 41530 (within Asia), emailing: info@multihullsolutions.com.au, or visiting www.multihullsolutions.com.au.
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NEWS 15
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Regional
NEWS
Two new outboards from Suzuki: DF150AP and DF175AP follow the steps of the bestselling Suzuki DF200AP
The new Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP can count many arrows at their bow. Both feature an excellent power-to-weight ratio, fast acceleration, good reliability, frugal fuel consumption. An evolved electronic management make them perfect in many conditions.
Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP from inside The new Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP are inline four, in order to keep them small and light. They feature four valves per cylinder with double overhead camshaft (DOHC) and variable valve timing VVT. The displacement of 2867 cc is quite large for a 4cylinder, while the compression ratio is 10,2:1. This technical solution, coming from the racing experience of Suzuki, grants a big torque value at mid and high rpm, for thrilling accelerations. Another important feature of the new Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP is the adoption of a grille that incorporates what is dubbed Semi-Direct Air Intake System. It’s integrated into the air inlet of the engine and can provide the injection circuit with a suitable amount of air, at the right temperature. This will optimize combustion at any speed.
The new Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP also sport: 1. Suzuki Keyless Start, an automotive-like device which includes an immobilizer. The electronic key is coupled to a proximity sensor, so the engine can be started by the simple press of a button but only if the key is inside a one-meter range from the console. 2. Suzuki Precision Control, is a computer-based throttle and shift system that replaces mechanical control cables of the lever with a digital flyby-wire system to eliminate friction and resistance in the controls. 3. Suzuki Selective Rotation: by simply replacing a switch in the wiring, the very same engine can
Regional
NEWS 17
rotate clockwise or counter-clock wise. It requires the change of the propeller, of course. 4. The 32 bit ECU of Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP onboard computer monitors and manages data gathered in real-time from a series of sensors placed in areas crucial to engine operation. Using these data the computer delivers precision control of the engine’s ignition and fuel systems, maintaining an optimal spark and fuel supply under different operating conditions. This is what we all know as Suzuki Lean Burn System, which lowers fuel consumption and emissions. The same ECU manages the detonation sensors and the oxygen ones (Lambda), and the ones that detect water in the fuel. Reliability at its maximum. In terms of comfort, the new Suzuki DF150AP and DF175AP feature an air intake resonator that reduces the noise of air being sucked into the engine at high speed. Last but not least, the new Pearl Nebular Black color of Suzuki DF150A and 175A, with 3D graphics, highlights the innovative solutions of the engines and remark the unmistakable Suzuki family feeling. Read our test of Suzuki DF200AP on a Ranieri Cayman 23
Hull Co., Ltd.
167/3 Moo 4, Na-Jomtiene, Sattahip, Chonburi 2025, THAILAND Tel: +66(0)38-238-131 to 2 Fax: +66(0)38-238-133 Website: www.hull.co.th
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Regional
NEWS
London Boat Show reveals an innovative foiling catamaran that targets the ordinary sailor
While the limelight at the London Boat Show focused on the latest in power boat designs, a look into the shadows around the show revealed some innovative products, one of which was from a UK company, White Formula with a heritage of 50 years of boat building experience in racing catamarans. The Whisper a foiling catamaran, is the latest product in a sailing revolution that is starting to change the face of highspeed sailing that is affordable and easy to sail. The 6-metre long Whisper is manufactured in high-tech carbon- fibre laminate, using a resin infusion process to produce a boat that
weighs 110 kilos. The high-tech foils enable the catamaran to achieve speeds of up to 25 knots and the boat is fitted with retractable dagger boards and rudders allowing it to be launched and retrieved easily. The Managing Director of White Formula Robert White spoke to SEA Yachting at the London Boat Show: “The concept of Foiling Catamarans is now well-known due to the publicity from the Americas Cup series. The idea behind the Whisper is to produce a boat that anyone can sail without having to be an athlete. While foiling requires a different technique, anyone with basic sailing experience can learn the skill within an hour’s instruction on the water and achieve speeds of up to 25kts. We have produced 45 boats since the summer of 2016 with over 80% of the orders from overseas with strong interest from the USA, Germany and Australia.” White went on to discuss the evolving market for foiling catamarans: “Whisper is attracting a new type of customer who is performance-orientated and who wants something different, high-tech and precision-built, in many ways our target customer is the equivalent to a Porsche car owner. We are also going to target the marine tourism market with luxury resorts that want to offer a unique performance sailing experience to their clients. We have already had interest from the Maldives during the London Show and are getting a good response from potential dealers and agents in several areas of the world.” C
Mike Derrett 7th March 2017 for SEA Yachting
Regional Marina Traineeship Underway Downunder The new marina industries traineeship starts on the 2nd of May with participants gathering in Sydney, Australia. The Certificate III in Marina Operations was announced in December 2016 by the Registered Training Organisation Safety Corp and Marina Industries Association (MIA). The Boating Industry Association Watsons Bay Boating Safety Education Centre will be the venue for the first group session of the trainees who have enrolled from NSW marinas. The trainees will commence course work with the topics of customer service and respond to marina emergencies. MIA Executive Officer Colin Bransgrove said the gathering of trainees will mark a historic day for the marina industry. “Traditional but progressive industries such as the marina industries have found it hard to recruit and retain workers. The addition of the traineeship to the marina career pathway strengthens businesses capacity to attract and retain long term employees.” CEO of Safety Corp Mark Robb said he was very pleased to have the first group of trainees coming together at Watsons Bay. “While the vast majority of traineeship learning is on the job and on-line, the periods of group face to face learning are incredibly value for the trainees. They develop a strong and supportive network that provides many benefits both in the work place and personally. Safety Corp put a lot of energy into the retention of trainees. Our successful strategies have resulted in a drop-out significantly less than the national average.” The traineeship is initially being rolled out in New South Wales with Queensland to be confirmed shortly. Enrolments are still being accepted for a 2017 commencement of the traineeship. MIA is committed to have the traineeship available nationally in 2018. Further information: Colin Bransgrove, MIA EO colin@marinas.net.au +61 2 94395806 or Mark Robb, Safety Corp CEO markr@safetycorp.com.au 1300 799 190 Next AGM for TMBA - Fri 26th May at RPM's Skippers Following the last general meeting (24th of March 2017), a report has been posted on the TMBA website and FaceBook page with details and explanations about the past 12 month’s actions conducted by TMBA sub committees on various topics, summarized as follows: ✧ Customs/Immigration Regulations: new favorable ruling for long stay in Thailand for foreign-flagged boats; on-going consultation with authorities on other issues. ✧ Marketing: Successful collaboration between TAT and TMBA with establishment of a “marketing Plan” and participation of TMBA members with TAT at Boot Dusseldorf. Open topic for next year’s budget. ✧ Financial: successfully registered 40 members, plus financial report. ✧ Public Relations: established links with other (marine) associations in Thailand and abroad through the website & newsletter. ✧ Charter: several updates about bareboat charter and foreign flagged superyacht charter licenses. ✧ Training, safety & environment: ongoing collaboration with the government to propose professional training to marine industry employees at a reasonable cost, and placement of moorings. In addition to the sub committees reports, an open discussions took place about various topics, including the request for a regular TMBA newsletter and a skype link at meetings in Phuket for members in the Gulf of Thailand. Since insufficient TMBA members were present at the meeting on the 24th of March to reach the quorum for an official AGM (personally or by proxy). The board recalls the AGM with two main purposes: 1) vote for official topics and 2) open more extensive discussions on many topics. Meanwhile the past meeting minutes have been posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/491098897758155/ CALLING FOR AGM ON THE 26TH OF MAY
The board calls all member to participate at the AGM in open exchanges and to bring new topics of discussion during the AGM on 26th May at RPM. There will be a skype link with members in the Gulf of Thailand. Depending on the feedback the AGM could be started by a luncheon. A report, summarizing the meeting, will be sent to members.
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Regional
NEWS
Top of the Gulf Regatta 2017 set to welcome 3,000th entry
Platu Coronation Cup Top of the Gulf Regatta. Photo by Guy Nowell.
2017 Top of the Guf Regatta open for entries. Photo by Guy Nowell.
More than 250 boats and 700 sailors and friends representing 25 nationalities, will congregate in Pattaya from 4 – 8 May, 2017 to take part in what has become the largest multi-class regatta of its kind in Asia – the Top of the Gulf Regatta Presented by Ocean Marina. Supported by the Sports Authority of Thailand, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, Pattaya City, Royal Varuna Yacht Club and the Royal Thai Navy, Top of the Gulf Regatta is set to welcome it’s 3,000th entrant this year and is the penultimate event in the 2016/17 AsianYachting Grand Prix championship. Top of the Gulf Regatta is the only marina-based regatta in Thailand. Hosted by Ocean Marina Yacht Club – South East Asia’s largest marina – it is the only marina in Thailand with the capability to organise a regatta of this size. Following changes to Customs Department rulings in Pattaya last year, the number of visiting international yachts to the region is set to increase, and in response Ocean Marina is to increase capacity to 450 boats, boding well for future regatta growth. Having received international acclaim in 2016 and 2014, the multi award-winning regatta is an international showcase for sailing and the Gulf of Thailand. Famous for its warm weather sailing and good winds, Top of the Gulf Regatta has a well earned reputation for world-class sailing and race management, and a relaxed and convivial après-regatta scene. Unique in it’s diversity, upto 12 classes are planned for the 2017 Top of the Gulf Regatta with participants from six years to 70+ years competing and sailors from novice to professional, with World Champions and past and future Olympians also taking part. Joining the international crews are the Thai National SEA Games Team who will be competing against other national teams in their final international event prior to the SEA Games in August, in Kuala Lumpur. “2017 will be a milestone year for Top of the Gulf Regatta as we will welcome our 3,000th entry. Having started from humble beginnings in 2005 and marketed the event to yachting communities in Europe, Australia and Asia every year, our aim has always been to provide an international quality sailing event for a diverse fleet of boats. Two awards in recent years is recognition of our efforts and as we enter our 13th year we are set to welcome a large fleet of more than 250 boats, including some of the region’s best keelboat and multihull sailors,” said Mr. William Gasson, CoChairman, Top of the Gulf Regatta Organising Committee.
Keelboat and Multihull Classes
Top of the Gulf Regatta 2017. Press Conference.
The racing keelboat fleet will be split into three IRC Classes with some of the region’s best 40-foot and TP52 sailors battling it out for the bragging rights, including Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2016 winner “THA72”, the Sydney 40 “Emagine”, winner of Phuket Raceweek 2016, as well as top sailors such as Ray Roberts (AUS), Steve McConaghy (AUS) and many more. In the Cruising Class experienced local crews, including the all Thai team on Le Vent (Jeanneau 42i), will be up against a number of international entries while Kirati Assakul returns to defend his title in the Ocean Multihulls Class. A strong showing of crews from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore across the classes will make for some top class racing.
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NEWS 21
Thailand Optimist National Championships Top of the Gulf Regatta. Photo by Guy Nowell.
Coronation Cup First raced in 1996, the Coronation Cup (incorporated in the Top of the Gulf Regatta) is competed for in one-design Bruce Farr 25ft Platu sports boats. Thailand is home to the largest Platu fleet in Asia and the Coronation Cup has become the largest one-design competition in the region. This year sees past champions return and upto 15 teams from as far a field as the UK, Japan and Australia, as well national champions from Russia and three teams from Singapore, taking part.
Dinghy Classes A fleet of 70+ Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7’s will compete in the Single-Handed Monohull Dinghy Class while in the Double-Handed Monohull Dinghy Class a strong line-up of 420s and 470s will take to the start line. As a warm-up event for the 2017 SEA Games national teams from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will also be competing.
Thailand Optimist National Championships Incorporated in the Top of the Gulf Regatta, Thailand’s premier youth sailing event will again welcome sailors from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and from all over Thailand to compete. A record fleet of 150+ is expected with national teams from around the world taking the opportunity to race in local waters before the 2017 Optimist World Championship in July at Royal Varuna Yacht Club.
IOM Class RC Yachts The International One Meter (IOM) Radio Controlled Yacht Class with return for a second consecutive year. Almost 20 yachts competed in this growing division of the sport last year and more are expected this year with participants from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore confirmed. “Being the only marina-based regatta in Thailand is as huge positive, especially for the international boats and crews. The in-water and onshore facilities at Ocean Marina Yacht Club are unrivalled and further expansion is planned later this year. This, together with recent changes by the Customs Department that will result in more visiting yachts cruising the area, bodes well for future regatta growth and marine tourism in general in the Gulf of Thailand,” added Gasson.
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SEA CAT
crafting high-performance aluminum boats
S Seacat hull: strong & sleek (above). New sofa for motoryacht undergoiing AwlGrip paint system prep work (below).
ince opening its doors for business in May 2016, it’s been all systems go for the team at Sea Cat Ships. Situated at Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, Thailand, Sea Cat Ships has already established a reputation for producing highperformance aluminum boats constructed to international standards by a highly trained and experienced construction team. Sea Cat uses Australian ‘state-of-the-art’ technology overseen by international supervisors, specializing in high-speed aluminum catamarans, particularly the world-renowned ‘Sea Cat’ design. These include: pleasure craft ferries, tourist cruise and dive boats. Sea Cat also possesses the capability of building aluminum mono-hull and tri-hull bespoke vessels as well as specialized client designs.
Why Aluminum Catamarans? ●
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Relatively lightweight aluminum matched with the Sea Cat hull, gives great speed and economy. The modern aluminum catamaran is very strong and will last for a lifetime if looked after properly. It’s extra wide platform gives a lot more room. Low maintenance of the proper marine grade alloy’s used by SCS.
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No rusting (as in steel boats) or osmosis or fatigue (as in fiberglass boats). The Sea Cat design is a great sea going design in rough seas, which has been developed over 25 years.
In conjunction with Sea Speed Designs, experience has been gained over 35 years in the boat building industry, specializing in everything from megayachts to ferries. This, combined with a crew of highly trained and skilled Thai craftsman, ensures high quality at a reasonable price. Sea Cat ships is BOI approved, which allows it to import the highest quality products from around the world duty free for export orders. Currently, Sea Cat Ships has two 26 metre (85 feet) aluminum boats under construction on its premises. The first is the new ‘Sea Cat 26’ ordered for Deep Sea Divers Den for service on the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia. The second is a 26 metre Cat for Calypso Reef Charters for service in Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia. Both are progressing exceptionally well and the first is set to be completed by May of 2017. Sea Cat ships also provides aluminum fabrication services for marine-related projects, as well as engineering, AwlGrip fairing and paint jobs.
www.seacatships.com
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THE
By Yachtpro’s Jeff Foster
HANSE 315 –
FUN, FAST & EASY
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t’s easy to see why she won the European Boat of the Year and other awards The Hanse 315 is stunning and more often than not gets real compliments by those who see her. She's a great Daysailer for four or five and a comfortable live-aboard boat for singles, couples and families with one or two young children. Her large fuel and water capacities really give her good range.
This Judel/Vrolijk design has outstanding performance and she continues the innovation and quality that Hanse have a reputation for. The Test Boat was the standard open forward cabin layout which gives a great feeling of space and her hatches and windows make her light and airy. She has a drop leaf table central in the saloon with settees either side.
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Hanse 315 Cockpit.
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Hanse 315 Forward Cabin.
Hanse 315 Saloon.
A chart table and the surprisingly large well fitted bathroom is on the port side. On the starboard side her galley is compact and well planned with the entry to her large double cabin aft. She has an aircon in the forward aft cabin locker which works from shore-power, which was fitted in Phuket. On deck, she carries a Manson Boss anchor on the bow with 60m of chain; storing her standard anchor and road in her cockpit locker. The self-tacking headsail track is set forward of the mast with control blocks on either side leading lines aft to clutches and winches. The boat is fitted with the easy-handling double ended mainsheet which runs forward along the boom the aft to a clutch and winch on each side. The boat comes standard with a traditional straight fall mainsheet. Both mainsheets run standard from a centrally mounted U-Bolt, that limits the size of the bimini, and an optional traveller is available. There is a twin leaf table with a stainless-steel
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Hanse 315 Deck.
frame table between the cockpit seats; underneath sits a really large, deep locker. The twin black GRP wheels look great and gives great visibility and control. Simply step between to access the bathing platform. B&G MFD’S, auto helm control and the plotter are on the aft face of the cockpit coamings with the compass in the companionway pod. The test was done in around 3-5 knots of breeze and flat water with full tanks and a full inventory including personal items on board. I got a surprise as I turned to counter prop walk coming out of the berth. She responded so quickly I had to straighten almost immediately. Her large rudder and 18hp diesel provided a level of control and responsiveness in forward or reverse seldom seen. We were doing 5.8 knots at 2250 rpm. and 6.8 knots at 2950 rpm. Under sail downwind she ghosted along effortlessly, above 750 apparent she sparkled. As
every little gust arrived, she healed gently and accelerated impressively. Sailing upwind in 10 knots of apparent wind we were doing 5.5 knots. The self-tacking headsail made sailing upwind effortless. In summary, this is a 31’ yacht with space and performance you would not always find in slightly larger yachts. She’s very comfortable both above and below decks and ideal for cruising by a couple, or young family. Her speed and ease of handling will surprise, and please, those who sail her. For more information contact: SEA Yacht Sales +6681 3701995 rob.w@sea-yss.com
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Phuket Boat Lagoon expanding for the future
Phuket Boat Lagoon marina is expanding its hardstand facilities to receive its new 120-Ton Travel Lift this September.
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huket Boat Lagoon is Phuket’s first integrated marina complex. Officially opened in 1994; it is situated at the end of a two-mile creek called Klong Tha Rua on Phuket’s east coast in southern Thailand. The circular marina provides moorings for vessels up to 32-meters in length. Most sailors consider the complex to be on a par with other leading marinas across the globe. Located strategically in the center of Phuket Island, traffic from the international airport using the main highway must pass the marina’s entrance in order to get to Phuket town or the west coast beaches. It is 20km from the airport, 8km to Phuket town and 15km to Kata, Karon & Patong beaches. Intended to be a marina first; with increased demand and need, hardstand facilities were later introduced with travel-lift services.
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Phuket Boat Lagoon features a one-stop licensed bonded warehouse, for importing taxfree marine parts.
As the marine industry in Thailand grew with Phuket as its hub, a great opportunity arose for Phuket Boat Lagoon’s expansion. With international yachting and marine businesses making Phuket and Boat Lagoon their base, there was more need, for this complex to cater to increasing growth, so the marina took a greater step towards both on-water and off-water expansion. Today, Phuket Boat Lagoon marina is a full-service marina with 180 wet berths, 144 berths on the hardstand and 30 dry-stacking bays. The marina is of international standard with facilities that include a fuel dock, and travel lifts, reaching a capacity of up to 120 tons this September. As such, Phuket Boat Lagoon is currently expanding its hardstand facilities to receive its new 120-ton travel lift in September this year. The new travel lift will be able to lift vessels up to 32-meters in length. Not only is the lifting bay being expanded length wise, but the entire travel lift lifting zone’s floor capacity is currently undergoing an upgrade to increase the floor-loading capacity. The expansion and upgrade works are expected to be completed by the end of August. Phuket Boat Lagoon has a big workshop that specializes in stainless steel and welding
works. In addition, to enhance service for boat owners, it is equipped with a one-stop licensed bonded warehouse, for importing tax-free marine parts. Executive Director Wicky Sundram says, “I am proud to be associated with a Group, which is with full of vision and emphasising a great role in promoting the marine industry at Thailand. The owners are truly peopleorientated and the team at Phuket Boat Lagoon is well experienced and great to be working with them.” For more information on Phuket Boat Lagoon, kindly visit our website at www.phuketboatlagoon.com or email info@phuketboatlagoon.com More updates are regularly posted on the Facebook page are: Facebook/ PhuketBoatLagoon
Contact details: PHUKET BOAT LAGOON CO., LTD. 22/1 Moo 2 Thepkasattri Rd., T.Kohkaew, A. Muang, Phuket, 83000, Thailand Tel: + 66 76 239 055 Fax: +66 76 273 371
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Fleming Motoryacht to Galapagos and the Panama Canal By Tony Fleming
Chatham Bay.
R
elatively few power boats have the range and sea-keeping ability to make the crossing to the Galapagos - but such a trip lies well within the capabilities of our Fleming 65 - Venture. Exciting as it is, our 1,550 mile side trip to Galapagos is a detour from a much longer cruise which ultimately takes us from Juneau in Alaska to Nova Scotia on the East Coast of Canada by way of the Panama Canal and the Great Lakes. Captain Chris and myself are the permanent members of the crew and we are joined on this leg of the trip by Christine and George Sass, an experienced photojournalist. Our departure point for Galapagos is Los Suenos on the coast of Costa Rica where there is a Marriott resort and an adjacent marina crammed with meticulously maintained sports fishing boats. It is May 1st when we point Venture’s bow out into the immensity of the Pacific Ocean with just a tingle of nervous anticipation. Our first stop is the miniscule speck of Isla del Coco which lies almost 300 miles offshore and is administered by Costa Rica. After thirty-one hours underway, the tropical island looms out of the rain showers; its steep, forested flanks shrouded in mist giving it a lost world appearance. Once in Chatham Bay we are called on the radio from a barely visible hut on shore and instructed to pick up one of the moorings with yellow floats. Cocos is only accessible by boat and there is no infrastructure for visitors. Only the rangers are permitted to spend the night ashore. All visitors sleep aboard the boats that bring them here. We awake the following morning to a magnificent tropical sunrise and are visited by two rangers in their rib. They soon complete the formalities and together we watch a DVD describing the rules of the national park. We arrange with them to take a guided walk through the rain forest to a waterfall.
Bridge of the Americas.
At a latitude, just 5.5 degrees north of the Equator and an annual rainfall of 7,000 mm, the climate is steamy and tropical and we are lucky to enjoy a rare sunny day. We take our tender around to another bay and over a shallow bar at the mouth of a small river. Once ashore, we start our trek over an unusual suspension bridge fashioned from retired fishing floats. The rough track climbs steadily through the exuberant vegetation and the combination of heat and high humidity make for an exhausting trek. At first, we make attempts to keep our feet reasonably dry by avoiding puddles but these prove to be laughably futile when the last section turns out to require wading knee
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Few power boats have the range and seakeeping ability to make the crossing to the Galapagos, but the Fleming 65 – Venture does.
Venture with seals.
Chatham Bay.
deep across a boulder-strewn river. But the waterfall is beautiful, cascading over vines and rocks before tumbling into a jungle pool. A dip in the water is deliciously refreshing making the downhill return journey much less arduous. Most people visit Cocos for the superlative diving but, sadly, we are not qualified or equipped and neither do we have the time. It seems rather silly to be moving on after such a brief visit but we have many thousands of miles ahead of us with a schedule to keep. When we leave the following morning for the 440 miles to Galapagos the rain has returned and the island lies hidden behind a
misty curtain. For the next 48 hours, we plough a lonely furrow across the ocean. On the final night before reaching Galapagos, white birds (later identified as swallow-tailed gulls) flutter like giant moths in and out of the pools of red and green light cast by the navigation lights. Except for faint clicking and mewing sounds, their flight is silent. We cross the Equator at 0300 and arrive in Academy Bay at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island at 0900. We anchor among the many boats in the bay and set a stern anchor to keep us from turning broadside to the roly waves. Our visit to Galapagos has been arranged through Naugala – a company I had found on line. We
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take a water taxi ashore and meet Johnny Romero of Naugala and are introduced to Patricia Stucki who is to be our mandatory naturalist guide. We start our tour of the islands the following morning and, over the next eight days, cruise 327 miles through the archipelago. There is no space here to cover the visit in detail but we are lucky enough to see most of the indigenous flora and fauna unique to these special islands. Only about 3% of the land in the Galapagos is inhabited or
cultivated by humans and less than 1% of the remainder is open to tourists. A strict itinerary is arranged for visits and must be adhered to. For example, you cannot Miraflores lock.
Pilothouse.
linger in a spot because you like it. If you are scheduled to visit it in the morning then you must be gone by the afternoon. No one is allowed to visit any place without a guide and there can be no more than 16 persons per guide. When ashore, the trails are clearly marked with black and white posts and you cannot deviate from the marked trail. Getting ashore can be a challenge. Most landings are accurately described as “wet” which means you should be prepared to be immersed up to your waist. Even with landings described as dry you can expect to get your feet wet. Tenders cannot be dragged up onto the beach or tethered in any way to the shore so usually someone has to stay behind on the tender and take their turn later but still be accompanied by the guide. Anchoring the yacht can be a challenge as many of the anchorages are exposed or have a rocky bottom. We bend two anchors in two days so you need to carry extra ground tackle. In common with many other places, the Galapagos marine park is plagued by illegal fishing most especially the killing of sharks for their fins by
local and foreign fishermen. These animals have their fins sliced off and are then thrown back in the water to die. It is estimated that at least 300,000 sharks are destroyed annually in the Galapagos alone and 80% of the fins from that source go to San Francisco for distribution. So the next time you fancy a bowl of sharks fin soup, just consider you may unwittingly be contributing to the cruel slaughter of an increasingly endangered species – and just for a bowl of soup. After our long crossing from Costa Rica to Coco and cruising for eight days among the islands, Venture’s tanks are running low and we take on 1550 gals of pre-arranged diesel at Baltra Island close to the main international airport. 900 miles of open ocean lie ahead of us before reaching Panama City at the southern entrance of the famous canal. This is the longest passage that any of us have undertaken in a powerboat and we keep a careful howgoesit log of fuel remaining and distance to go. For the most part, the weather is fair - although we do have one day on which swells and windblown waves on the beam cause us to alter course to make the ride more comfortable. During our four day crossing, we encounter just two sailboats – one from the UK and the other from Italy. Both are traveling without lights. This solitude abruptly changes around midnight on the evening before our arrival in Panama as we approach Punta Mala on the coast and find ourselves in a frenzy of shipping with large freighters – many traveling in opposing directions at 26 knots or more. Even our speed of around nine knots means a closing speed of 35 knots so a ship 8 miles away is on us in 13 minutes. We also need to keep a sharp look out for ships coming up from astern which, running at almost three times our speed, overhaul us at an alarming rate. To add to the fun, thunderstorms blossom on the radar from just a small blip to obscuring half the screen. AIS is an absolute godsend because vessels equipped with this system still show through the clutter as well as giving speed, course and CPA of the myriad targets – of which we have as many as nine at one time. An average of 40 ships per day pass through the canal and the great majority of them pass Punta Mala which translates as “Bad Point”. We reach the big ship anchorage at the head of Panama Bay at 10 AM where we are met by the startling sight of dozens of ships at anchor awaiting their turn to negotiate the canal. The radar is a blizzard of targets. Dark clouds hover overhead and rain squalls obscure the horizon while squadrons of pelicans patrol the skies. We call on the radio and are directed
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to Flamenco Marina where we tie up 102 hours after leaving Baltra giving us an average speed of 8.8 kts for the 895 miles. We have used 3,600 liters of fuel with a consumption of four liters per mile or 35 liters per hour which includes the genset. It takes a couple of days, working through a local agent, to complete all the formalities - including boat inspection and arranging rental of rugged fenders and extralong mooring lines. Early on the morning of the third day, in bumpy seas, we take aboard the pilot from a launch just outside the entrance channel. We are directed under the Bridge of the Americas which, until 2006, carried the only road linking north and south America. After a short wait in the Balboa Basin we raft alongside a 55’ sports-fishing boat and, with Venture providing the motive power, we move slowly into the lower basin of the Miraflores locks. We are barely inside when the massive lock gates swing closed behind us. Ahead, in the same chamber is a bulk carrier from Bangkok. Messenger lines, with a small but dense monkey-fist on the ends, are hurled aboard by line handlers standing alongside the locks. You need to be paying attention because if struck on the head you could be knocked cold. The messenger lines are attached to 3’ loops in the ends of the 125’ mooring ropes by crew aboard the boats and then hauled back through the closed chocks by the line handlers on the lock walls. As the boats move deeper into the lock chamber, line handlers walking alongside drop the loops over bollards. This is called hand-lining. A bell sounds and water begins to boil up into the lock through 20ft diameter culverts in the floor of the chamber. As we rise, the dock lines are progressively shortened by our crewmembers using the cleats as snubbers. The mixing of fresh and salt water causes additional turbulence in the first and last locks where canal water meets the sea. All vessels, no matter their size, use their own propulsion to move in and out of the locks so we have to watch out from the prop wash of the ship ahead of us when the lock gates open. The function of the tractors alongside the locks is simply to keep larger vessels central in the chamber. This procedure is followed for two more locks on the Pacific side before our two boats disengage and we continue independently through the infamous Culebra Cut and across Gatun Lake. Here we find ourselves traveling in alarmingly close company with enormously large ships only a few yards away. We link up again with the sports cruiser for our descent through Gatun locks where a series of three
Christine in lava.
Blue footed boobies.
Marine Iguana.
Kicker Rock.
chambers drop us back down to sea level. When down-locking, we are placed ahead of big ships which can be quite intimidating! In the space of a few hours we have crossed from the Pacific to the Atlantic side of the continent. An amazing feat when you consider that the canal was built nearly 100 years ago. From here we turned Venture’s bows north and begin the long trek to the distant shores of Nova Scotia. (For more information on the exiting range of Fleming Yachts please go to their web site at http://www.flemingyachts.com/ or visit the Derani Yachts website at http://www.derani-yachts.com/ brand/flemingyachts/. If you would like to talk to their rep in Thailand, please email the brand manager, Ian Hewett at ian@derani-yachts.com or call his mobile +66 83 388 9090.)
The Galapagos marine park is plagued by illegal fishing - most especially the killing of sharks for their fins by local and foreign fishermen.
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The Asia Pacific Yachting Conference 2017 -A fresh breeze of expertise & honest exchange By Bert van Muylwijk
T
his year the 9th edition of the Asia Pacific Yachting Conference (APYC) took place prior to the Singapore Yacht Show at the One Degree 15 Marina premises in Sentosa Cove, Singapore. Themed “Towards increased regional co-operation to promote marine tourism in Asia Pacific”, representatives of leading yachting and maritime organizations assembled to discuss progress in the region re. regulatory challenges, marine tourism and sustainability topics. Having participated for years in the APYC, a sense of deja-vu (“deja-entendu” would be more accurate) crept into my analysis of the proceedings last year. So, it was like feeling a
breeze of fresh air when this year’s conference turned out to be the most interesting and coherent one for years. Not only were speakers and panelists real experts, most were also acutely aware of the Asian dimension and had well thought-out views and opinions on yachting aspects of the Asia-Pacific area. With Conference Chairman Martin Redmayne (The Superyacht Group) the APYC had a knowledgeable and dynamic expert presiding over some 150 delegates.
“Interesting, relevant and coherent”
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Instead of following the land as it was laid out in the order of speakers and panels, I’ll start with the conclusions of the conference. But not before having mentioned the opening remarks of Andy Treadwell, CEO & Founder of Singapore Yacht Events emphasizing the pressing need for regional integration and crossborder co-operation within the boating industry and governments all across Asia. Easier said than done. All stakeholders need to put their shoulders under those efforts realizing that yachting and boating are still not foremost on the radar of government representatives and policy makers. This immediately brings us to the conclusions of the conference where under points one and two this issue was specifically addressed. Overall conclusions of the APYC 2017 1. Engage Tourism Ministers 2. Educate Governments 3. Create a Regional Strategy 4. Rethink Ownership Models 5. Create Harmonized Tax Treaty (ASEAN) 6. Build the right amount of infrastructure (not too much) 7. Supply owners with intelligent information 8. Don’t get too greedy 9. Create purpose + philanthropic ideas for visiting yachts. 10. Tell a more joined-up story So how did we arrive at these conclusions and what information was pertinent.
“Economic ecosystems that contribute to the economy” Engaging the Tourism Ministers of the region in making it easier for yachts to visit seems almost too logical: of course, that should be done. The presentation of two representatives from Tahiti Tourisme emphasized the need for co-operation between the various governmental departments (Marine Dep., Immigration Dep., Revenue Dep. and Tourism Dep.) which can be a very lengthy process and should be stimulated along the lines of yachts and particular superyachts being economic ecosystems that contribute to the local economy. It took Tahiti seven years to get this far and now the superyachts are there. Their present strategy is to have yachts staying longer, make chartering as easy as possible and get all relevant infrastructure in place. Obviously to get the message across to the relevant government departments and policy makers, participating at conferences will
certainly help to create a better understanding between government and industry. Representatives from Indonesia (Dr. Indroyono Soesilo) and Vietnam (Mr. Tr§n ViÇt Trung) gave presentations at the Conference. The absence of other countries, however, signifies that the topic of marine tourism is not really on their agendas yet. National and international marine associations can play a role in bringing to the government tables. ICOMIA in the Asia Boating Forum following the APYC spent a large section on this topic.
“First marina of Vietnam almost completed” The panel discussion, “Asia Pacific Progress Report”, (Nigel Beatty,Super Yacht Logistics; Andy Shorten, The Lighthouse Consultancy; Rico Stapel, Boat Lagoon Yachting; Ruurd van Putten, Sailing Center Vietnam) revealed that small steps are taken in
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various countries. Japan now recognizes the difference between a superyacht and a cargo vessel, Vietnam has almost completed its first marina, but as the Thailand example shows even with the support of the Tourism Ministry it can take a while before full implementation. Creating a regional marketing strategy has been on the agenda already for years. Guy Nowell perfectly worded this topic in his ‘writeup’ of the conference: “A panel discussion involving MaryAnne Edwards (CEO Superyacht Australia), Kiran Haslam (Princess Yachts), Vaihere Lissant (Tahiti Tourisme) and Lies Sol (Northrop & Johnson), considered Marketing Asia as a Yachting Destination. The consensus was that, since Asia is a very large geographical region, marketing should ideally be on a regional basis. That would mean the various stakeholders – Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, maybe the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and across the Pacific all the way to Tahiti – clubbing together to market Destination Asia in concert. How about an “Experience Asia” booth at the principal European and North American boat shows? An AsiaPac Pavilion at the Monaco Yacht Show? If everyone could only be persuaded to act together, and not compete against each other. A
weighty percentage of the world boating population has difficulty finding Asia on a map, and has even less idea what it looks like. In short, the Asia–Pac needs more promotion. Where have we heard this before?”
“Representative Body Asia Pacific” Despite this last remark, MaryAnne Edwards after some prompting agreed to give it another go and try to bring relevant parties together in a Representative Body Asia Pacific with 1 person per country (accepted as such by the country) in order to come up with a Masterplan. I for one look forward to that
happening sooner rather than later. For years now it has been mentioned and mentioned again that the Asian owner of a superyacht has different requirements than the Western owner and that boat builders do not take that into account and hence not many Asians buy yachts. A panel discussion involving Erwin Bamps (Gulf Craft), Mark Stothard (Echo Yachts), Stephen White (Sovren House Group) and Sam Sorgiovanni (Sorgiovanni Designs) rephrased this in the session “Superyachts for the new generation in Asia”. Erwin Bamps voiced a fresh view by pointing out that for chartering we presently market the brand name of the yacht together with a perfect crew. “Looking at the hospitality industry in general that seems odd. We do not market a hotel by mentioning the builders of the building.” In his view, it won’t be long before some charter companies will become labels of quality i.s.o. the yacht builder and clients will charter on the basis of the reputation and the rating of that label. Also, the current “standard” charter superyacht (about 50 meters, 12 guests) might not suffice in the future. How about mini cruise ships taking 36 passengers, or superyachts for day charter. Very soon the yacht builders will venture into a different premise: an owner’s taste will not be the leading design philosophy but the design might be targeted at generic hospitality like a small floating hotel. The model for chartering in Asia has been looked at as a copy of chartering in the Med. However, as Mark Stothard pointed out, in Asia chartering is more like expedition cruising due to distance and development level.
“Chinese market in 10 years more mature” However so far experience shows that the average Asian owner does not (want to) charter his yacht. Another panel discussion (Fabio Ermetto, Benetti; Anthony Gould, Galileo Maritime Academy and Allen Leng, Heysea Yachts) tackled the ideosyncrasies of the Asian boat buyer. Allen Leng’s Heysea Yachts is the biggest yacht builder in China (with some 100 large yachts built today). In his view the market is not yet there as the current generation of Chinese is afraid to “show the
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money”. The young generation however has adopted a more “Western” lifestyle and in about 10 years the market will become more mature. Presently the average Chinese superyacht owner: ☛ buys a boat direct from the manufacturer (so no broker involved) ☛ has little understanding of the concept of running costs being so high (thinks he can cut corners) when buying his first boat ☛ does not understand the job (wrong expectations) or the value (salary) of a good captain ☛ due to the above gets the feeling of a “bad experience” and will pull out of ownership all together A captain on a Chineseowned superyacht is usually employed for max 1,5 years before being replaced, while the lowly paid crew is badly trained and unable to perform regular and up to standards maintenance. This leads to a rapid devaluation of the yacht and eventually gives the manufacturer a bad name. The big brands are working hard to prevent that. Both Fabio Ermetto (Benetti) and Erwin Bamps (Gulf Craft, previous discussion panel) mention that their companies are more and more unwilling to just sell a yacht to the Asian market and make a 3to-5 year professional maintenance program part of the buying price and not a separate deal. Benetti now has two years of experience with this approach and slowly the market is taking this up. Benetti also has a yearly ‘yacht master’ program for senior crew and yacht managers. In conclusion: it’s not that the Asian owner has such different requirements for a yacht (maybe a few), but mostly different expectations of the processes involved in buying and owning a yacht.
“Follow environmental standards” Although not mentioned as a seperate conclusion, the topic of sustainability and environmental vulnerability was more or less permeating all discussions. Without a sustainable approach to marine tourism, not only will the yachts stay away, but also the environment and local people will suffer. Although it’s not the visiting superyacht that is responsible for the incredible amounts of plastic on the islands and in the ocean, it is important that marine infrastructure (marinas, haul out facilities) follow international Marpol
environmental standards. Zara Tremlett, marina manager of Phuket Yacht Haven mentions that only a few facilities in Asia currently do that and also that it is especially hard to follow through all details of responsible waste disposal and processing.
“300 million tons of plastic produced per year” Pollution in Asia remains a serious threat and disposed plastic waste is a major problem on all islands in South East Asia. In order to have this problem come alive in the conference, the producers had invited Magafira Ali from Banda Neira, Indonesia (a small island among the Banda islands, south of the Maluku islandsto participate in the discussion panel “Cleaning up Asian waters” together with Zara Tremlett (Phuket Yacht Haven Marina), David Jones (Plastic Ocean Foundation) and Shane Granger (Humanitarian Yacht Vega). In a short presentation Magafira mentioned how he started collecting plastic from the beaches about 10 years ago because “it didn’t belong there”. Initially not a big deal, over time the amounts of plastic kept increasing. The island council allowed a field to be used for the plastic to be dumped and now 10 years later that field has grown into a mountain as big as 3 soccer fields together. And this is only a small island … Except for collecting and recycling the plastic waste, the problem is that there is no transport for it to be taken off the island to one of the 2 of Indonesia’s Plastic Banks. Sea transport is expensive, there is no money for a compactor
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(cutting and compressing the plastic) and our society keeps on producing 300 million tons annually of which 50% is only used once. The pictures Magafira showed us were heartbreaking even more so because the technology is there to do something about it. Governments could incorporate awareness training in the curriculums of their schools in order to attack the problem at its roots. Humanitarian Vessel Vega is working with an Indonesian company producing teaching aids to do exactly that. One of the conference delegates (Julian Chang from Seakeepers) pledged to have his engineering team come up with a manual trash compactor design for compacting plastic waste and actual build one and donate it to Magafira.
“Transparent rules and regulations needed” The last main topic to be discussed in this overview is how to attract more superyachts to Asia. Peter Staalsmid from Sevenstar Yacht Transport presented a case in which the company worked closely together with the authorities of Montenegro and Porto Montenegro marina, in order to promote the area as a yachting destination. The authorities developed a strategy in which they made all rules and regulations as easy and transparent as possible, while Sevenstar
did a lot of destination marketing among its clients and transported more and more yachts to the area. Within a few years, Montenegro became a prime destination for visiting yachts and currently features four quality marinas with a fifth being under construction. What can be learned from this case and from the Tahiti experience (discussed previously) is that destination marketing in itself is not enough to attract the yachts. Positive change of rules and regulations in only 1 or 2 Asian countries is also not enough. At ASEAN level a harmonized tax treaty for visiting (charter) superyachts is needed next to full transparency of all rules and regulations. They don’t need to be the exactly the same in all countries but they need to be clear and fair and yacht owners, captains and crew should be made to feel welcome. Speakers in the session “How can Asia learn from the Mediterranean” John Leonida (Clyde & Co), Ken Hickling (sherpa63) and Stephen White (Sovren House) also stressed that regulations need to be transparent and consistent between areas and over time.
“Concerted regional action is called for” As mentioned before concerted action in marketing of the whole region is necessary. An owner of a superyacht will not ship his yacht from Florida to Asia just for a visit to one country. The scale of Asia Pacific is such that owners need to know that in order to discover this exciting region they may need 2-3 years and for that reason, all countries from this region need to present themselves as one destination, each with their own attractions. Next year there will be another conference for sure. I would like to see similar quality of speakers and panelists and a continuation of the important topics that were addressed in this years’ conference. If that is the case, I’ll be there.
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Exploring the Banda Islands, the Original Spice Islands onboard MSV Silolona & Si Datu Bua Story by Patti Seery, Silolona Sojourns, (www.silolona.com) Photos by Brian McDairmant
Silolona arriving in Banda.
T
he Banda Archipelago is a cluster of six idyllic emerald islets and scattered rocky outcrops so insignificant in size (about 40 sq. miles) that even on large scale sea charts, they are but mere dots in the middle of the vast Banda Sea of Indonesia. The Banda group consists of the islands of Banda Naira, Pulau Lonthor, Pulau Ai, Pulau Run, Gunung Api, Pulau Rozengrain, as well as tiny Pulau Hatta. Banda is the native home of the stately myristica fragrans tree from which two spices, nutmeg and mace, are gathered. Thus, Banda became known as one of the original Spice Islands along with Ternate, the original source of all clove trees. Banda nutmegs have been traded to Europe as far back as the second century BC by land and sea routes to China and were amongst
the precious cargos carried by camels along the Silk Road to the West. Nutmeg and other East Indian spices were brought to Europe by the crusaders. Thus, Venice became the spice trading center of the Mediterranean – the enormous profits from the spice trade in the 14th century helped to finance the Renaissance. Then, in 1453, when Constantinople, current day Istanbul, fell to the Turks, the overland trade route for Christian Europe was blocked and it became imperative to find a sea route to the source of these spices. Thus, the search for the spiceries, launched the European Age of Exploration and Discovery. In the late 1400’s Christopher Columbus searching for a westerly route to these same Spice Islands “accidentally” discovered the Americas. Vasco da Gama, Magellan, and other
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Cakalele.
famous early explorers rounded the Cape of Good Hope in search of a sea route to the spiceries and greatly expanded European knowledge of the known world. However, the among the earliest European arrivals in Southeast Asia were the Portuguese under the patronage of King Henry the Navigator in 1511, exactly 500 years ago this year. Alfonso de Albuquerque conquered Mallaca and immediately dispatched a squadron of 3 small ships to the fabled spiceries with the help and guidance of a local Malay pilot. Their search for the original source of the spices led them to the Banda Islands by early 1512. After friendly trading with prices so low for the precious nutmeg and mace, that ships returned to Lisbon having realized more than 1000 % profit. The Dutch arrived in 1599 almost 100 years after the Portuguese at a most inauspicious time when Gunung Api, Banda’s long dormant volcano was erupting dramatically, fulfilling a prophecy made by a Muslim holy man 5 years previously: Gunung Api would erupt and a powerful party of well-armed, white strangers
Banda nutmegs have been traded to Europe as far back as the second century BC by land and sea routes to China and were amongst the precious cargos carried by camels along the Silk Road to the West.
Silolona Banda Kora Kora.
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would arrive from a great distance to conquer the islands. The golden orb that grows from the tall stately myristica fragrans, or nutmeg tree, produces two spices, mace and nutmeg. The bright round yellow fruit pops open on the tree when ripe to reveal the fiery red, lacelike mace, a spice more than twice as valuable as the nutmeg. The mace wraps around a shiny black shell, which is broken and discarded, to reveal the nutmeg within. All parts of the nutmeg are utilized: the outer yellow fruit produces nutmeg syrup and manisan pala, a type f local sweet coated in sugar, the mace is used in cooking and in the cosmetic industry, the nutmeg is a favorite flavoring in meat dishes and sweets around the world, and is also pressed for massage oil. Even the broken shells are dried to become the fuel that keeps the fires slowly
Banda nutmeg drying.
burning for up to 3 months to smoke the nutmeg until it is perfectly dry and ready to export. These uses of nutmeg have been know for thousands of years but the real race for nutmeg began in Europe in the Middle Ages where it was used not only for flavoring, but as a preservative for meat and as an antidote and protection against the Bubonic Plagues that decimated Europe. To produce the episode on nutmeg and cloves for the “BBC Spice Trail Series” with Kate Humble, MSV Silolona sailed again from Ambon to the Banda Islands in search of these exotic spices and their history guided by the local producer and owner of the Silolona, Patti Seery. Patti has been frequent visitor to Banda since the early 1980’s and has documented and supported local traditions.
The best time to visit Banda is from September through November due to the calm sea conditions in the Banda Sea. Generally, the months of June -August are to be avoided due to strong winds and rough seas of the south-east Monsoon. MSV Silolona & Si Datu Bua offer charters year-round throughout SE Asia but focuses on Eastern Indonesia and the Banda Islands from September through November. To travel to Banda today is still to undertake a journey of exploration and adventure. MSV Silolona sailed from Ambon, the largest city and capital of Maluku Province, in Eastern Indonesia to Banda Neira, a distance of 125 NM in the late afternoon (Ambon: 03’41.16 S, 128’07.62 E, Banda Neira: 04’29.83 S, 129’53.35 E). Just after dawn the huge monolith rock of Suangi (04’19 770 S, 129’42.810 E) appears portside and a lookout is posted on the bow for the first glimpse of the fabled Spice Islands of Banda. Shortly, the excited call is heard when the tip of Gunung Api, Banda’s tallest peak (666 meters) and still active volcano is spotted dead ahead with a thin plume of smoke trailing upward in the distance. Imagination flares and one can only imagine the emotions of the early sailors with their first scent of the spiceries and sight of land ahead after a treacherous voyage of 1-2 years from Europe. As the sun rises higher, the mist at sea level dissipates and to the west the low-lying islands of Pulau Ai and Pulau Run appear. There are few more evocative and spectacular approaches than the arrival into the picturesque harbour of Banda Naira with the tall black smoldering cone of Gunung Api to starboard. Navigation lights lead the way between tiny Karaka Island and the tip of the main island, Banda Naira, into the Zonnegat Straits which open up to provide several interesting anchorages. On our approach to the Banda Neira anchorage, the MSV Silolona was greeted at the mouth of the Zonnegat Straits by six ceremonial war canoes called kora-kora, paddled by scores of men to the beat of the gongs and drums. The adat kora-kora required weeks of preparation and offerings to welcome the Silolona and were an amazing sight to behold, a scene straight out of history. Although there is a very substantial commercial ferry dock, MSV usually anchors across “the bay” from the main town of Banda Naira, just under the slopes of Gunung Api volcano in 26 meters of calm water. ( 04’ 29.660 S, 129’ 53.330 E). Smaller yachts can tie up at
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Banda Harbor.
the wooden dock just north of the Hotel Maulana in Banda Naira town for a small fee. The Maulana Hotel provides a welcoming atmosphere, cold beers, lots of local information and a safe place to tie up tenders. All boats entering Banda must report to the Harbour Master directly, adjacent to the big ferry dock for clearance. The friendly, sleepy atmosphere of Banda Naira comes to life with the arrival of the large Pelni Ferry approximately once every 2 weeks. All the local woman set up stalls in the main street with home cooked Bandanese specialties wrapped in banana leaves for the ferry passengers and this provides a colorful, delicious introduction to the local food and friendly people of Banda Naira. Wander for a languid stroll or pedicab (becak) ride past evocative remnants of Dutch mansions dating from the 1600’s including the old Dutch Governor’s Mansion and the adjacent newly-restored Deputy Governor’s Mansion, the headquarters of the VOC, the graceful arches of the old mosque and Protestant church, as well as a 16th century Chinese temple, reminders of the extent of trade in the past. Tidy, brightly colored houses with nutmeg trees growing in their gardens line the quiet streets and lanes of Banda Naira town. The childhood home of the recently deceased Des Alwi, “the King of Banda” and an important national figure, houses the Banda Museum, with an eclectic and fascinating collection from Banda’s past. This street is lined with Dutch mansions and provides a setting straight out of a Somerset Maugham novel.
Fort Belgica, a massive Dutch fort dating from 1611 with canons and watchtowers to climb still stands sentinel over the town, the earlier Portuguese Fort Nassau just below, and the narrow straits between Banda Naira and Pulau Lonthor. A sunset stroll in front of the Governor’s Mansion, past the massive trees planted centuries ago for wood to repair the Dutch ships, to the jetty and gazebo built over the location of the old VOC wharf, offers spectacular vistas as the sun disappears behind volcanic cone of Gunung Api. All is peaceful now, but was not always so. The VOC emblem (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) or United Dutch East India Company emblem is everywhere; engraved in the stones of the fort, the tombs on the church floor, on old coins and cannons scattered about, and the collective memory of the Bandanese people. The V.O.C. was to fulfill the Muslim holy man’s prophecy made 5 years before the arrival of the first Dutch sailors into Banda. Through the Dutch insistence on nonnegotiable prices, use of inappropriate trade goods, bad manners and particularly the establishment of a monopoly on trade these islands would be destroyed. The agent of destruction was Jan Pieterszoon Coen, a Dutch “visionary” who had developed an ambitious master plan for Dutch dominance of trade in Asia extending from India to Japan. In 1609, in defiance and retaliation for such unrealistic, yet strictly enforced, policies of
The best time to visit Banda is from September through November due to the calm sea conditions in the Banda Sea.
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non-negotiable, fixed nutmeg prices, and monopoly, the people of Banda staged an ambush against the Dutch soldiers killing their leader Admiral Verhoeven, witnessed by a young lieutenant, Jan Pieterszoon Coen. By 1621, Coen had been appointed the Governor General of the V.O.C., and convinced that might was right, he set out to destroy the islands of Banda. To achieve his goal, Coen began by ordering the murder and beheading of 44 local leaders called Orang Kaya, by Japanese mercenaries in a bamboo enclosure beside the walls of Fort Nassau. Then, Jan Pieterszoon Coen orchestrated the massacre of virtually every single member of Banda’s male population over 18 years of age, reducing the total population of 15,000 to less than 1,000 consisting of mostly young girls and older women. The “Year 1621” is indelibly etched in the minds of the Bandanese people of today. One of Coen’s officers, wrote this eye witness account, “The 44 Orang Kaya were herded into the bamboo enclosure and read out their sentence for having conspired against the life of Heer General and broken the terms of peace. Six Japanese mercenaries were ordered inside, and with their sharp swords they beheaded and quartered the Orang Kaya. This execution was awful to see. The Orang Kaya died without uttering any sound except that one of them, speaking in the Dutch tongue, said “Sirs, have you then no mercy?” All that happened was so dreadful as to leave us stunned. The heads and quarters of those who had been executed were impaled upon bamboos and so displayed. Thus, did it happen: God knows who is right. All of us as professing Christians, were filled with dismay at the way this affair was brought to a conclusion, and we took no pleasure in such dealings.” Cakalele or traditional war dances of the Bandanese are now performed to commemorate the beheading of the 44 Orang Kaya of Banda in
1621 accompanied by sacred rituals to keep their memory alive. For the villagers of Kampung Ratu, cakalele requires weeks of preparation, offerings, training and participation of the whole village in the sacred rituals. The 5 young men chosen represent the entire Bandanese Army limited to only 5 Capitans by the Dutch. The Capitans carry only wooden shields and swords but golden flowers are clenched in their teeth to show that they had no voice or power. All 5 dancers, dressed in elaborate textiles, some dating from the time of the massacre, dance with precise martial movements to the hypnotic beating of the gongs and drums. Five tall bamboo poles with their leaves still intact are topped with the remnants of Indian trade cloths actually salvaged from the slain Orang Kaya and represent the Orang Kaya from the village that had been slain and beheaded with their heads displayed on bamboo poles in 1621. Valued trade items including ancient gold Portuguese helmets, whole birds of paradise, imported textiles, and, carved serpents adorn the heads of the dancers. Coen’s overall plan after the annihilation of the people of Banda was to replace them with more docile slaves from Java to run the nutmeg gardens of Banda with resident Dutch as overseers. Jan Pieterzoon Coen never achieved his goal of establishing a monopoly on spices, and in fact, this policy led to the eventual bankruptcy of the V.O.C. in 1790s and the downgrading of Banda’s position as a world trade center to a forgotten backwater. The largest island of the Banda group is Pulau Lonthor or Banda Besar. Pulau Lonthor is the ancient caldera of a long extinct volcano and the rich volcanic soils at one time produced the majority of the world’s nutmeg. The huge crescent- shaped island rises sharply from the sea filled with nutmeg gardens shaded by ancient kanari or wild almond trees, both of which flourish on the rich volcanic soil, clean sea breezes, and plentiful rainfall. Here the Dutch, as overseers established their perkens or nutmeg gardens. To entice the Dutch overseers to remain in such a faraway land they were offered “perks” by the VOC such as allowances of 200 bottles of wine, cognac, and sugar, slaves and the ever-present Genever, or gin, and a percentage of the nutmeg profits. Thus, we find the derivation of the word “perks” in the business world of today. An interesting visit to SpanCB, a recently restored Dutch colonial mansion is the starting point of a walk through some of the oldest nutmeg gardens owned by the Yayasan Banda, a non-profit organization to restore and maintain the old buildings and historic sites of Banda. Each foreign visitor is asked to pay a one-
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time fee of Rp. 190.000 which allows access to all Banda’s historical sites and can be paid at the Maulana Hotel. There are two anchorages that Silolona often uses off Pulau Lonthor, one on the eastern hook near a small sandy beach and the other midway along the island in the straits between Banda Naira and Pulau Lonthor. Caution: the water is too shallow to sail for any but the smallest boats from the docks of Banda Naira to Pulau Lonthor heading south. Some of the oldest settlements are on Pulau Lonthor and a hike up the steps to Lonthor village makes a lovely excursion with young children giggling and smiling at every turn. A hike to the lookout point near the ruins of the fort provides a scenic vista across the crystal blue waters of the straits to Gunung Api Volcano and the southern lava flow from the most recent eruption of the volcano on May 10, 1988. Gunung Api Volcano, although only 666m high, is a tough but rewarding climb to the summit for dramatic dawn views and a scenic bird’s eye view of Banda Naira. I highly recommended to begin the climb before the first light of dawn, carry lots of water and to use a local guide. The black soil and scree make this a hot, tough climb even though the first section has concrete steps starting from the sea on the east side of the volcano roughly across the harbour opposite Fort Belgica. If you begin pre- dawn you should be back on shore by 10:00 or 11:00 am, hot and ready for a snorkel or dive on Gunung Api’s northern lava flow also dating from the May 10th, 1988 eruption. You will need to use your dinghy or hire a small wooden local boat to access this amazing site marked by a gazebo onshore. The main lava flow came from the Northern flanks and a huge river of hot lava entered the sea in undulating waves of hot lava that destroyed all in its path including the lovely coral gardens. This is a most amazing dive site
with magnificent coral growth, huge table corals, and lots of fish. Marine scientists had thought that for the corals to recover would take 100’s of years but something in the volcanic soil and nutrient rich waters that surround Banda promotes not only the growth of nutmegs but also rapid growth of corals. This is a uniquely Banda “must see” dive site. The Banda Islands offer many good dive sites but among my favorites is Batu Kapal (Ship
Silolona & Si datu bua.
Rock) called this for ship-like appearance. Batu Kapal rises from the seabed outside the entrance to the harbour of Banda Naira and to the East. The “Ship Rock” is the exposed tip of the largest of 4 seamounds, the other 3 are completely submerged. The deep sandy channels between the mounds harbor huge numbers of large schooling fish, pelagics, tuna, reef sharks and huge Napoleon Wrasse, while coral formations and sponges on the reef face shelter smaller fish from the currents. When the current is running, the fish life is extraordinary and this is truly a world class dive. On the surface, local fishermen in tiny dugout canoes use simple hand lines to catch yellowfin tuna. The ready supply of top quality, fresh fish for shashimi is another of Banda’s delights, either purchased in the daily
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Banda Silolona.
To travel to Banda today is still to undertake a journey of exploration and adventure.
market or directly from the fishermen. There is no end to the wonders of Banda underwater and another special site is just immediately in front of the Hotel Maulana on Banda Naira along the seawall. Each evening just before sunset, spectacularly colored and patterned, but normally elusive, mandarin fish display their magnificent colors, in just a few meters of water. The nearby islands of Pulai Ai and Pulau Run provide excellent excursions to forgotten islands filled with nutmeg plantations, and deserted private beaches with excellent snorkeling and diving in calm seas. Both Pulau Ai (20 km W of Banda Neira) and Pulau Hatta (11 km SW of Banda Naira) are noted for their dive sites but you will need a good tender or hire a local boat for the day to dive. Both sites are also quite good for snorkeling as the reef top is shallow and very rich in marine life. Pulau Ai (04’30.86 S, 129’46.48 E) has a long jetty extending quite far over the shallow reef that can be used by small boats and dinghy’s but is not suitable for deep draft vessels. The reef face drops abruptly to depths of more than 100m so the Captain of MSV Silolona usually “floats” while guests go onshore. Pulai Ai is a delightful village to wander around with no motor vehicles and sidewalks strewn with nutmegs and mace, as well as cloves, drying in the sun. My favorite walk up the village steps is to a sacred well that requires a huge ceremony every 8 years, and then still upwards until you reach an enchanted forest of massive kenari or wild almond trees planted by the Dutch over 300 years ago. These trees were planted to shade the precious nutmeg trees but also offer a valuable cash crop for the villagers. As you stroll amongst these tall giants the sound of the nutmeg pigeon coos softly and flashes from tree to tree. The beautiful nutmeg
pigeon is indigenous to the Banda Islands and helps to distribute and propagate the best nutmeg and kanari seeds. This magnificent forest is owned by members of the community, but it is strictly taboo to cut down or harm these trees. The English under The Honorable East India Company, a trading conglomerate, maintained a tentative hold on Pulau Ai from 1601 until 1615 when the Dutch captured and strengthened the English stronghold re-naming it, Fort Revenge. However, the main English trading center for nutmeg in the Banda Islands was Pulau Run in the early 1600’s. ( 04’32.82 S, 129’40.570). Today, Pulau Run, is far off the beaten path in Banda, with no fresh water supply, and sometimes cut off from the other islands for months at a time due to rough seas. However, Pulau Run now also has a long pier extending far out into the shallows that is suitable only for small craft. Again, deep draft vessels will usually have to “float” as Pulau Run is also surrounded by waters too shallow or too deep to anchor. The sand spit connecting a tiny islet of sand and half exposed coral rock, known as Pulau Neijalakka to Pulau Run was fortified and became a source of major irritation to the Dutch as the English Captain Nathaniel Courthope, insisted on raising the English flag and trading with the local people. Nathaniel Courthrope daring adventurer who held on to Pulau Run for the English against all odds. His story is told in well-written book by Giles Milton called Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, a must read for visitors to the Banda Islands. Today, Pulau Run is a great place to visit and all visitors are warmly welcomed by the Bapak Rajah and friendly people of Pulau Run. Pulau Neijalakka with its pure white sand spit that connects to the main island at low tide is a wonderful place for a picnic and to snorkel. Today, almost nothing remains of the British on these islands except a few crumbling, unkempt ruins. High up on the western hill brings you to the site of the British encampment and a spectacular view over the harbour to Pulau Neijalakka. But of all the islands of Banda, Pulau Run is perhaps the most famous because in 1667 by the Treaty of Breda, the tiny nutmeg island of Pulau Run was traded by the English for an equally tiny island half way around the world owned by the Dutch called Manhattan. (Highly Recommended Reading: Nathaniel’s Nutmeg by Giles Milton, Indonesian Banda by William Hanna, The Boy from Banda by Des Alwi)
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IT’S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES!
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t would be hard to pick the most beautiful island in the Philippines: with no less than 7,107 at last count, there are just too many to choose from. Especially the Calamianes Group or “Calamian”, the northernmost islands of the province of Palawan, is home to some of the most gorgeous, pristine tropical islands in the world. Imagine cruising around uninhabited islands with old-growth vegetation and white sand beaches, surrounded by well-preserved coral reefs, and you’ll get the postcard-perfect picture. Besides lovely beaches, many of the Calamianes islands feature imposing limestone
Postcard-Perfect Beaches in the Philippines. ANTONIA II in the Philippines.
Filipino kids enjoying ice cream.
Photos courtesy of motor yacht ANTONIA II, Philippine Department of Tourism / Tourism Promotions Board Philippines and the Philippine Department of Tourism: Australia & New Zealand
cliffs that plunge straight down from 100m or more into the sea. Uninhabited coves and inlets are aplenty. The cream of the crop, Busuanga, is the largest island in the Calamian. The only airport serviced by regular commercial flights is here and the capital of the Calamianes Group, Coron Town is located on its southeast coast. Coron Town grew from a small fishing village in the mid-eighties to a population of around 50,000 which was largely due to an increase of tourism. Coron Island lies less than a nautical mile to the east of Coron Town. There are saltwater lakes within the interior, a couple of which are accessible via a pleasant hike. Curious marine life has evolved within these lakes so snorkeling gear is a must to bring along. Of note are inlets along the north-western coast which are like small fjords. Entering these fjords with a 30m yacht (mind the thrusters!), surrounded by those majestic cliffs and fringed by clear, turquoise waters, is truly spectacular!
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ANTONIA II Jacuzzi.
CRUISING ON ANTONIA II IN THE PHILIPPINES A 7-DAY ITINERARY
STARTAND GO: MANILA International and domestic air-hub Manila is like every capital city: lively, busy and congested! When time allows visit the 16th century “Intra-Muros”, founded by the Spanish, and the colorful 400-year old China town. For shoe lovers, the Marikina Shoe Museum showcases - amongst others- 749 pairs of shoes of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. The Makati district has many upmarket bars, restaurants and music clubs, for an entertaining night out on the town.
DAY 1: Manila to Hamilo Coast From Manila cruise past historic Corregidor. There are still remnants of fortifications of WW II on the island, which now serve as military memorials to American, Filipino and Japanese soldiers.
White Beach Inlet with Local Banca Boat.
Anchor in one of the coves of Hamilo Coast for a refreshing swim and a relaxing evening on board. Hamilo Coast ‘s location at the entry of the Verde Island Passage makes it an ideal starting point for a cruise.
DAY 2: Hamilo Coast to Puerto Galera, North Mindoro No wonder the Spanish loved staying here in the past: Puerto Galera has a splendid natural harbor. Anchor in the bay, visit the yacht
ANTONIA II Master Cabin.
ANTONIA II Salon.
club and hire a local “jeepney” taxi for a ride overland to tumbling waterfalls and magnificent mountain views. There is excellent snorkeling and diving over extensive coral gardens. Relax on board, forget about the rest of the world and enjoy leisure time with your family and friends.
DAY 3: Puerto Galera to Apo Reef
Apo Island - Part of Apo Reef National Park.
Diver in a School of Fish.
On Apo Island, one of the three islands of Apo Reef, you can walk through the village to the lagoon and the coral beach on the southeastern coast. A steep set of stairs takes you up the hill, to the lighthouse. You might be huffing and puffing by the time you’ve reached the top but that’s soon forgotten as the view is gorgeous! The main attraction of Apo Reef is, of course, snorkeling or diving. Explore different parts of the huge (34 square km) reef, admire the coral gardens and snorkel with turtles. The reef, according to many, is one of the best in the world. Clear water, colorful corals and many, many kinds of fishes and marine life such as napoleons, tunas, wrasses, crabs, shrimps and many more.
DAY 4: Apo Reef to Dumanpalit Island Black Island, anchorage in Puerto del Sol Dumanpalit is a turtle-shaped island with a long, white-sand beach, green vegetation
Some of the weird and wonderful Apo Reef Life.
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and limestone rock formations. The coral reefs surrounding the island are great for snorkeling with very pretty, red, blue and pink colours. Visit the Busuanga Yacht Club Palawan, located at the beautiful Puerto Del Sol Resort. Puerta del Sol is perfect for white-sand island hopping. You could easily spend a month here, not visiting the same beach twice.
DAY 5: Puerto del Sol and North / South Cay, West Nalaut Island North Cay and South Cay are a must to visit. A small entry fee is charged to support local conservation efforts and caretakers of the island. The islands are laid-back and never busy: you might be the only ones there. You can swim and snorkel, walk around the small island and have a wood fire cook-out on the beach. West Nalaut has over two miles of coastline, half of which has white sandy beach and half has rocky outcrops and cliffs. Crystal clear water and a 1000-foot-wide coral reef, surround the island. It is a natural breeding ground for turtles and dugongs. There are several Japanese World War II wrecks nearby, good deep sea fishing for blue marlin and tuna and, if you are lucky, whale shark, dolphin, dugong, bird, firefly and fruit bat spotting opportunities.
DAY 6: Banana Island, Ditaytayan Island, Malacapuya Island Banana Island has perfect white sand beaches and amazing snorkeling. It can be a little busier here with travelers and day tourists. The island has a friendly atmosphere with hammocks near the shore, small beach bars and afternoon soccer or volleyball games on the beach. If you want to remain in quieter places go to Ditaytayan and step unto its incredibly beautiful sandbar, a long stretch of pristine white sand, surrounded by turquoise water.
Staying Cool While Selling Fresh Produce.
Malacapuya Island has very clean, clear water and milk powder-like sand. The coral reef is quite far from the shore and it is an ideal sandy-bottom destination for swimming or just lounging under the hot afternoon sun. You can bring picnic meals here, or even cook a BBQ. Crystal Clear Water for Snorkeling.
Coral Reef Life.
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ANTONIA II for Charter in the Philippines.
DAY 7: Coron Island, Kayangan Lakes, Coron Town, Coron Airport Visit any of the attractions on or nearby Coron Island. Go for an early morning visit to the seven mixed-water Kayangan Lakes. A 700-step climb to the top of Mt. Tapyas will be rewarded with the best view of Coron Town and surrounding islands. There is also a zip line and a salt water thermal spa for relaxing baths in temperatures ranging from 38C to 41C. Transfer from Coron Town to Francisco B. Reyes Airport, formerly Busuanga Airport, for a return flight to Manila or other location in the Philippines. Motor yacht ANTONIA II is an Azimut Grande 105, one of the few luxury yachts in the Philippines. She has 4 stately and spacious cabins to accommodate 8 guests and cruises at 24 knots. Facilities include a large salon, Jacuzzi on the top deck, SeaDoo jet ski, fly-fish and other water toys. The Philippine people (over 90 million) are well-educated and are known for a cheerful disposition, most of them are Catholics. Besides the local language, Tagalog, English is widely spoken throughout. Calamian in the province of Palawan is generally considered the best for cruising. Located south of the ‘typhoon belt’, severe tropical storms will veer to pass well north of the province, except on very rare occasions. For more information on ANTONIA II or yachts anywhere in the world contact:
Coron Limestone Fjords.
CHARTER Hong Kong T: +852 9310 7427 Sytske.Kimman@NorthropandJohnson.com Thailand T: +66 81 539 6106 Lies.Sol@NorthropandJohnson.com Thailand T: +66 81 893 7018 Kay.Monney@NorthropandJohnson.com SALES Hong Kong T: +852 9759 7845 Bart.Kimman@NorthropandJohnson.com Hong Kong T: +852 5280 3506 Hugo.VanSchaik@ NorthropandJohnson.com
MANILA to CORON 7D Itinerary Map.
Phuket MAGAZINE
Phuket MAGAZINE
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Bay Regatta turns twenty
Story & Photography by Scott Murray
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T
he Bay Regatta is a four-day circumnavigation of Phang Nga Bay that takes in three of southern Thailand’s most scenic provinces–Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi–with the emphasis is on fun. Attracting the serious, the notso-serious and the not-at-all-serious “racing” sailors, the regatta appeals to an international mix who enjoy the stunning sailing grounds of the area and a different destination each evening. Held from 15th to 19th February, The Bay Regatta is a series of passage races – an event format that has caught the attention of sailors around the world with participants coming from as far afield as Australia,
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Russia, the UK and Canada to compete in six classes (Racing Class, Cruising A, Cruising B, Bareboat Charter, Racing Multihulls and Cruising Multihulls) Each evening, the regatta anchors at a different venue and the sailors go ashore. Those staying ashore – more than 60% of the fleet – book accommodation and either eat in the local restaurants or enjoy the official event functions which engage with the local community. Most of the expenditure of the regatta goes directly into the local economies of the areas we visit – this has been the case since the regatta was launched and
Another great sailing day greeted the participants on the final day as they sailed a short loop around some of the islands off the coast off of Krabi’s Railay Beach, before heading out for a straight shot back to the southern end of Koh Yao Yai with the racing boats doing a slightly longer course than the cruisers. After all the boats crossed the finish, they headed back to Phuket, where they celebrated the final prize giving and dinner at Kan Eang 2 restaurant, overlooking Chalong Bay. PRO and race organizer Simon James used two starts for the competitors throughout the regatta: first off were all the monohulls (15 boats)
it will remain so for the future—an excellent example of how sports tourism works to the benefit of communities and local economies. Starting in Ao Po on Phuket’s east coast, after registration and an opening party at Chandara Resort & Spa, on the first day, the yachts raced north through the stunning rocky outcrops of Phang Nga Bay finishing off Koh Yao Noi where yachts anchored and enjoyed a prizegiving party on the beach at Paradise Koh Yao. The second day’s 24nm course left from Koh Yao Noi, rounded Koh Le Mann to starboard, passed Koh Pang & then Koh Pak Bia to port, Koh Ka to starboard, rounded Koh Kaya to starboard through the gate at Koh Heng (keeping the committee boat to port), then rounding Koh Ngang to port before passing between Koh Deng and Koh Samet and finally finishing off of Railay Beach.. On the third day, the racing multis and monos went on a longer 24NM course, while the all the cruisers went on a 17NM course off of Railay Beach in Krabi.
followed by all the multihulls (16 boats). There were no real glitches, or incidents, on the course as sailboats deftly dodged the longtail fishing boats and fishing lines as they made their way across Phang Nga Bay. The two-boat Racing Class was already decided before the final race as Aleksandr Trofimenko’s Megazip had beat Gary Baguley’s Fujin the previous three days, but Megazip decided to explore Phang Nga Bay on the way allowing Fujin to capture the final race. With wins on days three and four Hellmut Schutte’s Aquavit 6 was able to take top spot in Cruising A finishing with seven points overall. They were followed by Gary Smith’s Baby Tonga with ten points. If Baby Tonga hadn’t accidentally sailed the wrong course on day three, there’s a good chance they would have won this class. Gavin Wellman’s Rascal’s was in third with spot with thirteen points while Philippe Dallee’s Tintin and Woodrow Christensen’s Linda, rounded out the division, each finishing with seventeen points. Cruising B saw Gillow-skipped Poco break
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Canadian Jim “Yee Haw” Ellis’s Remington stranglehold on first-place finishes, but it wasn’t enough to wrestle the overall title from Remington, who finished with seven points, while Poco had ten. Jim was able to add another notch to his Bay Regatta belt as no one has won has won a Bay Regatta regatta class as many times as Jim has. Piccolo (12 points), Aqua (14 points) and Thalassa (17 points) rounded out this class. The Bareboat Class same the same results four days running with Kinnon skippered by Stanislav Pechenkin finishing first every day
(earning four points overall) Aussie Alan Bower’s All Sail Asia came second (eight points) and Russel Waddy’s All Sail Venus Hunter (fourteen points) finished third. In racing multis, Fergus Wilmer’s team on Thor (Fergus & Jenny Wilmer, plus Warwick Downes & James Haste) claimed line honors flying around the course on all four days, and recorded a line honours time of 02:55:08 on the final day. Thor and John Newnham’s Twin Sharks team of Alfie Rowson, Jason Corall, Tam Keawwantha, and Mark Pescott, ended up tied with seven points each
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but Twin Sharks won the class on the virtue of its three first-place finishes, but Twin Sharks still only won the final race by thirty-eight seconds on corrected time—it doesn’t get much closer than that. In this eleven-boat class, Alan Cawardine’s Asia Catamarans Hurricane, finished third overall with twelve points followed closely by Mick Coleman’s sister ship Java with fourteen points. Multihull cruising saw Rick Fielding’s Mojo and Sergei Dikanov’s Fenix flip flop first-andsecond place finishes throughout the regatta both finishing with six points, but Mojo took the win, based on the results of the last race. Colin Wright’s Swift and Graham Tucky’s Optoloi II came next each with eighteen points, but again Swift took third based on the its final-race performance, The Chinese Sanya Yomovo sailing team on DaVinci, had a DNS on the third day and a OCS on the fourth day (they didn’t have a radio on board) relegating them to fifth overall with twenty points. Sailing on Robert van Paridon’s Tantrum Too as a crew member was 55-year-old Frenchman Philippe Péché, who will compete in the Golden Globe Race 2018 (go to www.facebook.com/teamgregal for more information). Peter Wood kindly donated a sextant to Philippe for his participation to the Golden Globe Race, on the final awards night. Simon James, who has stepped in many times to save this regatta over the years, did a tremendous job as PRO setting the courses, manning the starts and keeping things in order. Kae Wattana and her Regattas Asia team made everyone happy on shore, providing plenty of good food and drink and good entertainment. Sean Getchell’s Epic Charters stepped up and provided a superb committee boat, Hakuna Matata, and Tristan Hinxman did great work steering the photographer’s rib, graciously provided by Raymarine’s Mick Kealy. And Simon’s team on the water—Susan, Susie, Cathy, Chandran & Ron—as always, made sure all the starts and finishes were correctly posted and recorded.
About The Bay Regatta The Bay Regatta was launched in 1998 by a group of Phuket-based sailing enthusiasts and a photographer who wished to showcase the stunning beauty of the Phuket/ Phang Nga/ Krabi seascapes. The Bay Regatta takes sailors through the three provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi allowing participants to experience the best of southern Thai hospitality and the unrivaled sailing grounds in the area. They sail amongst 200-metre high karsts and past hidden bays on their way to a party under-the-stars on an idyllic beach. The Bay Regatta is organised by Regattas Asia under the auspices of the Phuket Yacht Club in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Province of Phuket, the Province of Phang Nga and the Province of Krabi. For more information, visit www.bayregatta.com or www.facebook.com/ bayregatta (Detailed courses can be viewed at www.bayregatta.com/courses).
About Regattas Asia Regattas Asia is a brand name of Phuket and More Co. Ltd., established in 2001 with over 15 years’ involvement in the organisation of leading marine events in Asia. Regattas Asia has become a prominent player in Asia’s regattas industry, with an innovative approach to the management of major sailing events in the region, and provides services to the following events: Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek, Sabang International Regatta (Indonesia), Royal Langkawi International Regatta (Malaysia), Hainan Around the Island Regatta (China), China Cup International Regatta. Regattas Asia are sole organisers of The Bay Regatta and Samui Regatta (www.regattas.asia).
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Fountaine Pajot Sailing Catamarans
SHARE YOUR EMOTIONS
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reate timeless memories as you experience spectacular destinations with those you love. Fountaine Pajot’s range of sailing catamarans has been designed with remarkable living space and superb levels of comfort and performance so you can share all the pleasures of a premium cruising lifestyle. Asia Marine has worked in collaboration with Fountaine Pajot Catamarans in La Rochelle, France, for almost 20 years and are very excited to be importing two new Fountaine Pajot models in to Thailand later this year, including a new Lucia 40 in September 2017. This exciting new 40-foot catamaran has been exclusively designed to deliver a simply superb experience at sea and while moored. Remarkable volumes and light-filled living spaces allow you to comfortably share the experiences and create life-long memories with family and friends. The Lucia 40 is a true revolution in her class. No other sailing catamaran of her size has fabulous living space of the Lucia 40, which includes a luminous saloon, generous cabins, expansive 12m2 cockpit, and a decadent lounge
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This exciting new 40-foot catamaran has been exclusively designed to deliver a simply superb experience at sea and while moored.
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area on the bow that spans more than 3m2! She is also the only 40-foot sailing catamaran that includes four bathrooms and also boasts the largest Owner’s suite available in her class. Beautifully appointed, the Lucia 40 has all the contemporary conveniences you need for carefree cruising, so you can relax in comfort while experiencing the catamaran’s impressive performance at sea.
This well-equipped Lucia 40 model will come equipped with a 4 cabin/2 bathroom layout, ideal for chartering in and around Phuket and The Andaman Sea. In addition, she has been spec’d to handle longer passages with the inclusion of solar panels, additional batteries, a gas oven, a fridge and a freezer too. Furthermore, the saloon table drops down to create a 5th double bed to accommodate up to 10 guests.
Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 Specifications Benefits of having a boat managed by Asia Marine The ownership of a vessel is too often associated with technical headaches and financial burden, but Asia Marine has been managing sailboats for 20 years. It believes that properly maintained sailing boats should remain the source of leisure, recreation and pleasure…and potentially financial rewards. Asia Marine understands an owner’s needs and expectations because it is also a boat owner and operator. It has been a Fountain Pajot agent for over 10 years and has several catamarans under management in its bareboat fleet. Asia Marine’s “preventative maintenance program” enables private owners to find their boat "ready to go” at any time, thereby enjoying 100% of their free time while controlling their budgets. Asia Marine’s “Yacht Charter Managements contracts” have proven to be very successful. The Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 Ft model is extremely popular and is sure to generate a cash return for its owner.
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Beautifully appointed, the Lucia 40 has all the contemporary conveniences you need for carefree cruising.
For additional information on the Lucia 40 or any other Fountaine Pajot Catamarans please contact Asia Marine in Phuket. Vincent Tabuteau – 081-827-6075 Managing Director, Asia Marine. Vincent@asia-marine.net
Paul Stamp – 091-824-7966 Senior Broker & Operation Manager broker@asia-marine.net
www.asia-marine.netligh
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One Design yacht racing provides close and exiting racing as all boats are equal.
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ransworld
R e g
Platu a t t a Story by Kev Scott Photography by Scott Murray
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he third running of the Transwold Platu Regatta sailed out of the beautiful Ocean Marina Yacht Club a few kilometers South of Pattaya. This is fast becoming known as a MUST DO regatta for One Design sailors. The Platu Worlds are always held in central Europe so this event was introduced to provide top quality racing in Asia. Crews from Australia, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Malaysia and Thailand enjoyed three days of intense racing, plus one practice day, in beautiful surroundings and ideal yachting conditions. The Platu is a 25-foot racing yacht designed by Bruce Farr, and is especially suited for the waters in the Gulf of Thailand. All the Platus are identical racing yachts and have to conform to strict One Design rules. This makes the racing very close and exciting with some races decided by inches, unlike mixed boat fleets, where boats can be miles apart by the end of a race and results calculated on a handicap system. In One Design, first over the finish line is the winner.
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The Transworlds is the first-of-a-four event series to determine the Platu Sailing Champion of Thailand 2017. The first Transworld Platu Regatta was won by Mati Sepp from Estonia and last year Australian Scott Duncanson just beat his fellow countryman Chris Way. Unfortunately, this year, Scott could not defend his title but the quality of the entrants ensured another close battle. The Royal Thai Navy, fresh from their win at the famous Phuket King’s Cup regatta was among the entrants and Mati Sepp and Chris Way returned to renew their rivalry. This year, a new format made the racing even more intense with up to six short races per day along with a double points final race score. This system is used in world-class events and provides the opportunity for mixed results each race keeping the final scores undecided until the end. The first day was a separate one day regatta, introduced this year, to give foreign crews a chance to familiarize themselves with the waters here in the Gulf of Thailand. It also allows the
Shorter races meant there was close racing throughout the course and on several occasions boats were separated by only inches over the finish line. teams to improve and hone their crew work, which is so important on these identical, One Design, yachts. Janis, from Latvia, was fast straight away on Platu 116 Naiad, and won the day. He also won the first race of the 3 day Transworld regatta before other crews got up to speed. Yacht racing depends so much on the wind of course and although the forecast had not been so good, a fresh breeze came in from the West and allowed Neil Dunkley, the race officer, to produce five races. Chris Way of Australia needed only one race to get settled in before he produced a string of four first place finishes and lead the regatta after day one, with Sergey Omelianenico of Russia second and Rolf Heemskerk, a Dutchman living in Malaysia, in third. On the second day, crews had to wait one hour and forty minutes before the wind settled enough for racing to start, but this new format of 30 minute races allowed another five races to be run. Sergey produced some great results to climb up the leader board into second place behind Chris with Mati Sepp of Estonia now into third. On day three, the wind strengthened but it was very changeable for strength and direction which makes it difficult for the race officer to set a perfect course. However, racing eventually got under way with crews fighting up to 18 knots of wind at times. Rolf seemed to handle the
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conditions better than most and won the first two races to put himself into podium contention. Then the crews lined up for the final race with double points on offer and a real chance to make big changes to the results. It was a perfect start for almost all crews as they raced away in a tight group not wanting to separate and make a tactical error against the fleet. Sometimes, the last race produces unusual sailing tactics as crews fight one--one to protect their overall results and this race was no exception with some boats racing within inches of their competitor. It has to be said that although it can get very noisy and animated on the race course when boats are very close together, once crews are back on shore their common interest creates close friendships and camaraderie which is great to see. When the racing was over, Chris Way of Australia took first overall with 38 points; Mati Sepp of Estonia was second with 46 points; and Rolf Heemskerk of Malaysia was third with 52 points. Sergey of Russia also had 52 points but a count back procedure third-place went to Rolf. Results for the other boats were as follows: Janis from Latvia 64 points, Harles Liiv from Estonia 72 points, Nathan Masopust a Canadian from Thailand 90 points and Aleksei Zigadco from Estonia 95 points. The next event in the series is the Coronation Cup held during the annual Top of the Gulf Regatta, 4-8th May.
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Thailand to host Optimist World Championship
Committee members answering questions at the press conference.
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2017
Optimist Athlete team 2017 (From left - Saranwong Poonpat, Intira Parnpiboon, Panwa Boonnak, Paliga Poonpat, Jedtavee Yongyuennarn).
hailand has been selected to host the Optimist World Championship 2017 to be organized between 11-21 July, 2017 at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) in Pattaya. Over 59 countries have already confirmed to compete in the event, and each country will send their most talented Optimist sailors to race as national representatives on this world stage. Organized by the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC), the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT) in conjunction with the International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) with strong support from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), the event is set to provide an inspiration for young Thais to take up sailing and stimulate the development of Optimist sailing in Thailand to international standards. The Optimist Dinghy has proven to be the ideal boat for introducing young children to the sport of sailing. The object of the class is to provide an affordable racing boat for young people. Optimist Dinghy sailing typically starts at the age of 7 or 8 and continues to 15 years of age. More than 85% of all sailors who participated in the Rio Olympics sailed in Optimist Dinghies when they were young. Thomas Whitcraft, President of the Optimist World Championship 2017 Thailand, explains, “The Royal Varuna Yacht Club is proud to have been chosen as the host venue for the prestigious Optimist World
Championship 2017. We relish the opportunity to host the Championship and showcase Thailand as a great venue for International sailing events. This is the 2nd time in Thai history that Thailand has won the honor of hosting the world-class event. We held our first Optimist World Championship here at RVYC back in 1979 and it is great that the club has been selected to be He continued, “We are blessed in Thailand to have weather that is great for sailing all year round with more than our fair share of consistent winds. Moreover, the reputation of Thailand for providing exceptional hospitality comes from its wonderful people, beautiful seas and great food, so we really are a standout world sailing destination. We would like everyone to be aware of the importance of the Optimist competition as it is the foundation of all competitive sailing.” Admiral Kraisorn Chansuvanich, Honorary President of the Optimist World Championship 2017 Thailand and President of Yacht Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT), said, “Thailand is pleased and warmly welcomes all young optimist sailors from around the world to compete in the Optimist World Championship 2017. This event will provide an inspiration for Thai youths to take up sailing and boost the development of Optimist sailing in Thailand to international standards. Our Thai team is very much ready and has been training hard for this world class competition, so we’re expecting this to be another great year of success for Team Thailand.” “Additionally, this is another excellent
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opportunity for us in that this event will also help develop sailing as a sport and provide opportunities for our young sailors in Thailand to learn and gain great experience on the world stage by competing with many sailors from around the world,” said Admiral Kraisorn. Thailand became a member of IODA under the Junior Sailing Squadron of Thailand in 1977. With the great guidance of Al Chandler, The general committee of Optimist World Championship 2017 plus some young Thai sailors. IODA President from 1984 to 1989, Thailand has produced several Optimist World Champions. In 2009, Noppakao Poonpat took the honor as first female in Brazil. She went on to do even better in 2010, winning the first female event and the first About the International Optimist Dinghy overall championship at the event in Malaysia – a year when Thailand won all four trophies The International Optimist Dinghy was first designed in 1947 by Clark available, breaking the record in the history of the Mills in Clearwater Florida. It was made out of 8 ft marine plywood and was Optimist World Championships. called the Optimist Pram, as it was a project with the local Optimist Club Peter Barclay, President of the IODA, to get young children sailing. The Optimist Dinghy later evolved in Denmark where it transformed into the international body that groups national the International Optimist Dinghy that it is today. Although the first boats Optimist associations, says, “The IODA is in were made of wood, fiberglass boats started to arrive in 1970. Today they charge of the regulation and development of are the major type of boat manufactured by over 30 builders around the Optimist sailing in each country. Since being world. The International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA), the governing established in 1947, we have worked for 70 years to body of national members was founded in 1965 in Aarhus, Denmark. Today build upon the development of Optimist sailing there are approximately 120 IODA member countries around the world and globally, and to continue to raise the standards of IODA is the largest youth sailing class in the world. Over 165,000 Optimists have been built since the start of record keeping in the 1960’s. the sport. We administer the International IODA is a not for profit organization registered in Aalborg, Denmark Optimist Dinghy Class in accordance with World operating out of Toronto, Canada. It is the governing body of national Sailing requirements, and ensure that the Class associations in charge of the regulation and development of Optimist sailing Rules are observed.” in over 118 countries around the world. He went on to say, “We want to promote the International Optimist Dinghy Class and grow About the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) its reputation as a cornerstone for the development of world sports sailing. Thailand is one of the Under Royal Patronage, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club was founded by HSH Bhisadej Rajani and Mr. Walter J. Meyer in 1957 and other members. leading countries among the 118 IODA members His Majesty the Late King Bhumibhol Adulyadej and Princess Ubolratana, (International Optimist Dinghy Association). It both keen sailors, regularly sailed at Royal Varuna Yacht Club. Unprecedented, has been 38 years since Thailand last hosted the they both achieved first place and won Gold Medals at the 1967 SouthOptimist World Championship and we are East Asia Peninsular Games. delighted to be back in Thailand again after so The Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) founded in 1957 is the premier many years. We are confident that Thailand and sailing club and center of dinghy sailing in Thailand, located in a secluded Event Organizers are planning a hugely successful cove between Pattaya and Jomtien. It is a Not-For-Profit Association with a constitutional mandate to Promote Sailing in Thailand. event of competition and activities for the many With close to 500 members, it is a family oriented club for sailors of young sailors from all over the world and look all abilities, from the uninitiated to serious racers. The club offers a yearforward to this magnificent competition being round sailing program with cruising and racing. The club offers sailing tuition held at Royal Varuna Yacht Club.” for adults, in its extensive sailing program under RYA accreditation from For more information, please visit: the UK. www.2017worlds.optiworld.org
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SYS seals position as
Asia’s premier boat show
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s the horns blew to signal the end of the 2017 edition of the Singapore Yacht Show (SYS), the mood was jubilant amongst exhibitors. Over the course of the four-day event, the SYS welcomed a total of 14,286 visitors through its doors for what was widely considered its best-ever edition. In addition to the 94 yachts on the water, visitors were treated to a glamorous program of supercar parades, fashion shows, yacht parties, gourmet food stalls and an array of pop-up bars. The SYS 2017 line-up hit new milestones with the largest ever yacht on display – the 77m Silver Fast, and a record number of World and Asian premieres. Prominent brands such as Boat Lagoon Yachting and the Ferretti Group chose SYS as a platform to debut their newest yachts and concepts to the Asian market. Boat Lagoon Yachting had the largest exhibit, with a total of 13 boats on display, including the first ever inwater showing of the sporty but elegant Princess S60, and the Asia premiere of Jeanneau’s Sun
Odyssey 349. In partnership with Hong Seh Marine, the Ferretti Group showcased five yachts, three of which - Ferretti Yachts 450, Pershing 5X and Ferretti Yachts 700 - made their regional debut. Vrit Yongsakul, Group Managing Director of Boat Lagoon Yachting and Princess Yachts South East Asia, said, "It was a good show this year for Boat Lagoon Yachting - our biggest display of 13 luxury yachts attracted a huge amount of interest from both seasoned and firsttime buyers, particularly the Princess S60, which made her in-water World Premiere here. The event has certainly reinforced its standing as the best platform in Asia for yacht enthusiasts, and it was a great opportunity to promote the leisure marine lifestyle." There was plenty of sunshine, and none of the torrential downpours that Singapore is commonly known for. According to the brokers, dealers and manufacturers on the docks, visitor numbers certainly felt as though they were well up from last year, and there was a really good feel
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to the show. There was certainly good ambience around the Sevenstar Yacht Transport booth where, as Sales Manager Peter Staalsmid said, “We’ve had a great four days here at the Singapore Yacht Show – lots of interaction with show visitors. We’re looking forward to 2018 already.” Over at Simpson Marine, Singapore Country Manager Nick Stratton reported the sale of the Lagoon 620 Essence on display, and also the Beneteau Gran Turismo 46 which was premiering at the Show. “This boat proved very popular – there are more orders to come”, Simpson had 40 staff at the Singapore Yacht Show, representing all of the shipyards in the Simpson portfolio, and “we are confident of many sales to come,” said Stratton. “Our charter programme has proved particularly successful, with many bookings confirmed at the show – and our E-power Marine Finance product attracted a lot of interest.” As the premier marine financing scheme available in Asia, it’s no surprise it was well received at SYS.
Gulf Craft, a long-term supporter of SYS, was present once more with a Majesty 48 and a Nomad 65. “The Nomad attracted a great deal of interest,” said Mahmoud Itani, Communications and Marketing Manager. “The one on display is hull #7, and it is subtly different from its predecessors. We have been gradually refining the interior in response to customer comments and suggestions. Gulf Craft have been present at all seven Singapore shows now, and we fully intend to continue our presence in 2018. The Show feels very positive this year - there have definitely been more visitors, more serious buyers having more fun, and we liked the new opening times.” This year’s SYS opened its doors from 3.00pm to 9.00pm, so that the cool of late afternoons ran happily into the numerous evening cocktail parties along the docks and on the boats on display. Azimut, Ferretti Group, Princess Yachts, Simpson Marine and Sunreef all hosted a number of popular social events. Famous British brand, Sunseeker, was
A sunshinefilled festive four-day event welcomed over 14,000 visitors and a grand total of 94 yachts.
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A record number of boats made their World and Asian debut at ONE?15 Marina Sentosa Cove.
one of the many returning exhibitors to increase their SYS showcase. “Last year we had a stand on the Esplanade, but this year we were able to display a brand new Sunseeker Manhattan 55, which attracted a lot of interest. We are continuously strengthening our presence in the region, and the SYS is a key part of our strategy. We will be back with a much bigger presence next year,” said Douglas Culverwell is Sunseeker’s Regional Business Manager. “We have a main office in Hong Kong, and now we are concentrating on building our brand strategy at this end of Asia. The Singapore Yacht Show is the show to be at – it is the focal point of the whole region.” Leopard Catamarans had its largest showing to date with four vessels on display, Kit Chotithamaporn, Yacht Sales Manager – Asia, reported an “excellent Show, with two boats sold (so far), the Leopard 45 and the Leopard 48.” There were plenty of champagne corks popping at Azimut as they also reported an exceptionally successful show, having sold a total of five boats straight “off the dock”. Choppy Tan commented, “We are extremely happy with SYS this year, attracting guests from across the region, and selling five boats throughout the weekend. Our booth had no downtime and we were overflowing from the opening, way past show closing every night. We are delighted by our growing Azimut family here in Singapore
and are looking forward to putting on an even bigger display next year.” And the VIPs were shoulder-to-shoulder at the exclusive sponsor parties on the big boats all week. The owner-promoter of 41m M/Y Ocean Emerald was delighted with the number of contacts made at the three soir?es he generously hosted. The undeniable star of the show was the 77m Silver Fast from SilverYachts in Australia, whose owner laid on two spectacular and highly exclusive events for the many UHNW visitors who wanted to see one of the world’s most iconic yachting brands: “May I say thank you for a very good show; we saw plenty of good quality clients, and we are optimistic about a sale. Our competitors were also happy to be able to show a superyacht of superior quality - if we want to develop the Asian market, we have to let everyone on board to promote the top end of the industry. I am delighted to have made SilverFast open and flexible in this respect, and I am sure it will pay back one day!" said Guido Krass, owner of SilverYachts. For anyone who went the full distance – starting with the Asia Pacific Yachting Conference, then the Asia Boating Forum and culminating in the Singapore Yacht Show – it was a long, yet informative, five days and provided the perfect networking opportunity for the industry. The amount of information
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generated at the conferences, followed by the increased number of exhibitors at the Yacht Show, meant that there was a great deal to absorb. Andy Treadwell the CEO and Founder of SYS, has always said that “this is a brand show in a business location,” and the exhibitors agree. Singapore may not have the space to offer in boating terms per se, but his new Thailand Yacht Show at the beginning of the season in Phuket offers just that. “Singapore,” says Treadwell, “is the financial and luxury hub of the region, and is perfectly located to be able to tap into the Indonesian and Malaysian markets - as well as the all-important Chinese goldmine. The tens of thousands of affluent lifestyle-seeking citizens in Hong Kong, and on the mainland, are only too happy to come to the Lion City to spend their money, do their business, and have fun. All we need is the budget to be able to go and get them.” Once again, the SYS proved that location is important. ONE?15 Marina Sentosa Cove is a first-class establishment that can accommodate superyachts, and is surrounded by bars and restaurants, offering both a social background to the show and a supporting atmosphere. The Singapore Yacht Show is not just a boat show – it is also a luxury event in its own right. Supercars and fashion shows help complete the picture, but it is the ambience
along the docks and the socialization around the marina that sets SYS apart from all the other shows in the region. It is a showroom for the brands, a shop window for casual clientele, a meeting ground for industry professionals, a launch pad for premieres and a rendezvous for boaters from all over Asia – and even further afield. As the 2017 edition has proved, the Singapore Yacht Show is where you have to be to understand what is going on in the marine leisure industry in Asia. The dates for SYS 2018 have been confirmed, and will take place from 12-15 April.
About the Singapore Yacht Show The Singapore Yacht Show is the leading yacht and luxury show in South East Asia and provides an opportunity to discover some of the world's finest superyacht and international boat brands in an elite and highly social setting. The Singapore Yacht Show offers a first-class platform for regional guests to meet yachting professionals, boat owners, and supercar aficionados. Held at the award-winning ONE?15 Marina Sentosa Cove, Singapore, this exclusive event epitomizes luxury lifestyle and brings together world-class yachts, glamorous parties, high-end entertaining, and an enviable range of prestige products and brands – supercars, fine dining and beautiful timepieces. www.singaporeyachtshow.com
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SEA Yachting Q & A with
Neil Dunkley
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Photo by Ben Montgomery
eil Dunkley is the Director and Rear Commodore of Sailing at England’s Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC). He’s also a long-time member of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) and will be the on-water Race Officer of the upcoming World Optimist Championship to be held at Varuna in July. Recently, he took time out of his busy schedule to take the SEA Yachting Q & A. Favourite Sailing Book? America’s Cup books pre-multihulls/foiling. For me, they were exciting times to be following the Cup with amazing characters that molded that era of AC racing. The tricks that the respective clubs played pre-race series and what went on during the final series. Favourite Sailing Hero? For me sailing heroes change over tine as one becomes involved in different aspects of yachting. Growing up into sailing, Rodney Patterson the Flying Dutchman Olympian and Paul Elvstrom were my heros, but latterly I have to say that I have great respect for Armel L’Clearch with winner of the recent Vendee Globe. We met in Plymouth England in 2016 when Armel was a competitor in the TRANSAT race to New York where I was the PRO and he won. These IMOCO skippers are complete – total experts in all facets of seamanship – they are incredible. Biggest Sailing Inspiration? I’m more inspired by people from various sports and pastimes rather than just sailors. I tend to take what I think are elements of exceptional talent like the way Roger Federer, Rory McIlory, Jonny Wilkinson manage themselves and try to mold those elements into what I do. I have always been encouraged by a Nike slogan “don’t be inspired – be the inspiration”. Favourite Marina? I generally prefer to remain at sea but after crossing the Atlantic one time it was nice to get into Rodney Bay Marina in St Lucia. Great atmosphere, great music and nice hot showers after a long time at sea. Favourite Regatta? The regatta I enjoyed the most was the Laser Masters World Championships in Hyeres France in 2014 There were 500 of us competing. Masters racing is how dinghy racing should be. So many of us have ‘gown up’ together since becoming Masters sailors at 35 years of age. After 30+ years of competing against each other its still very tough on the water and the camaraderie ashore is all about spending evenings ‘catching up’. Favourite Anchorage? I try not to anchor too often as usually someone will come along and spoil your peace or drag their warp over yours! I’ll defy anyone to have a good night sleep whilst at anchor as one usually lies awake wondering if the anchor is dragging or what might
happen if the anchor does anchor drag, and its always noisy. Favourite Chandlery? My favorite chandlery I’m sad to say starts with www. …… .com. Here I can get everything I could possibly need. However, my favorite walk around store is called ‘Bogey Knights’ in Plymouth. Set into the side of a hill near Mutton Cove, they have an extensive array of ex navy and army equipment from small shackles to ships propellers! Walking around the underground alleyways could take you many hours and its impossible to leave without seeing and purchasing something for your boat. Favourite Boat Show? I’m not a huge boat show fan as I tend to see the same coming around each year. However, the shows I have enjoyed in the past are the ones that feature boats on the water like Southampton. Usually, I’m looking for ideas to adopt on my own boat and I normally get collared by a pretty girl selling me a subscription to another yachting magazine! Favourite Sailing Bar? Ah! that has to be The Mad Mongoose Bar between English Harbour and Falmouth harbor in Antigua. After a long Atlantic passage its a great place to unwind. Its where a lot of yachties hang out when trying to jump from yacht to yacht, some returning back to Europe and some continuing on world voyages. Favourite type of sailing boat? I really love Classic yachts. Unlike 99.9% of sailors, I like varnishing and going to windward. A beautifully varnished classic yacht is so pleasing to the eye and usually a joy to sail. My present yacht is not a classic but has sufficient woodwork below to keep me busy with the varnish and brush. Boat you’d most like to design/build? Definitely a classic yacht. The smell of wood is more appealing to me than the smell of epoxy and plastic. Since a boy at woodwork classes at school I have loved working with wood and to learn the traditional skills of classic yacht woodworking would be a delight. Sailing race you still most want to compete in? Well, as Race Director for the 2020 OSTAR (Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race), I suppose, I should say the race itself, but I’m probably running out of time! However, the Round Britain and Ireland Race that our club in England runs is still a possibility. Sailing destination, you still most want to get to? Not so much a sailing destination but more a sailing adventure with Skip Novak between the tip of South America and Antarctica. I think I could learn so much from him. Where he sails in the rugged and beautiful south Atlantic is about as tough as it gets. You have to be sea smart and have good seamanship skills to survive in those conditions.
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Please describe your first trip to Thailand back in 1982 It was quite scary! Bangkok was our first assignment overseas and it took time for us as a family to settle there. The traffic was not like Cornwall and sitting at the lights waiting 20 minutes for them to change was a real test of patience. However, we grew to love it and we now consider it our second home. Thai people are just so friendly and it has to be one of the few places left in the world where “smiling” is the accepted way of life, not the exception. We love that. Tell us what makes Varuna special So many of the staff have been there since we joined in 1982 and we are always welcomed back with lovely smiles and hugs. Breakfast on the terrace looking out over Koh Larne on a clear sunny day is just incredible. There is a great line in the song Hotel California by the Eagles “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” —sums up Varuna, totally. Please tell us a little about the upcoming world Opti championship One of the biggest sporting events ever held in Thailand with close to 300 of the worlds best Optimist sailors from 60 countries competing. Many of these sailors will be the future Olympians in 2 Olympic
cycles time so its important for them to perform well. Its important for us to run a high- quality event. We have a great team working on the project and coupled with Varuna’s Thai style hospitality, I’m sure we can deliver an event to be remembered for many years to come. If you weren’t involved with sailing, you would be…? If I had to be honest it would be a horticulturalist. When not sailing, or golfing, I can be found spending all my daylight hours in our lovely garden in Cornwall. A long career in Shell Oil Company initially qualifying as a chief marine engineer before embarking on a career change to petroleum engineering in the oil and gas division. Worked essentially in the middle east and far east until retirement from Syria in 2008. Sailed from the age of 7 with a passion for dinghy racing interspersed with long offshore voyages. Served on the main committees of the Royal Western YC and the RVYC. Race management includes dinghies, offshore and trans ocean racing. Now in back in Cornwall England to cruise our yacht, play golf and manage the garden unless I can be enticed to run the odd the regatta aboard in sunny climates! (Neil can reached at neildunkley@gmail.com)
www.racer-marina.com
FLEMING
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