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VOL. 12.2

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When would sailing race officials recommend that marker buoys be given at least 50m of clearance? How about when just one of these markers costs something like US$16 million? And when the least expensive of the racers probably runs more than $10 million. Indeed, one of these vessels, the 171-foot sailing ketch Liberty – one of the world’s most advanced yachts, a triumph of both style and engineering, with a super-modern, curvaceous white superstructure atop a low-slung, dark-blue hull – is for sale. She’s yours for just US$27.5 million, deck cushions and all.  A collision between one of these boats and a course marker would easily qualify as a wee mishap.

A great testimonial. And one that’s likely to be heard increasingly often, as more and more of Yanneke Too’s peers decide to have a look for themselves. The first annual Phuket Invitational, held just this past December, has already gone some way toward spreading the good word. Next year’s event promises to be at least as great a success, and the number of participating superyachts is expected to grow year by year thereafter.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, run only a couple of weeks earlier and in every other respect an unqualified success, had suffered from a lack of wind; and, for a while on the morning of the first annual Phuket Invitational’s fun race, the weather looked like a rerun. “If the winds are too light,” said race officer Andy Dowden, of Phuket Marina Services, at the skippers’ briefing the night before, “we can drop a couple of the ‘buoys’. If we’ve got no wind at all, I suggest we just raft up and head back to Nai Harn Bay for the cocktail parties.”

And these boats needed wind. The boats that typically race in the King’s Cup require a minimum of five knots to get moving. These superyachts, on the other hand, needed at least eight knots, even ten, according to some of the skippers.

None of this was a problem, as things turned out. The motor yacht captains decided they didn’t want to anchor out on the course because of the groundswell; so smaller vessels and plastic buoys had to serve instead. And, after an uncertain start, the wind came right up by midday, and, by mid-afternoon, the racers had about sixteen knots gusting to twenty.

The Phuket Invitational came together, from conception to finish, in less than a month. Despite the short time-frame, nine world-class superyachts managed to get to Phuket in time to participate. The event was organized by Phuket-based South East Asia Liveaboards (SEAL) and hosted by Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club. Other sponsors included ShowBoats International, the main publication of the world megayacht industry; Raffles Marina, of Singapore; and the International SeaKeepers Society, essentially the non-profit, environmental arm of ShowBoats. The latter three sponsors, plus supporting sponsors, the Phuket Yacht Haven and Singha Beer, hosted a party for the crews at the Reggae Bar the night before the race.

The event itself took just two days. “We wanted to keep it short and sweet,” says organizer Graham Frost, managing director of SEAL. “The Phuket Invitational is essentially a one-day affair with a bit of a build-up the day before. It’s meant to be a social event – an occasion where owners, skippers, and crew can meet and share the experience – not a serious competition.”

On the first day, some of the vessels joined in a relaxed rally from the Yacht Haven, on the north end of the island, down to Nai Harn Bay, on the south. Most of the action took place on the second day. After an uncertain start, the race was blessed with fine winds; and was followed by lavish cocktail parties aboard Montigne and Dream Seeker, 152- and 139-foot Feadship motor yachts. Then there was just enough time to shower and change before heading off to a gala dinner and dance evening hosted by Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club.

The Phuket Invitational is a fun event, first and foremost. The organizers also expect that it will attract superyacht owners and cruising guests to the area in years to come. Initial reactions suggest that the inaugural running has served both aims. Owners, guests, skippers, and crew were unanimous in pronouncing the whole event a great success, with several of the boats already planning to return to the area for the second running in December of 2001.

SEAL, a pioneer of Phuket-based live-aboard diving, has had a long history of innovative ventures, and was one of the first operators to establish regular diving, cruising, and kayaking in Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago. They were also the first to agent for private yachts wanting to cruise this new frontier of 800 largely unspoiled tropical islands. For the past several years, furthermore, they have operated the first full services for superyachts in the Phuket area. They conceived the Phuket Invitational – about a month before it actually took place – as a spectacular means of attracting world attention to the potential of the Andaman Sea as a yacht cruising and chartering ground.

Organizers and participants anticipate a similar number of big boats at next year’s event. The year following should see quite a few more. The 2003 America’s Cup will again bring more superyachts into the region, and the Phuket Invitational will also be given a boost by the cancellation of the Singapore Boat Show 2001 (the next is to be held in 2002). So SEAL and the other sponsors will be able to hold two of these big-boat affairs before the next Boat Show.

The groundswell problem – the glitch that prevented the motor yachts from serving as marker buoys for their sailing cousins – could easily be solved by moving next year’s fun race to spectacularly scenic Phang Nga Bay, off the northeast end of Phuket Island, where the sea is always calm. But the organizers feel that would leave the action too far from Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club.

Nai Harn Bay makes the perfect location for the Phuket Invitational, while the Phuket Yacht Club makes the perfect host. “The hotel also provides comfort and service,” general manager Olivier Gibaud suggests. “We offer ultimate luxury, and superyacht owners and guests are of the type that appreciate luxury. For us to hold such a function makes sense. But can we host 100 yachts in the bay? No. The dinghies and movements of people … It all becomes too difficult.” The Phuket Yacht Club was the first home of the now 14-year-old Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, and for some years its main sponsor. “But the Regatta became so popular,” says Mr Gibaud, “that eventually it all got just too big for the hotel. Our association with the Phuket Invitational and the superyachts is now a return, in a way, to the original days of the Regatta, when only 20 or 30 boats were competing.”

There’s a long way to go before the limits to Phuket-based big yacht cruising are even approached. Aside from all the island’s facilities, Phuket is the base for the whole of the Andaman Sea – one of the world’s last remaining frontiers for big yacht cruising. One recurring comment overheard this year at the Phuket Invitational: “This area is the Caribbean of the East. Better, it’s what the Caribbean was 20 years ago.” Phuket is the base for cruising clean waters rich in marine life, uncongested by boat traffic, and graced by hundreds of islands, all of them scenic, many of them uninhabited. Phuket is the base for cruising grounds from the Tarutao Island group on the border with Malaysia to the south to the Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago in the north and to India’s Andaman Islands in the west. The Phuket Yacht Haven (and, to a lesser extent, the Phuket Boat Lagoon) offer berths for superyachts, and routine maintenance of a high standard is no problem. Furthermore, it’s easy to get to Singapore (or to fly technical people up from there) for parts, major repairs, or refits when you need them.

The Phuket Invitational now represents one more attraction in itself, adding to the excitement and glamour of an area voted “Most Idyllic Island in the World” by the Cond้ Naste Traveller (UK edition) readers’ survey, 1999. And in no way does it take anything away from the Phuket King’s Cup or Phuket-Krabi-Phang Nga regattas – it’s a different kind of affair, and can only complement these more established events. In addition, as Charlie Dwyer of Yanneke Too suggests, “This annual event is in itself one more attraction these boats can now offer their customers. It makes a great way to kick off the Christmas charter season, or just fine cruising for the owners themselves.”  

Who won the 2000 Phuket Invitational?  “There’s actually no prize for coming first,” Graham Frost announced at the pre-race briefing. “The captains will all receive a certificate and a bottle of champagne. The main aim is for everyone to have fun.”

And so they did. And everyone won. Including Phuket and the entire surrounding region.