Thailand Worlds 2008

Aussie Team at Presentation night	The Champions	Nathan & Sam 3rd Place	Greg & Richard 4th Place

Thanks to Mick Bowley for the diary below.

Friday 21/03/2008

Latest Update (4.00pm local time)

Matt Mee & Richard Wagstaff win Worlds after a third place in Race 9, they came in as they did not need to race the last race, Nathan & Sam blew their chances of second place when they came in 17th in Race 9.
Robin Inns & Joel Coultas came first in Race 10. Overall placings before final results are posted is

1. Matt Mee/Richard Wagstaff
2. David Wade/Ben McGrane
3. Nathan Stockley/Sam Muirhead
4. Greg Allison/Richard Watson
 

The final day of the Worlds is now here, great conditions, the hospitality at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club has been exceptional, the RO Mike Rogers working with the club officials has done a very good job with perfect wind conditions each day.

The series has reached a point with GBR in 1st & 3rd position with Australia in 2nd, 4th, 5th.
Matt Mee/Richard Wagstaff only need a 1st place in Race 9 today to win the Worlds, but if Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead can get two first places today they are still in with a chance, fingers crossed.

Racing starts today one hour earlier at Midday in possibly lighter conditions than the last few days
Thurs 20/03/2008

Latest News

Race 7 Winner Matt Mee/Richard Wagstaff - Second Nathan Stockley/Sam Muirhead

Race 8 - Winner - Nathan Stockley/Sam Muirhead - Second Matt Mee/Richard Wagstaff
 

Tues 18/03/2008

Race 6
Again we had one general then straight to Black in 14 knots which increased in the afternoon up to 17 knots, ideal sailing conditions but most completely worn out at the end of the day. Each race is approx 60 minutes with about 1.2nm for each leg.
In this race there was only one BFD.
Again Matt Mee went ahead and won but closely followed by Nathan Stockley, what a great series these 'boys' are having.
Ben Schulz/Ben Neaylon 6th, Heather/Chris 8th, Robin/Joel 9th, Greg/Richard 10th

Race 5
We got off after one general and the black flag at 1.15pm in 10-12 knots as per usual, with 5 boats being BFD
Matt Mee/Richard Wagstaff from the UK took control again and finished first in front of John Heywood/Brett Littledike followed again by the 'Boys' Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead. Peter Inns/Chris Went 6th, Robin Inns/Joel Coultas 7th, Ian Ravenscroft/Paul Grant 9th, Greg Allinson/Richard Watson 10th,

Hot Gossip
One race in the pre-worlds, Peter Inns was having a few tummy problems and when he went to pull up the kite the crap went down - shit happens
As per usual Pilko can always be found at the bar, unless he is riding a  elephant.
The Crossley's had more problems when one of the Canadian boats crashed into them causing a couple of large gashes in the side, however all fixed up by the boat boys here, they protested and were awarded average points
Richard - Owner of the Wishing Well sends his regards to Bob Heywood, he remembers all the boys back in 2000.
Alan Schnaars got a ride yesterday with Glen Perverill filling in for a crook Sarah.
We are told by a reliable source that Richard Watson and Sam Muirhead both had to further pollute the seas yesterday, but luckily not at the same time
There is alot of debris out on the water, yesterday at the start of the first race we had to position our duck 100 metres in front of the start line to make sure any boats did not hit the very large bits of wood and bamboo pole which are up to 6 metres long. We are constantly picking up objects, wood etc which could cause substantial damage to the boats
 

Mon 17/03/2008

Race 4

Started in slightly stronger conditions where we registered up to 15 knots on our little duck. David Wade had a great tussle with Nathan Stockley coming up to the finish line with Nathan coming second, Greg/Richard came 5th, Heather/Chris 8th, Ben/Ben 9th, Robin/Joel 10th, Peter/Chris 11th.

Race 3

Usual condition2 with a 10-12 knot SW breeze just like yesterday with two generals then to Black Flag and all clear, Peter Inns and Chris Went won with Heather and Chris second and Robin and Joel fourth, Greg and Richard came 10th.

We are set for another great day here at Pattaya, forecast is for the same wind as yesterday, after two races we have 8 boats in the top 20, Greg and Jeff are in 20th place - well done team

Sun 16/03/2008

A great day of racing with the first race starting of at 1.30pm after two generals then under a black flag which Robin Inns will not like, 5 boats got the BFD including Robin/Joel. 10-12 knots from SSW with a light chop on the waves as per usual. Fist was the GBR boat of Matt Mee/Richard Wagstaff followed by Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead, what a great result for the boys, third was Richard Estaugh/Rob Gardener GBR. The rest of of the Aussie did very well with Greg/Richard in 5th, Peter/Chris in 7th, Heather/Chris in 8th, John/Brett in 9th.

Race 2 was run in up to 14-15knots, again Nathan and Sam were up at the front with Matt Mee GBR and David Wade GBR who came first, Matt second and Nathan and Sam third.

The first day of the real series starts today at 1.00pm. I will be putting the progressive results up here ASAP each day.

Sat 15/03/2008 - Update- Peter Inns/Chris Went should have been 5th on count back in front of Greg & Richard

Friday 14/03/2008
We are at the International Week prize giving ceremony, with 6 Australian boats finishing in the top ten.

Winners were Tomas Musil & Jan Stantejsky, David Wade & Ben McGrane, Matt Mee & Richard Wagstaff followed by Robin Inns & Joel Coultas, Greg Allison & Richard Watson, Peter Inns & Chris Went, Nathan Stockley & Sam Muirhead (7th) Heather McFarlane & Chris Payne (9th) John Heywood & Brett Littledike (10th)

Well done to the whole Australian Team & Support Crew.

Thurs 13/03/2008

Another great day of sailing with 2 more races in conditions of up to 12 knots at 235 bearing. The first race had the usual 2 general recalls then the black flag got them underway with 3 boats getting BFD one be our Greg Schulz who completed the course and found out when he got into shore after the second race. Stand out performers today were Robin and Joel who came in first, Greg Allison and Richard in 5th, Nathan and Sam in 7th and Heather and Chris in 8th.

Second race got under way first time in slightly lighter conditions, this time it was Nathan and Sam who headed out very well and finished in 2nd position, just beating Robin and Joel in 3rd with Greg and Richard coming in 7th, Peter Inns and Chris came 10th.

Wed 12/03/2008

Lay Day so all very quiet at the club, we went to the Tiger Zoo very interesting, couple of photos below plus some from the Thai Night held on Tuesday evening great food free beer what more could you want, back sailing tomorrow. (Including celebrating Bianca Lee's birthday)

Tues 11/03/2008

Another beautiful day in Paradise (Pattaya) two races again completed with a bit more breeze at times, after the first race it swung around to the south so the whole course was moved.

First race today saw Robin Inns and Joel Coultas come 3rd, with John Heywood and Brett Littledike come 5th, Heather and Chris came7th and Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead came 9th.

Second race saw Nathan and Sam get a magnificent 2nd place, Peter Inns and Chris Went got 7th with John and Brett coming in 8th, not forgetting Dumb and Dumber Greg and Jeff Schulz coming in 10th.

Mon 10/04/2008

First day of the International series in Pattaya got of on time at 1.00pm to the usual Fireball general recalls the first start was stopped with the AP with about 30 seconds to go, then 3 general recalls and a start on the 4th at 1.55pm. First home was 14812 Viper - Peter Inns and Chris Went, it was sailed in light conditions approx 6-7 knots at a bearing of 255.

The second race of the day got off on a P flag first time in similar conditions to the first race with the breeze between 5-8 knots at the same bearing.

Sun 09/03/2008

All teams now arrived in Pattaya, conditions very hot & humid, breeze approx 5-6 knots North but shifting around. Weighing and measuring taking place, about 20 boats still to be done at 2.00pm today
Opening Ceremony tonight at 7.00pm
 

Sat 26/01/2008 Australia Day @ J Schulz Body Works Wingfield
All 16 boats together with many spare masts, toolboxes and equipment were down at Wingfield by 8am for loading into the 2 containers ( www.tayper.com.au) - hot conditions prevailed but the new steel cradles looked very good once installed in position.
 

Wed 06/02/2008
Containers depart Port Adelaide for Singapore then onto Laem Chabang Thailand which is approx 30Km from Pattaya arriving on 23/02/2008.
 

Sat 08/03/2008
The Team coach arrived late today, with a couple of sore heads after the night in Bangkok. 6 of the boats had already been taken out of the containers by the advance party.
After getting feed the rest of the team commenced with unloading the two containers ready for measuring today and tomorrow.