With the perfect weather for racing, good gusts of wind meant that the competition was fierce in all categories on the grand opening day of the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek 2009. Ray Roberts drew first blood in the race to become the 2009 Asian Yachting Grand Prix Champion. Racing on Evolution Sails, formerly known as Quantum Racing, he claimed first place in both races in the IRC Racing Class. The 2008 winner, Neil Pryde, finished second and third on Hi Fi with Peter Ahern on Yo! 2, also securing second and third place finishes.
Peter Dyers' Madame Butterfly won the opening race in the IRC 1 section with Stuart Williamson on Skandia Endeavour of Whitby winning the afternoon race. Elsewhere, Andrew de Bruin on Awatea, won both races in the Charter Class. David Thomson on Madame Cholet and Alan Carwadine on Da Vinci Niña shared a victory apiece in the Multihull class. Hans Rahmanns' Voodoo won both races in the Firefly 850 class, beating Moto Inzi to the line by a mere five seconds in the afternoon race.
For Peter Dyer, skipper of Madame Butterfly, it was a good start to the regatta. “It was good. Breezes weren't too bad – somewhere around 15 knots, with good gusts. We did a nice figure of eight course in the afternoon, which made for some very close racing. Good competitive stuff,” he said.
After an excellent start to this year's race week, the day's events ended with everyone partying into the early morning at the Phuket Six Senses Resort & Spa.
For full results go to the website at http://www.phuketraceweek.com/
