Pattaya Mail — Sports

Yacht Haven Regatta: an outstanding success

Peter Cummins, Pattaya

Photo: Hobie Cats lined up for the 1997 Varuna Cup. (Photo Peter Cummins)

On what could only be described as a perfect regatta, the Yacht Haven 1997 Varuna Cup, sailed off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in South Pattaya over H.M. the King’s 70th birthday weekend, saw Royal Varuna team Peter/Juliet Bates bolt away with the top honours. In the principal division, the Hobie Cat 16 class, the Bates team, with four first and two second placings in the six races counted of the eight sailed, demolished a top-class line-up of some of the world’s best Hobie sailors.

Thriving in the strong north-easterlies that marked the last two days of the three-day regatta, Bates, on eight penalty points, was just ahead of former Australian Hobie national champion - and top world contender, Aaron Worrall, with crew Tina Atkinson, on 10 points.

Third were Australia’s Scott Fleming/Jayne Stacey (17) and fourth, in a great performance, were Murray Maunder/Leonie Duson (25).

In the hard-fought Laser division, current Varuna Cup champion Veerasit Pougnak, with four firsts and two seconds for eight penalty points, kept out Thailand Laser national champion teen-ager Patrick Helms, on 17 points.

Hong Kong’s Warwick Downes, a renowned Etchells helmsman, easily won the Farr Platu Racing Keelboat Division, making no errors whatsoever, winning five and finishing second in the six races sailed. With five penalty points, Warwick was well clear of second-placed Gary Baguley’s Royal Varuna Yacht Club team, on 11 points.

Thai Navy men Suthee, Chulapong and Noppasin continued their dominance of the Enterprise class, finishing in that order while Thai Navy’s Nukul was the undisputed supremo in the 470 class.

Meanwhile, the juniors had their own battles in the Optimist dinghies, handling the Monsoon with much skill. Current champion Sam Phanpho, very much a local resident from the International School of the Eastern Seaboard, edged out a rapidly-improving young sailor Oud Matturanont, with new-comer to the junior ranks Danein Paulhiac third.

The 1997 Varuna Cup, sailed off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, South Pattaya, sponsored for the second year by the Yacht Haven Phuket was, indeed, a resounding success. More than 50 craft, with participants from eight countries, sailed and enjoyed the perfect conditions which set in, after a rather shaky first day, when the wind conditions were somewhat unstable.

Race officers from Hong Kong, Brian and Alison Littlechild, soon realized that they had a "big child" on their hands and rose admirably to the occasion.

By all accounts, this regatta is destined for "bigness" in the foreseeable future. President of the International Hobie Class Association, Australia’s Mark Pryke, along with Kim Thomas, Australian Hobie Cat manufacturer, also came to Pattaya with more than an outside interest in just the outcome of the 1997 Yacht Haven Varuna Cup.

Mark, particularly, came to assess the venue and the race management capabilities of Pattaya people for the Hobie Cat World Championships to be held off the Pattaya-Jomtien shores in March 2000, just prior to the Sydney Olympiad.

This will be an event of major significance to the Eastern Seaboard and the venue is likely to be located at the Asia Pattaya Hotel beach-front, where more than 100 craft lined up will be a sight to behold. Sailing and racing will be off the Pattaya-Jomtien shoreline.

The hulls of the Varuna Cup craft were hardly dry before a big contingent of Pattaya sailors headed for the Phuket flights to participate in the 1997 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta.

Get out the calculator

An abacus, a calculator, or just an old fashioned adding machine was required to keep track of the scoring at the weekly Pattaya Sports Club softball game on Sunday, December 14.

Coffee’s Cavalry and Lockhead’s Legions split a high scoring doubleheader that saw both games go into extra innings.

In the first game, the Cavalry was up six to two going into the fifth when the Legions erupted for nine runs behind the hard hitting of Aloha Tom, Craig (Top Gun) Lewis, and Billy Blooper.

Not to be outdone, the Cavalry charged back with six in their half of the fifth and eight in the sixth with Montreal (Uppa US) Robert, Kenneth (The) Red, and Alan (Leaving) Vegas contributing key hits.

When the Legions pushed four runs across the plate in the seventh, the game was headed for extra innings tied at twenty.

Suddenly the scoring faucet ran dry and strong defense by the Legions’ Jimmy (The) Key and the Cavalry’s La (Kang) Lang produced two scoreless innings.

In the tenth, John (Baypoint) Bechtel, Sterling (Silver) Bechtel and Mike (Mr. Ice) Berg of the Legions put three hits together and captured the victory twenty one to twenty.

Compared to this, the second game was a rather placid affair. The Legions took an early three to one lead, but in the third the Cavalry found their sticks and when C.F. (Fowl Ball) Macallen and Kiwi (Pudding) Rick had back to back run scoring hits, the Cavalry had scored six to take the lead.

However, the Legions refused to go away and were able to tie the score in their last at bat sending this game into extra innings, also.

As dusk was settling over the field, the Cavalry scored three in the top half of the first extra inning and had enough left on defense to close down the Legions thirteen to ten. Thus, making for a combined total of sixty four runs scored on the day. Surely this must be the answer to the infamous sixty four dollar question.

If you can count this high, you’re welcome to join the excitement. Games are every Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Pattaya School #7 on Sukhumvit Highway, just past Greenway driving range and Caltex gas station. Equipment is provided and refreshments are available.

Peter Johannson tops PGS Stableford

Peter Johannson racked up 36 Stableford points to win the Pattaya Golf Society weekly competition on Tuesday, December 16 at Khao Kheow.

Played on a fantastic day concerning the weather, Peter’s second good showing in the past two weeks is a good prelude to the upcoming PGS Santa Claus trophy.

Alan finished second on the day after carding 31 points, beating out Wilhelm in third on count back.

Big John finished fourth in the weekly tourney with 29 points, followed by Bill Nicol in fifth with 27 points.

Nearest to the pin prize on the island green went to Wilhelm.

PGS Notes: The AGM, originally scheduled for 6 December, has been postponed until the 12th of January, 8:00 p.m. at Big John’s Place. (PGS is changing its fiscal year to 1/1 through 31/12). All members are encouraged to attend.

Cheers try for double trophy

Which of the Beatles wrote the book A Spaniard in the Works? Which four letter word connects James Bond, Michael Jackson and Cher?

It’s not over until the fat lady sings. But there are growing signs that Cheers Bar, the only place in town where customers listen to chamber music whilst playing darts and eating egg and chips, may manage to win both the Sunday and Wednesday trivial pursuits leagues. At quizzes in mid December, they had the highest scores in both jousts and are lengthening their lead from the field.

During the high holiday season, the Sunday quiz is unaffected. But the Wednesday quiz has temporarily closed and reopens on Wednesday January 7th to avoid New Year’s eve. Answers to the questions above are John Lennon and Moon.

Sunday Quiz

Cheers	591 points
Rising Sun	573
Bob’s	562
Pleasure Dome	551
Mick’s	532
Palmer’s	527
Poteen Still	515
Billy and Da	499
Londoner	488
Tippy’s	399

Wednesday Quiz

Cheers	43 credits
Billy and Da	37
Rising Sun	36
Bob’s	34
Fawlty Towers	33
Palmer’s	34
Rover’s Return	21
Sixties	18

 

Kevin Murphy overall winner of PSC Golf 1997 Carl Lislevatn Classic at Phoenix

Picture of Mike Franklin presenting the Trophy to Kevin Murphy.

In a closely fought contest, with just two Stableford points separating the six ‘A’ and ‘B’ Flight place winners, Kevin Murphy just edged in front by one point to win the ‘A’ Flight and the Carl Lislevatn Trophy with the best overall score.

Phoenix Lakes and Ocean Courses were in excellent condition and superbly presented for this tournament. Freshly cut firm greens with some challenging pin placements made putting and short approach shots difficult, and this was reflected in many of the scores on the day. Fifteen trophies, presented by PSC Golf Chairman Mike Franklin, were available with many additional draw prizes for the less successful players.

Flight trophy winners were:

‘A’ Flight

Winner: Kevin Murphy, 41points & Winner overall

2nd: Norman Brooks, 40 points

3rd: Mats Levin, 39 points

‘B’ Flight

Winner: John Cahill, 40 points C/B

2nd: Steve Ross, 40 points

3rd: Banjob Franklin, 39 points

Banjob also won the trophy for the best Ladies Stableford Score of 39 points.

Technical prize trophy winners:

Near Pins: Tony Stevens, Ove Andersson, Esko Pekka and John Lee.

Long Drives: ‘A’ Flight - Mo Deverdenne; ‘B’ Flight - Ian Pike.

Long First Putts: Svein Vistung, Esko Pekka.

A field of 88 players took part in the tournament on a perfect December day. This was the fourth Carl Lislevatn Classic for the trophy that Carl himself presented to PSC in 1994. Two years later he tragically died after a long illness, but his generosity and good humour are remembered in this annual event.

PSC Golf next week

We end December 1997 with three good fixtures. On Monday the 29th from Cafe Kronborg we go to Rayong Green Valley for a relaxed Stableford competition; or, for the more serious golfers, a Stroke play competition from the Green Bottle at Natural Park Resort.

New Year’s Eve, December 31st is a Public Holiday with no organised tournament. Instead, Steve Ross is organising ‘Rossie’s Scramble’ on Tuesday the 30th at Rayong Green Valley. This promises to be a fun event, and the final competition for 1997. Sign up for Rossie’s Scramble at the Green Bottle.

Enter 1998.

For more details of December fixtures visit the PSC Web site at www.pattayasports.org

Attention all fishermen

The fishing section of the Pattaya Sports Club has announced they will sponsor their next Deep Sea Fishing competition starting on Sunday, January 18 and continuing to Monday, January 19, 1998.

Photo: Selwyn Leightly and Jens Patterson of the Bull Ring team, winners of the PSC fishing tournament in November.

Rules for the tournament are as follows: Each team captain will pay an entrance fee of 600 baht to the Pattaya Sports Club. Included with the entrance fee must be a listing of the name of the boat or the boat’s captain and fishermen on board. Each team will be responsible for hiring their own boat. There will be no limit on persons or tackle on board. Weigh-in for trophies will be at the Marine Bar pier (Pattaya) at 5:30 p.m., January 18 & 19.

The Pattaya Sports Club will award individual trophies for First Place: the biggest fish (by weight); and Second Place: the second biggest fish (by weight). Only one trophy will be awarded per individual. Please note that sharks, rays, skates, etc., only qualify 50% of total weight.

To register for the tournament, please contact Carl Engel, Pattaya Sports Club Fishing Chairman, tel: (038) 410 228, fax: 426 121, or www.pattayasports.org. Also, registration and entrance fee can be left at the 60’s Bar, Soi Pattayaland 2; the Hogs Breath Saloon, Sukhumvit Road; the Atlantis Club Cafe, Soi 15 South Pattaya, or Bull Ring Bar, Soi Yodsak.

Copyright © 1997 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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Created by Andy Gombaez