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Eleventh ASEAN Optimist Challenge
for Pattaya
Peter Cummins reports
As preparations for the forthcoming 11th ASEAN Optimist
Championships intensify, the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the
administering authority, has indicated that 50 new Optimist dinghies will
be available for charter. Imported in conjunction with last year’s 13th
Asiad, the craft are in superb condition and, as such, will guarantee a
top-class competition which will be held off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club,
South Pattaya from the 23rd to the 29th of October,
An Optimist Championship is not new to Thai shores. The
first International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) world championship
ever held in Asia was sailed off Jomtien in November-December, 1979.
Thereafter, the Third Asian Championship in 1992 and the Sixth and Seventh
ASEAN Championships were held off Royal Varuna Yacht Club, South Pattaya
in 1993 and 1994, respectively.
Optis
head to shore at the end of the Seventh ASEAN Regatta, April 1994. Photo
Peter Cummins
Al Chandler, the driving force behind development of
the Optimist fleets in Thailand, pointed out from the Junior Sailing
Squadron of Thailand (JSST) headquarters in Bangkok this week that the
organizing committee of the event “encourages all ASEAN countries to
participate in the competition so that our children may improve their
sailing, enjoy our diverse cultures and share the camaraderie that this
championship offers.”
But it goes further than that and to broaden this
concept somewhat, invitations have also been extended to a number of other
countries, such as Japan and Pakistan, which are outside the ASEAN bloc
but which have large and hyper-active Optimist fleets. Japan,
particularly, has become a “force majeure”, not only in Optimist
circles but also in yachting as a whole, right up to America’s Cup
challenges.
Chandler noted that there will be two distinct
programmes of racing comprising the championship. The first will be the
ASEAN Challenge Cup, which will be team racing from national groups of
four dinghies from the ASEAN region. This is based on the world
championship formula of the IODA Challenge Cup, adapted to local
conditions.
The second event will comprise an individual
competition. The six-race regatta, open to all, will be for the JSST
Trophy, based on the time-worn format of the IODA Beacon Challenge Cup,
also adapted to local conditions.
Chandler also said that each country of ASEAN may send
one team of five sailors, born in 1984 or later. Thailand, as host
country, is entitled to two teams and 15 individuals, for a total of 25
participants. With Optimist racing at a very high level in the Kingdom,
this is going to make a most exciting competition, especially in the team
racing division where Thai teams A and B will be pitted against each other
as well as against their fellow-ASEAN competitors.
Two people who are excited about the ASEAN Optimist
Championship are Royal Varuna junior sailing secretary Linden Phanpho and
Brunhilde Schultes. Both these young ladies, along with many other
volunteers, have worked most diligently over a number of training courses
to bring their young charges - Thai and expatriate children - up to the
challenge of the forthcoming events.
The Optimist was designed by Clark Mills in Clearwater,
Florida, in 1957. Observing kids careering down the hills of Clearwater in
their soapbox carts, Mills figured that they would be better off on the
sea: “at least it won’t hurt so much if they crash out,” he rightly
surmised.
The Optimist, looking very much like the original
soapbox, was thus conceived and, on being brought to Denmark in 1954, the
little dinghy soon gained acceptance throughout Europe, the United Kingdom
and, since the 1960s, worldwide.
Now the largest one-design dinghy in the world,
numbering some 800,000 in almost 100 countries, the Optimist has trained,
literally, thousands of youngsters (under 16-year-olds), many of whom have
gone on to become Olympic, world and national champions in the “big
league.”
Thailand’s own Optimist fleets are very large, with
four main centres of training and activity, totalling some 400 dinghies:
the Royal Varuna Yacht Club at Pattaya and the Royal Thai Navy Clubs at
Sattahip in the Northern Gulf; the Phatra Marina and Yacht Club at the
mouth of the Pranburi River in Prachuab Khiri Khan Province on the West
Coast and several clubs based at marinas in Phuket.
On-going courses are conducted at the Royal Varuna
Yacht Club and the Phatra Marina and Yacht Club facilities. The training
can be held over several weekends, with theory and practical hands-on
experience or, as is now becoming very popular, it can take the form of
one or two-week live-in camps, undertaken during school recesses. A number
of schools in Bangkok and on the Eastern Seaboard have taken advantage of
these programmes.
Linden, in fact, has just graduated a group of
youngsters from the International School of the Eastern Seaboard and their
counterparts from the International School in Vientiane: almost a preview
of what is to come.
Even the conditions encountered by the children should be close to the
south-westerly Monsoons expected on the Gulf at the end of October. With
strong winds and big seas during the course, Linden and her cohorts had to
resort, at times, to “sailing” on the Varuna swimming pool. Even then,
new stars started appearing in the Optimist firmament: Sierra Chandler,
Catherine Adams and Siri Luther - all tiny but powerful little ladies.
Pattaya Sports Club Darts League
The first full round of the PSC darts sees Cafe
Kronborg and Mick’s Place vying for the lead with 4 wins each. Londoner,
Pleasure Dome and Thistle all have 2 wins and Kennel Dogs have 1 win
(against Kronborg!). The first round saw Boy playing for the Kronborg team
peg 125 while the following week Koo from the same team came up with 180.
Steve from Mick’s Place shot another 180 in the third match.
The League is played on Monday nights starting at 8.30
pm. It has 6 teams, playing initially 10 rounds of matches. The last game
of the next round will be played on October 18.
Each team has a minimum of 4 players and a maximum of 8
players. The players are PSC members and their guests, the venues and
captains are listed below. Any PSC member wanting to play in a team may
contact any team captain, venue or PSC Darts Chairman Len Banfield for
assistance.
Kronborg plays out of Cafe Kronborg, located in Soi
Diana, on the opposite side of the road from Bavaria House and about
halfway between Second Rd. and Soi Buakhao. The team captain is Egon, or
you can talk to Bjarne or Songkran. Phone 423-203.
Kennel Dogs play out of the Kennel Pub which is in
between Soi Pattayaland 1 and 2. The team captain is Tom, Dave runs the
venue. Phone 427-131.
Pleasure Dome’s venue is the Pleasure Dome, reputedly
created by Kublai Khan, but now moved to Soi Post Office. The team captain
is Alex, or you can see Willie.
Londoner are a team from the Londoner Bar and
Restaurant also in Soi Post Office, and very close to the Pleasure Dome.
Team captain is Chon, phone 361-105 or talk to Craig.
Mick’s are from Mick’s Place in 2nd Rd. between Soi
7 and Soi 8. It belongs to Nee, who is the captain. Steve is good to talk
to, but not as good looking. Phone 361-082.
Thistle play out of the Thistle, next door to the Post
Office in Soi Post Office. A Scot like Alex, Andy who loves darts nearly
as much as his new baby is the captain. Phone 710-558 or 01- 827- 1760.
PSC Darts Chairman is Len Banfield, phone 420-432. Committee: Andrew
Wylie, phone 710-558 or 01-827-1760.
Fitness fun for the Fountain of Life
Twenty five young children from the Fountain of Life
Center were treated to a wonderful afternoon of fitness, games and fun at
the Royal Garden Spa and Fitness Center this week.
New manager of the Fitness Center, Sean Panton, met up
with the Fountain of Life Sisters at the charity community fair and was
delighted to welcome the youngsters from their center to his.
The kids were given tennis lessons and aerobic exercises by the Fitness
Center staff and it was difficult to say who enjoyed the afternoon most -
the adults or the children. Sean and the staff will be taking different
age groups of children every Thursday afternoon and there will be a huge
group of the Fountain of Life children eagerly waiting for next week.
Too many putts at Pattaya Country Club
PSC Pattaya Golf Society from the Bunker
Conditions were just about perfect at Pattaya Country
Club for this week’s Pattaya Golf Society competition. However, this did
not reflect in the returns of both divisions.
This could well be explained by the ultra-fast greens,
which really do need more grass on the surface. There are many bare areas
which make putting something approaching a lottery.
Once again the Bunker maintained the trend of having a
large entry, but no player was able to break par.
In Division One, powerful Anders Karlsson shared the
spoils with recent returnee Wilf Latham at one over par. It is only
Wilf’s second game and one has to wonder what he was doing in his months
away from Pattaya.
Close behind was Welshman Norman Brooks on two over
par. Norman’s son has been a golf professional in Germany for many years
and his skills are often seen through his father.
Gary Hammill of Gee Gee’s Bar was the winner of
Division Two with just 32 points. He was followed by Neil Griffin on 29
points with Peter Mackay and Mike Spear on 26 points.
After the Society’s run of exceptionally low returns,
the high scoring this week can only be attributed to the lightening fast
greens. It can be so frustrating to reach a green in regulation and then
take three or four putts from just thirty feet or so. As every golfer
appreciates, the game is already difficult enough.
Finally, it should be mentioned that “El Tigre” Mitchell has
entered the Bunker into the Sunday Quiz League. Any likely Einsteins would
be welcomed on the squad but please check with Roy for commencement date.
International theme atop leader board
PSC TAGGS... golf from the Hare House
Wednesday, September 15 - Bangpra International Golf
Club (Bogey)
1st: Mark Garcia, 1 Up
2nd: Anders Karlsson, 1 Up
3rd: Richard Pietrzkiewier, 1 Up
4th: Paul Azzopardi, 1 Up
The TAGGS Bogey competition at Bangpra on Wednesday,
the 15th of September resulted in a four-way tie atop the leader board.
The count back went first to the back nine, then the back six, and finally
the last three. Mark Garcia, by virtue of having beaten the course on the
last two holes at Bangpra, won the contest.
There are those who think that Bogey is the fairest of
all the scoring formats used by the Pattaya Sports Club. The high
handicapper is helped by the fact should he “blow up” on a hole, the
worst that can happen is that he loses the hole. The lower handicapper is
helped because the best someone can do on a hole is win it. Stableford
produces aberrations like a high handicapper making a natural birdie on a
par 3, for a net zero and five Stableford points. In the Bogey format, you
either win the hole, lose the hole, or halve the hole.
Mark plays off 12 and his final three hole total of two
up edged out Hare House regular Anders Karlsson, who plays off fifteen.
Anders had his chances on each of the last three holes, but made bogeys on
each for a last three total of all square.
In third place was TAGGS newcomer Richard Pietrzkiewier.
Richard, who plays off 28 nudged Paul Azzopardi off the podium in a count
back that went to the back nine.
Friday, September 17 - Phoenix Golf and Country Club
(Stableford)
1st: Jimmy Little, 42 points
2nd: Jens Gunnarsson, 40 points
3rd: Malcolm Clare, 38 points
The Hare House’s regular Friday Stableford
competition at Phoenix resulted in an international leader board with
American Jimmy Little winning the day with 42 Stableford points.
In second place with 40 points was TAGGS newcomer Jens
Gunnarsson who comes from Iceland and shot an even 100 off his thirty-six
handicap.
The third spot on the podium went to Englishman Malcolm
Clare who had 19 points each on the Mountain course and the Ocean course.
Interestingly, had this been a Bogey contest instead of Stableford,
Jimmy would still have won with a score of 5 up. Jens would have been
second at 3 up. And Malcolm would have dropped into a three way tie for
fourth place at “all square” to be replaced by Stephen Beard at one
up.
PSC Golf in September
On Sunday 26th September, Lewiinski’s goes to Rayong
Green Valley to play stroke, leaving at 11.00 a.m. On Monday 27th
September, PSC Golf from the Caf้ Kronborg goes to Natural Park Hill
for a Stableford competition, while the Splinter Golf Group from the Green
Bottle goes to Khao Kheow to play stroke.
On Tuesday the 28th, Pattaya Golf Society from the
Bunker go to Sriracha to play Stableford, while Lewiinski’s go to
Natural Park Hill for a two man better ball competition, leaving at the
earlier time of 10.15 a.m.
On Wednesday 29th September, the Green Bottle goes to
Natural Park Resort to play Stableford and Hare House play pairs
Stableford at Century Rayong.
On Thursday 30th September, PSC Golf Caf้
Kronborg goes to Pattaya Country Club for the Kronborg Monthly Medal Mug.
On Friday 1st October Delaney’s 2nd Inaugural Irish
Open takes place at Great Lake. Full details and entry forms at
Delaney’s (see Kim), and at PSC Golf venues, or see Mike Franklin.
Entries close on Monday 27th September at 5:00 p.m.
The full September schedule, together with the October Schedule, can be
seen at PSC Golf venues, at Delaney’s, in Pattaya Mail and at our Web
Site at www.pattayasports.org.
Last chance for Delaney’s Irish Open
Delaney’s 2nd Inaugural Irish Open Golf Tournament is
taking place at Great Lake on Friday 1st October 1999.
Sponsored by Carlsberg, Delaney’s Irish Open is
organised by Delaney’s, Pattaya (The Irish Pub), in association with
Pattaya Sports Club Golf.
Entry fee is B.1200 per player and includes: green fee,
caddy fee, free Carlsberg and Delaney’s snacks at drink stops and out on
the course; Delaney’s Irish Open golf shirt; golf umbrella and hat; free
Carvery Buffet (wear the Delaney’s shirt) & prize giving at
Delaney’s, Happy Hour from 4-8 p.m. with the East Coast Band
entertaining.
Prizes: Delaney’s Irish Open championship trophy
& prize, trophy and prize for winner, 2nd, 3rd & 4th places and
low gross in Divisions I & II, trophy & prize for ladies best
score, Carlsberg vouchers (four pints) for near pins, long drives and long
putts (Divisions I & II), and a bottle of wine for ladies long drive.
Golf tips: PGA Professional Richard Livingston will be
available at Great Lake Driving Range from 09.00 to 11.00 a.m. on October
1st to give advice where required, free of charge.
Format: Singles Stableford in groups of four, with full
handicap allowance: Division I (0-18), Division II (19 -36), Ladies
(19-40). Tee-off from 09.30 a.m.
See full details with entry form at Delaney’s.
Copyright 1999 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]
Updated by Boonsiri
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